Black History in Rockland County

Part One: Pre-1900

The African American community of Rockland County is older than the United States itself. The Dutch, when they first settled what was then the New Netherlands colony, actively participated in the trans-atlantic slave trade. Enslaved people had a presence in the Hudson Valley from as early as 1626, three years after the founding of New York’s first ever European municipality, Haverstraw.  Since then, Black Americans have been an integral part of Rockland County’s story as drivers of the economy, arts, and culture. 

Black people have been an integral part of Rockland’s community for centuries. By 1798 enslaved black people made up 8% of Rockland county’s total population. Many would have been made to attend the historic churches in the area such as the Tappan Reform Church and would have been buried in their, then segregated, cemeteries. 

By 1800 Black Rocklanders made up 10% of the population. A free Black community was first established in a neighborhood known as Skunk Hollow on the border between Rockland and Bergen counties. The first deed for land ownership in this community was granted to a man from Palisades named Jack Earnest. From 1806-1905 over 100 families called Skunk Hollow home. 

John Moore, a free person of color from Franklin Township in New Jersey owned a grist/saw mill in Piermont. His business was successful, eventually expanding to carding, the process of untangling wool fibers to prepare the material for weaving and knitting. Through his mill, Moore became one of the wealthiest people in Rockland. According to the African American Historical Society of Rockland County, Moore had a local reputation for producing good quality milling wheels and eventually went into business with the De Pew family. 

Moore had a daughter, Cynthia, born in Tappan, NY in 1808. She was a successful business woman in her own right. She owned a laundry business in New York City and eventually expanded her enterprise to Nyack. Her husband, Edward Hesdra, was described after his death in a 1890 New York Times article as a “Hebrew Mulatto” the son of a Virginia planter and a free Black woman from Haiti. If this description of Edward’s heritage is accurate, Edward may have been one of the very Rockland residents with Jewish ancestry. Cynthia owned her assets in her own right, owning several properties in both NYC and Rockland. Her will caused a major legal dispute among her heirs including her husband Edward, to whom her assets were eventually awarded.

In the antebellum north, Nyack Brook became a key stop for many traveling along the underground rail road. Edward Hesdra’s home was also believed to be a key stop. As wealthy free black people, Cynthia and Edward were able to use their status to hide their clandestine operation from the rest of the public, with their involvement in the underground rail road only being revealed after their deaths. 

In 1849 Mount Moor Cemetery was established as a burial ground for Black Rocklanders and other Black people from around the area. The cemetery is still around thanks to the tremendous conservation efforts by local activists during the construction of the Palisades Shopping Center. Through that work, the site is now listed as a landmark on the national historic registry. The cemetery is located next to the entrance to what is currently a Dick’s Sporting Goods. 

Several years after the abolishment of slavery through the ratification of the 13th amendment, Frederick Douglas was invited to speak by the Nyack Grant and Wilson Club with over 700 people attending. At this time, the US south would have been in the midst of reconstruction, several years before what would become known as the Great Migration at the turn of the century.

Many people may associate Black communities in the north with being primarily descended from those who came up during the Great Migration, while others associate Many also still associate the US souther region with the oppression of Black people in the United Sates with the US South, the epicenter of civil rights activism in the first half of the 20th century, but Black communities, and their stories, have existed all over the United States for centuries. Black History is American History, it permeates all communities in this country and its legacy is all around us, even in Rockland. 

Stay tuned for Part Two, dropping on 2/26