Public Safety The New York State Police, based in Livingston, Kinderhook and New Lebanon; the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department, based in Greenport; and the Hudson Police Department provide police protection for Columbia County residents. The towns of Greenport and Copake and the villages of Chatham and Philmont maintain their own police departments.
All fire protection is provided by volunteer fire companies, of which the County has 47 -- including the oldest in New York State, Hudson’s J.W. Edmonds Hose Company.
Emergency services throughout the County are aided by an enhanced 911 system that graphically pinpoints the location as a call is received.
Libraries Public libraries are found in the City of Hudson and in Canaan, Chatham, Claverack, Germantown, Hillsdale, Kinderhook, Livingston, New Lebanon, North Chatham and Valatie. All provide interlibrary loans; most offer children’s story hours, computer services, and other benefits. All town libraries can be accessed through www.midhudson.org.
Columbia-Greene Community College also has an extensive library. While the CGCC library is open to all, adult residents of Columbia and Greene counties may obtain library cards with a proper ID. High school students doing school research are particularly welcome. The library's catalog and databases may be searched online at www.sunycgcc.edu/library.
Education Six school districts serve the children of Columbia County:
Chatham Central School District(Austerlitz, Canaan, Chatham, Ghent, Kinderhook, New Lebanon)
Germantown School District (Ancram, Clermont, Gallatin, Germantown, Livingston, Taghkanic,)
Hudson City School District (City of Hudson, towns of Claverack, Ghent, Greenport, Livingston, Stockport, Taghkanic)
Kinderhook(Ichabod Crane) School District (Chatham, Ghent, Kinderhook, Stockport, Stuyvesant, Valatie)
New Lebanon School District (Canaan, Chatham, New Lebanon)
Taconic Hills School District (Ancram, Austerlitz, Claverack, Copake, Gallatin, Ghent, Hillsdale, Livingston, Taghkanic)
A few students from Columbia County live in the Pine Plains and Red Hook school districts of Dutchess County. A seventh district, the Berkshire Union Free School District in the Town of Canaan, coincides with the Berkshire Farm Center, a facility for adolescents in need of supervision.
Rensselaer/Columbia/Greene Questar III provides vocational and special education. Students spend half the school day in academic classes at their home schools and half at the Questar III center in Greenport, where offerings include auto mechanics, construction, data processing, childcare, home economics, cosmetology, and welding.
Also in the County are Darrow School, an independent college preparatory school at Mount Lebanon Shaker Village in New Lebanon; Hawthorne Valley School near Philmont, an elementary and secondary school conducted according to the ideas of Rudolf Steiner. The New Academy of Christian Leadership, located in Kinderhook, offers a private nondenominational Christian curriculum based on the Medieval Trivium.
Columbia-Greene Community Collegein Greenport is a comprehensive two-year college supported by the two counties and operated under the auspices of the State University of New York. In addition to programs leading to Associate’s degrees in a number of academic and technical disciplines, the college offers professional certification programs in real-estate appraisal, municipal police training, insurance, education and other fields.
C-GCC’s Office of Employment and Training administers several state and federal educational support and employment programs for young people and adults. It also provides tuition assistance for occupational training in fields from nursing to automotive technology, works with the business community through On-the-Job Training, and maintains a Career Resource Room, where members of the public can explore career opportunities and conduct job searches.
The college also conducts training programs for business, industry and public agencies, in such fields as organizational development, plastics technology, workplace literacy, computer applications, and customer service. Programs are custom-designed in collaboration with the client, and training sessions are held on campus or at the site, on a flexible schedule to accommodate trainees.
Religious Columbia County is well supplied with churches; even its smallest hamlets have at least one. Denominations represented include United Methodist, Reformed, Lutheran, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Bible, Presbyterian, African Methodist Episcopal, Congregational, Assemblies of God, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian Science, Friends, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jewish, Mormon, Seventh Day Adventist, and Ukrainian Orthodox.
Columbia County has nearly fifty country farm markets and orchards, many of them specializing in organic produce.
The Old Chatham Sheepherding Company is the largest sheep dairy farm in the United States.
Census/Demographics
The estimated population of the County is 63,668.
Hudson, once a busy port city frequented by whalers, is the Seat of Columbia County.
Arts & Culture
PS/21 - Performing Spaces for the 21st Century, is a new venue under the direction of Gwen Gould, offering classical sings under an open-air tent in Chatham. www.ps21chatham.org.
What's New
Migrant Farm Workers Get New Housing Through Innovative Program
Migrant workers on several farms in Columbia County are receiving new living quarters thanks to a unique program created by the Columbia Hudson Partnership.
