Gomez Mill House

In 1714, Luis Moses Gomez, who had fled from the Spanish inquisition, purchased 6,000 acres of land along the Hudson Highlands where several Indian trails converged. At this site, he built a fieldstone block house into the side of a hill and by a stream that became known as “Jews Creek.”

The walls of the house run about three feet thick still stand today. Native Americans came to hold ceremonial rites at their campground at the Duyfil’s Danskammer (Devil’s Dance Chamber) on the shores of the Hudson on Gomez’s property. For some thirty years, Luis Gomez and his sons conducted a thriving fur trade from the home. Gomez became the first president when the synagogue of New York’s Spanish and Portuguese congregation was built.

This same building, years later, became a meeting center of the new American patriots, considering Washington's army was so close by in Newburgh. Later, Gomez Mill was home to various writers and artists such as Dard Hunter.