In 1697 Adolphus Philipse, a wealthy Province of New York landowner and merchant, purchased a tract from Dutch traders which received British Royal sanction as the Highland Patent. Comprising roughly 250 square miles, it extended approximately 13 miles along the east shore of the Hudson River, from Annsville Creek to the Fishkill Creek, and eastward some 20 or so miles to the border of the Colony of Connecticut. Philipstown was first settled in the westernmost of this parcel in around 1715. In 1754 the Highland Patent, subsequently known as the Philipse Patent, was divided among Philipse heirs into nine parcels. In 1788 Philipstown was established out of the three river lots and part of a fourth inland to the north, becoming one of the three original towns in what is now Putnam County. In 1806 a very small portion north of the Hudson Highlands by the mouth of Fishkill Creek was split off from Philipstown and given to the Town of Fishkill. Philipstown's main population centers are the village of Cold Spring, the hamlet of Garrison, and the village of Nelsonville. In 1806, part of the town was used to form the town of Fishkill. Putnam Valley was part of Philipstown until 1839, and a small portion of the town north of Putnam Valley was transferred to Kent in 1877.
Philipstown has two weekly newspapers: The , founded in 2010 and published on Friday, and the Putnam County News & Recorder, founded in 1868 and published on Wednesday.
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 9,662 people, 3,685 households, and 2,591 families residing in the town. The population density was 198.0 people per square mile. There were 4,164 housing units at an average density of 85.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 93.1% White, 1.6% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.9% of the population. There were 3,685 households out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.2% were married couplesliving together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 23.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.02. In the town, the population was spread out with 28.1% under the age of 20, 3.8% from 20 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 35.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males. As of 2016, the median income for a household in the town was $102,097, and the median income for a family was $127,034. Males had a median income of $84,313 versus $64,348 for females. The per capita income for the town was $52,755. About 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 4.3 of those age 65 or over.
