Between the ranges of the Appalachian Mountains as they extend northward into New York State, lies the Valley of the Neversink river and of the Bashas Kill. From these the water flows into the Delaware River at Port Jervis.

The Kitatiny mountains of New Jersey becomes the Shawangunk range in New York and form the southeastern border of the valley. The Blue Ridge mountains of Pennsylvania extend northeasterly into New York, form the northwesterly border of the valley, and extend into the foot hills of the Catskills. Between these mountain ranges lies the valley of the Neversink, the Meckheckemeck of the early days, two hundred to four hundred feet below their crests. It is from one to two miles wide. It is said to have been part of the bed of a vast lake extending to the Hudson before the erosion of the mountain which resulted in the formation of the Delaware Water Gap. At a point near the junction of the Neversink with the Bashas Kill there is a level tract of land extending the width of the valley for about three miles.

The early settlers trailed down the valley from Kingston and came upon this flat land covered with a tall heavy grass (Rheet Grass) about 1690 and tarried there. About 1696 they purchased these lands from the Indians, and settled among them. On Oct. 14th, 1697, a patent for 1200 acres covering this fiat land was granted to Jacob Caudebec, Peter Gumaer, Thomas, Bernarbas, and Anthony Swartwout and their associates. This "Cuddeback" patent is described as "at Maghakameck, beginning at the west bounds of lands called Napeneck, etc., . . . to a small run of water called by the Indians 'Assawaghkemeck,' etc., (a small stream flowing into east side of the Neversink opposite Huguenot) and so along the said run of water and the lands of Mansjwor, the Indian."

This included the level fertile low lands from near Cuddebackville to Huguenot, and was later called the "Peenpack flats." Near the center of this "Caudebec patent" there is a knoll extending longitudinally of the valley, which tradition gives as the location of the homes of the first settlers. It is oval, about three hundred yards long, fifty yards wide, and elevated above the surrounding low lands approximately twenty feet.

Pioneer Knoll

West Slope of Knoll

Northwest Slope of Knoll

Spring Brook of Knoll

Northeast Slope of Knoll

This pioneer knoll, today grass-grown and a pasture, gives evidence of its former occupancy. Depressions indicate the location of these log houses. At its most southerly point, a larger, longer depression surrounded by fragments of a stone foundation now covered by earth and sod, indicates the location of an old fort erected at a later date. About twenty yards east of this knoll is a large brook of the clearest spring water, while on its eastern slope is located the remnant of the spring which furnished them water. The accompanying maps and views show these points, and also show that these pioneers built their houses in the most approved manner of their day. The depressions indicative of their cellars are near each other on different sides, on the brow of the knoll. Between them is the slightly elevated rounded top of the knoll. Access to and communication with neighbors from houses thus located could have been easy, quick and continuous.