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Brewster, Southeast Residents Don't Have One Place To Call Home

BREWSTER, N.Y. -- For multiple parts of Putnam County, how big a community it is  depends on what criteria you use.

Brewster's Erin Meagher, pictured next to an historical map of Putnam County.

Brewster's Erin Meagher, pictured next to an historical map of Putnam County.

Photo Credit: Tom Auchterlonie

While municipal boundaries are one way of defining a community's size, zip code size can lead to misidentification.

Take the Village of Brewster and the Town of Southeast as an example. While a municipal map will show that Brewster is a small area within Southeast, the two communities share the Brewster zip code.

Erin Meagher, a Brewster resident who is president of the Landmarks Preservation Society of Southeast, analyzed the confusion that arises as a result. Meagher, who discussed the history of both municipalities, said the zip code “makes it very hard for people to tell where you are.”

Southeast was started in 1788, but Brewster was not incorporated until 1896. Prior to incorporation, it was referred to by multiple names. The names, according to Meagher, included Brewster's Station – it was in reference to Walter Brewster's railroad station – and then just Brewster's. Meagher likened Brewster to a hamlet before it became a village.

“The Village of Brewster always had its own post office,” she said, noting the locations that the post office was located in. Today, the Brewster post office is located in Southeast.

Meagher also mentioned that Southeast's building department, which does not have jurisdiction in Brewster, is located in the village.

Her father, Neil Meagher, a Kent resident who works in a mail station in the village, mentioned the concern from some people about coming into the village, which was due to negative publicity mistakenly connected to Brewster. Regarding the village, Neil Meagher noted that “very little happens here.”

Erin Meagher discussed another example of overlap in Putnam, which involves Lake Carmel, a community that is part of the Town of Kent instead of the Town of Carmel.

“It's definitely its own identity," said Meagher, who grew up there.

Another example is the Cold Spring zip code, which includes the Village of Cold Spring but also the Village of Nelsonville.

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