Monroe, located in southern Orange County, New York, encompasses the villages of Harriman, Monroe and Kiryas Joel. As of the 2000 census, Monroe had 31,407 inhabitants.
In 1707, Queen Anne of England granted a land patent, the Cheesecock Patent, to one woman and six men. Although the first white settlers were Dutch, the English began moving north from Long Island because of Monroe’s rich resources. The town was officially incorporated in 1799. Shortly thereafter, its name was changed twice; in 1801, it became Southfield and, in 1808, it became Monroe, named after the fifth president, James Monroe.
Monroe is located in an area rich in resources. The surrounding land has a wealth of iron, lumber, lime and quartz. Iron mining became one of the most lucrative businesses in Monroe industry, until after the Civil War. Sterling Iron Works was established in 1752, and its furnace forged the first ship’s anchor ever made in New York.
Monroe is famous for is its position as a stop along the Underground Railroad for slaves escaping from the South. The hideout was in the home of John Milton Bull, a known philanthropist.
After the Civil War, cheese production rose in Monroe. Attempt to find a processing technique that would allow cheese to be shipped without spoiling, Emil Frey experimented with imitating Bismark cheese, using Swiss cheese that was defective or broken. This imitation cheese became later known as Velveeta.
