About: Minisink Angle

The Minisink Angle was an angle created in a patent boundary during the 18th century, mostly within the present borders of Orange and Ulster counties in southeastern New York State. In creating this boundary adjustment, the proprietors of the 1704 Minisink Patent attempted to expand their patent boundary northeastward, at the expense of those with an interest in the adjacent 1694 Evans Patent, which had been resumed (reclaimed) by the English crown and was being subdivided by the colonial governors into grants to prospective settlers and investors. The lands of the Evans Patent had in turn originated as two large, contiguous tracts purchased by Governor Thomas Dongan in 1684-85 from the Esopus Indians and the Murderer's Creek tribe.