STONY POINT

unincorporated village and town (township), Rockland county, southeastern New York, U.S. It lies on the west bank of the Hudson River, about 38 miles (61 km) north of midtown New York City. The name derives from the rocky promontory jutting into the Hudson. The Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site (part of the Palisades Interstate Park) commemorates an event in July 1779 during the American Revolution, when a strongly fortified British post was stormed and captured by General Anthony Wayne's American troops. The Treason (Joshua Hett Smith) House (now demolished) was where General Benedict Arnold and Major John Andr met (September 21, 1780) to arrange for the betrayal of West Point to the British; the site at West Haverstraw is now occupied by Helen Hayes (orthopedic) Hospital. Traprock (basalt) is quarried, and gypsum is processed locally. Area town, 28 square miles (72 square km). Pop. (1990) town, 12,814; (1998 est.) town, 14,337.