Text from William Wade Text from William WadeNinety miles from New York, on the east bank of the river, is Rhinebeck Landing, around which are a number of beautiful country residences overlooking the Hudson. Two miles east from this is the village of Rhinebeck, a part of whose original settlers came from the Rhine, and whose inhabitants still retain many marks of their origin.
Rhinebeck Landing was the terminus of the Rondout Ferry. It later came to be known as Rhinecliff. Rhinebeck village is about a mile and a half east or inland of Rhinecliff. According to Rhinebeck's town historian Nancy Kelly, the dock spelled by Wade as Shults was located in the northern part of Rhinebeck, near the present Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge. It served the settlement of Palantine German families which located on land of Henry Beekman about 1715. It should not be confused with the Schatzel Dock which was a name used later and which was located in the area now known as Rhinecliff.
The area noted by Wade as "a part of the original settlers came from the Rhine" is actually the area purchased by Dutch families in 1686. The dock and settlement at the north end was known as Kipsbergen. Kipsbergen became a part of Rhinebeck in 1737.