Hendrick Hudson discovered the Hudson River in 1609, sailing his ship the Half Moon north anchoring at Verplanck’s Point. Cortlandt derived its name from the Van Cortlandt family who began purchasing land in 1677 from the Croton River north to Anthony’s Nose and east to Connecticut.  Cortlandt was the site of many skirmishes during the Revolutionary War.  Local roads, such as Watch Hill and Furnace Dock Road, where the furnaces that made ammunition for the war effort were located, bear names reflecting the Revolutionary time. With a total area of 34.5 square miles and an estimated 1998 population of about 28,672 persons, the unincorporated Town of Cortlandt composition in relation to the County remained constant from 1990 to 1998 with about 7.8 percent of the County's total area and 3.2 percent of its population.  This percentage remained constant from 1990 to 1998.  Although much less densely populated than the county as a whole, Cortlandt's population density is slightly higher than the average for the North County communities.