Appliance Repair in Howells, NY

A Brief History of Howells, NY

Howells takes its name from the Howell family, who were among the earliest settlers of the Town of Blooming Grove in the 1700s. Like much of inland Orange County at that time, the area was settled by Dutch and English farming families who cleared the land and established homesteads along the fertile lowlands between the Ramapo and Shawangunk foothills.

The hamlet developed slowly as a small farming community throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Several of the historic stone farmhouses built by early settlers still stand along Howells Road and surrounding lanes, serving as visible reminders of the area's deep agricultural roots. The Howell family name — attached to the road, the post office, and later the hamlet itself — reflects the outsized influence that founding settler families had on the early geography and culture of Orange County's interior towns.

Through the 20th century, Howells retained its rural residential character even as neighboring communities like Monroe and Washingtonville grew into suburban centers. Today the hamlet remains a quiet enclave of single-family homes set among mature trees and open land, attracting residents who value privacy and small-community living while staying within commuting distance of the greater New York metropolitan area.