The Smith Clove meeting began in 1790 as a preparative meeting under the Cornwall meeting, a few miles to the north. They met in a member's home until the need for a separate meeting house became apparent after a decade, and the land for the current meeting house was purchased in 1801. The name Smith Clove came from the original landowner of the area from the Cheesecocks Patent, William Smith, and the Dutch term "kloof", for a steep, narrow valley such as the one in which Highland Mills is located, between Schunemunk Mountain and the Hudson Highlands, where Woodbury Creek flows.