Around 1683 provincial governor Thomas Dongan purchased the land from the Woaranek people. The first settlement was made in the spring of 1709 by fifty-four Palatine refugees, sponsored by Queen Anne of Great Britain. The settlers named it the Palatine Parish by Quassic. In 1743 a ferry at the foot of First Street had been established between Newburgh and Fishkill Landing (now Beacon, New York). In 1752 the land had been surveyed by Cadwallader Colden and named "Newburgh" after Newburgh in his native Scotland. Shipyards were established and docks and warehouses lined the waterfront.