POTTER HOLLOW

Potter Hollow, New York is a hamlet in the southwest corner of the Town of Rensselaerville, in Albany County, near the lines of Greene and Schoharie counties. Together with nearby Cooksburg and Preston Hollow, it is officially a census-designated place called Preston-Potter Hollow. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of Preston-Potter Hollow was 367 in 2020. The hamlet is home to Potter Hollow Garden and Potter Hollow Sheep.

While Potter Hollow is now all but deserted, the land bears witness to a long past of human activity, and the historic buildings that still stand along the main road are redolent of a more bustling time. This was one of many agricultural communities in the hinterlands of the Hudson Valley established in the early republic by people who came to build homes, work the land, and provide for their families. Before the arrival of farmers, the hollow was in the territory of indigenous people who foraged, hunted, and altered the environment with fire for thousands of years.

As American society has turned away from agrarianism and the pursuit of happiness, towards urban modernity and the pursuit of money and status, this place has retained something of the old way of life. Today, residents and visitors alike appreciate the historic rural character of Potter Hollow.