Just minutes from Interstate 84, Walden  is a favorite for metropolitan and local commuters alike. Whether your work destination is New York City, Middletown or Dutchess County, this quiet upstate New York Village blends small home town life-style with bedroom communities on its outskirts. As of the 2009 census there is a population of about 6998 people with a median family income of $51,000. The village is bisected by the Wallkill River. There are two waterfalls and dams on the river within the village limits, known as the Great and Little Falls.

Walden Photo Gallery

Because of the dams uses for power and major railway connections in the area, Walden became a center for textiles mills.  Although the mills closed after a few decades, Walden's leaders encouraged knife makers to relocate to Walden. One company, New York Knife Co., manufactured all the cutlery for the Union Army during the Civil War.  Fueled by the successes of Walden's manufacturing, many new companies sprung up in Walden manufacturing products like engines, clothing, paper bags, gyroscopes, and much more.  The old knife manufacturing buildings are still standing along the Wallkill River and some of the catacombs are still in place on the banks of the Great Falls.

One other historical site that is praiseworthy is the Jacob T. Walden house.  A stone house that stands on North Montgomery Street was built in the 1730s.  Jacob T. Walden, whom the village is named, resided in the house with his family beginning in the 1820s. Today, it houses the Walden Historical Society, and is open to the public as a museum on a limited basis.