The Railroad That Bypassed Somers

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Somers did not develop around a railroad station, and that single fact helps elucidate much of the Somers NY community we recognize today.

In the early nineteenth century, Somers—often referred to as Somerstown Plains—was hardly a sleepy crossroads. The town supported hat and carriage factories, hotels, general stores, mills, an iron mine, and a weekly newspaper. Farmers shared the local economy with merchants, cabinetmakers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and tradespeople. Goods and passengers moved through the village on a network of roads, turnpikes, and stagecoach routes.

Then the transportation map changed.

The railroad went to Brewster.

The Town of Somers’ official history records that a railroad line reached Brewster in the 1840s while bypassing the center of Somers. The consequence was not an immediate disappearance but a long redirection of growth. This bypass affected local growth for the next hundred years, as commerce increasingly gathered where trains stopped. Some manufacturers and institutions moved closer to rail service, while Somers retained more of its agricultural landscape and crossroads character.

Interestingly, the railroad was not entirely absent from Somers’ story. Nearby stations at Purdys, Croton Falls, and Lincolndale provided local farms access to city markets. This connection helped agriculture pivot toward dairy production and fruit growing—goods that could be transported south more efficiently.

Thus, Somers was shaped by the railroad in an unusual way: not by having a major station at its center, but by existing beside the growth the railroad stimulated elsewhere.

Water changed the map again.

Between 1890 and 1910, the Croton and Muscoot Rivers were flooded as part of New York City’s reservoir system. Farms, mills, and businesses vanished beneath or beside the new water infrastructure, changing the physical landscape of Somers substantially.

The water did more than remove parts of the old economy; it laid the foundation for another type of community.

Starting in the late 1920s, small lake developments emerged as vacation havens for summer visitors and farmers’ guests. What began as seasonal getaways became permanent residences. Lake Lincolndale, Lake Purdys, and Shenorock grew into year-round neighborhoods—places where summer cottages were enclosed, expanded, and adapted into full-time homes.

This history remains visible in the housing stock. Around the lakes, homes do not always fit a single architectural moment as many were never built in one single moment. Their footprints tell a layered story: cottage first, then insulation, additions, porches, garages, and generations of practical adaptation.

From weekend town to commuter town.

Automobile travel prompted another shift. Somers’ rolling countryside attracted New York City weekenders, and after World War II, former farmland was developed to meet the growing demand for housing.

The arrival of Interstate 684 in the 1970s accelerated both residential and commercial growth. Heritage Hills began during this time, while later constructions of IBM and PepsiCo campuses added a corporate presence to a town that had spent more than a century without a rail-centered downtown.

Somers transformed into a commuter town—but on its own terms. Rather than a single dense center radiating from a station, development spread among hamlets, lake communities, major roads, and large residential neighborhoods.

That is why transportation still retains a personal touch here. Route 202 is not just an abstract line on a state map; it encompasses the school run, grocery run, the routine commute to work, and links the town’s diverse communities. Current plans to repave portions of the state-road network through Somers reflect the ongoing theme of accessibility that has always influenced how the town functions.

It’s safe to say that few people will miss the potholes.

The market reflects the place.

Somers' latest real estate market figures tell an interesting story about increased activity in a town where available inventory remains relatively limited.

Over the 12 months ending September 2026, 62 single-family homes sold, compared with 36 during the previous 12-month period — an increase of 72.2%. New listings also increased, from 53 to 70 homes.

The rolling 12-month median sale price reached $847,500, compared with $802,500 a year earlier, an increase of 5.6%.

Homes spent an average of 35 days on the market, down from 50 days, while sellers received an average of 103.3% of their original asking price.

Average inventory remained relatively limited at 11 homes, compared with 10 during the previous 12-month period.

Those numbers suggest that additional homes coming onto the market were met with substantial buyer activity. But Somers is not a uniform housing market. Acreage, setting, condition, updates, neighborhood, and a property's individual history can make a meaningful difference in how buyers respond.

The broader market provides context. The individual property tells the rest of the story.

What the detour preserved.

It would be overly simplistic to claim that missing the railroad preserved Somers exactly as it was. Reservoirs, roads, highways, corporate campuses, and residential development have all transformed the town.

Nonetheless, the sequence of events matters.

Because growth did not center around a primary rail stop, Somers retained more open land and developed a less concentrated layout. Today, nearly all of the town lies within the Croton Watershed. Its historic hamlet, lake neighborhoods, parks, and preserves endow it with a character that feels distinctly different from nearby station towns.

Somers has not been untouched by transportation; rather, it has been shaped by every route that arrived, every one that passed nearby, and every new method people found to reach this vibrant community.

Once you grasp that, the town’s roads, lakes, neighborhoods—and yes, its commute—make considerably more sense.