This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/VRB.2ACE/2511.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Eastern Columbia County was once considered Massachusetts. Hillsdale was a Massachusetts colony settlement by an earlier name. Contact the Columbia County historian for further information on "The Oblong" as the area was known before becoming New York.