Rifton Map
Rifton is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 501 at the 2000 census.
Rifton is near the west town line of the Town of Esopus on Route 213.
Rifton had its beginnings as a smattering of several hamlets and communities. Dashville hamlet was the first of the hamlets to be settled. By 1824, several mills had been built along the Wallkill by Ezekiel Eltinge. In 1861, Jeremiah W. Dimick bought the mill in Arnoldton and renamed the community Rifton Glen. Swartekill hamlet was so named because of its location on the Swartekill creek where it meets the Wallkill. The hamlet was home to powder mills as early as 1865.
Nearby cities include Tillson, Poughkeepsie, Lake Katrine, Gardiner, West Hurley.