The Tappan tribe were a Lenape people who inhabited the region radiating from the Hudson Palisades and the New York – New Jersey Highlands at the time of European colonization in the 17th century.^[3] "Tappan" is derived from the Lenape word "tuphanne" thought to mean "cold water."

The first Orange County courthouse was built in 1691 in Tappan, though by 1737, sessions alternated between Tappan and Goshen. The first school house in Rockland County was built in 1711 in Tappan. It was used as a school until 1860. There would not be another school in the county until late in the 18th century.