Mahopac (/ˈmeɪəˌpæk/ or /ˌməˈhoʊpæk/) is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the town of Carmel in Putnam County, New York, United States.

During the French and Indian War, Wappingers throughout Putnam County traveled north to Massachusetts to fight for the British.

[4] When the British Crown refused to return their land after the war, most Wappingers abandoned the area, concentrating in Stockbridge, Massachusetts before relocating with other displaced Native Americans elsewhere.

With troop encampments in nearby Patterson, Yorktown, West Point, and Danbury, Connecticut, it was a cross-roads between key Colonial garrisons.

Soldiers were stationed in Mahopac Falls to guard the Red Mills, an important center for grinding grain and storing flour for the American troops.

Upon Colonial victory in the Revolution, the Tory-sympathizing Philipse family lost its claim to the land,[5] which was then resold to farmers and speculators by New York State.

Hotels would often have competing races of decorated horse-drawn coaches bringing passengers from the train to Lake Mahopac.

The locale remained primarily a summer resort until after World War II, when nearby highways such as the Taconic State and Saw Mill River parkways began to make travel by automobile convenient.

The world record brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), which weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces (3.3 kg), was caught in Lake Mahopac on August 1, 2009 by angler Glenn Collacuro.

[13] In spite of a 3–2 vote by the Carmel Town Board[14] in favor of the traditional pronunciation,[15] the modern-day first-syllable-inflected "MAY-o-pac" is used by a large number of residents today.

Stressing the similar pronunciation of other Native American communities nearby, lifelong Mahopac resident and retired Putnam County legislator and assistant to the Putnam County Executive Regina Morini affirmed, "Mohegan, Mohansic, Mahopac.