Esopus River

Ulster County, NY, Colonial Dutch Archive Now Online in English

August 5, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In 1652, the first Anglo-Dutch colonists began arriving in the fertile lowlands of the Esopus River Valley in what is now Ulster County, NY, where the valley passes close to the confluence of the Hudson River and Rondout Creek at modern-day Kingston.

Their earliest colonial records, written in an archaic form of Dutch by colonial secretaries not known for their gifted penmanship, are now freely available online in their entirety in English for the first time. [Read more…] about Ulster County, NY, Colonial Dutch Archive Now Online in English

Nieuw Dorp, Now & Then: Dutch History in Ulster County

February 24, 2024 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Traveling from Washington D.C. to Milwaukee, Dutch journalist Bas Blokker makes a stop-over in Hurley, Ulster County, NY, and discovers its Dutch history. His curiosity is piqued and he dives into the past to find the nineteenth-century views of the Dutch colonizers very different from modern ones.

During the last five years, I always crossed the Susquehanna River just north of Baltimore when driving from my house in Washington DC to New York. Once on the bridge the same scene unfolded again and again in my mind’s eye: a sailing ship changing course from the Chesapeake Bay to enter the river’s mouth and drop anchor at what is now Havre de Grace or Garret Island. [Read more…] about Nieuw Dorp, Now & Then: Dutch History in Ulster County

2024 Catskills Fire Tower Challenge Underway

February 15, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

For nearly a century, observers watched the forests of New York State, including the Catskill and Adirondack Forest Preserve, from more than 100 fire towers perched atop the highest peaks, to search for dangerous, telltale signs of forest fires. The 2024 Catskills Fire Tower Challenge highlights the park’s remaining public fire towers. [Read more…] about 2024 Catskills Fire Tower Challenge Underway

Man Claims “Being Hunted” by Catskills Hiking Partner

August 22, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Early Monday morning on August 21, at about 2:45 am, New York State Forest Ranger Martin received a call from Ray Brook Dispatch about an injured subject on Mount Tremper. The peak is located near the hamlet of Phoenicia, in the valley of Esopus Creek in the town of Shandaken in the Catskills in Ulster County, NY. [Read more…] about Man Claims “Being Hunted” by Catskills Hiking Partner

Ulster County’s Historic ‘Osterhoudt Flats’ Protected; New Trail Planned

August 13, 2023 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

In July, the Open Space Institute (OSI) has acquired the historic 90-acre Osterhoudt Flats property that is expected to host a multi-use community trail in the Town of Marbletown, Ulster County, NY. OSI purchased the 90-acre property on Atwood Road from landowners Claude and Holly Osterhoudt. [Read more…] about Ulster County’s Historic ‘Osterhoudt Flats’ Protected; New Trail Planned

Ulster County, Ramapough Lenape Renewing 1665 Esopus Treaty

August 2, 2022 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

On October 7, 1665, a peace treaty was signed between the indigenous Esopus people (the Ramapough Munsee Lunaape Nation / Ramapough Lenape Nation) and European settlers in what is now Ulster County, NY. The treaty brought to a close hostilities between the two parties that had begun in 1659, known as the Esopus Wars. [Read more…] about Ulster County, Ramapough Lenape Renewing 1665 Esopus Treaty

DEC Expands Review of Ashokan Reservoir Releases

February 11, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the agency is requiring the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) to undertake additional analysis and prepare a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for releases from the city’s Ashokan Reservoir. [Read more…] about DEC Expands Review of Ashokan Reservoir Releases

Comments Sought On Ashokan Reservoir Water Release Plans

December 21, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released of two draft documents related to water releases from New York City’s Ashokan Reservoir for public review and comment. DEC is also hosting a virtual public hearing on these draft documents on February 4th, 2021. [Read more…] about Comments Sought On Ashokan Reservoir Water Release Plans

New Documentary On Esopus Creek, From Headwaters to the Hudson

November 30, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

On Friday, December 4, at 7 p.m., Tobe Carey will take to Zoom to introduce three cuts from his latest documentary, Mountain River: The Esopus Creek, Headwaters to the Hudson.

This feature-length film follows the Esopus Creek from its headwaters on Slide Mountain in New York’s Catskill Mountains, to the Ashokan Reservoir and on to the Hudson River at Saugerties, NY. [Read more…] about New Documentary On Esopus Creek, From Headwaters to the Hudson

Historic Huguenot St Planning Seasonal Nature Walks

January 15, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Historic Huguenot Street is set to host four seasonal nature walks in 2019 at the Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary and the Mohonk Preserve led by ethno ecologist and founder of Wild Hudson Valley Justin Wexler, who specializes in folklore and land use among the native people of the Hudson Valley, thanks to a gift from the Thomas and Corinne Nyquist Foundation. [Read more…] about Historic Huguenot St Planning Seasonal Nature Walks

Washington Irving’s Spooky Tale of Mamakating Hollow

October 23, 2014 by John Conway Leave a Comment

It was once without question the best known ghost story set in Sullivan County, written by one of America’s most respected writers, and yet it is largely unknown today.

It combines detailed descriptions of the rich and bountiful beauty of this area in the 19th century with cleverly conceived ghouls as hideous as any in American literature.

It is Washington Irving’s 1838 short story “Hans Swartz: A Marvelous Tale of Mamakating Hollow” and it is still appropriate reading this Halloween season, more than 170 years after it was penned. [Read more…] about Washington Irving’s Spooky Tale of Mamakating Hollow

New Netherland & The Esopus Wars

December 17, 2013 by James Blackburn 7 Comments

The Esopus Wars were fought primarily between the Munsee Esopus and the New Netherland colonists in 1659-1663. The image of an “Indian” war most often conjures up scenes of the American West, yet this conflict took place right in the proverbial backyard of the Hudson Valley.

The conflicts were centered around the settlement of Wiltwijck, a place we know today as Kingston. The conflict completely changed the power dynamic of the region, from one dominated by American Indians to European colonists. While from another angle, a look at the war’s participants offers a view of the diverse population that composed Dutch New York. [Read more…] about New Netherland & The Esopus Wars

Preservation Failures: The Hardenbergh House

July 18, 2013 by A. J. Schenkman 29 Comments

My previous post about Weigand’s Tavern was written about an historic structure, one of the oldest in Newburgh, which was in peril. Sadly, it is but one instance of many; there are too many cases in other parts of Ulster and Orange counties.

Another example is the Johannes G. Hardenbergh house, which was introduced to me by a fellow firefighter who explored its remains as a young child. This post will be about what happens when a local community does not, or can not, move fast enough to save a piece of history in time. [Read more…] about Preservation Failures: The Hardenbergh House

Touring Old Mine Road: The Esopus-Minisink Trail

September 12, 2012 by A. J. Schenkman 2 Comments

The other day, driving home from Kingston, I could not help but notice the sea of New York State Education Department signs (NYSED) that lined the roadside. The blue and yellow plaques are designed to alert those passing by of significant historic events that had occurred somewhere in the vicinity of the signs. These signs made me think about when I lived in Boston and followed that city’s Freedom Trail. [Read more…]

AJ Schenkman: The Old Senate House

March 23, 2012 by A. J. Schenkman Leave a Comment

Kingston, New York, located in the Mid-Hudson Valley’s Ulster County, has been known for many things during its long history. It was once a center of commerce, where valuable goods were shipped up and down the Hudson River. It was also known for producing magnificent wheat. [Read more…] about AJ Schenkman: The Old Senate House

Tracing Your Ancestors to the Dutch Settlers

June 2, 2010 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Theodore P. Wright, Jr., Ph.D., Vice President of the Dutch Settlers Society of Albany and a trustee of the New Netherland Institute, will discuss resources to aid in tracing your ancestors to the Dutch Settlers, specifically in an area under the jurisdiction of the Court of Rensselaerswijck prior to the year 1665 or in Esopus (Kingston, NY) prior to the year 1661. The program will be held in Librarians Room, New York State Library, Cultural Education Center, 7th floor 310 Madison Avenue, Albany 12230 on Thursday, June 17th, 12:15 – 1:15 PM Online registration is available.

The Dutch Settlers Society of Albany was founded in 1924, in connection with the celebration of the tercentenary of the settlement of the City, and was instituted to: perpetuate the memory and virtues of the individuals who resided here during the time it was a Dutch colony; and to collect and preserve records and information concerning the history and settlement of Albany and its vicinity, including genealogical records of the settlers and their descendants without regard to race, creed, or country of origin.

For more information about this program, contact Sheldon Wein or Mary Beth Bobish at NYSLTRN@mail.nysed.gov, or call at 518-474-2274.

Esopus River

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