History, Natural History & the Arts
Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) has been awarded a $500,000 Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant support much-needed major repairs and restoration work at the Bevier-Elting House (ca. 1700, 1735, and 1760) in New Paltz.
The project, expected to start in 2022 and continue over the next five years, is one of 49 projects in 29 states funded by the SAT program this year. [Read more…] about New Paltz Bevier-Elting House Restoration Project Planned
New York State Parks is partnering with the Open Space Institute and the Town and Village of New Paltz to improve a 3.5-mile section of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, a key link in the Empire State Trail in Ulster County. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley’s Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Improvements Coming
Jacob Wynkoop was born in New Paltz, New York, in 1829, the child of two former slaves, Thomas and Jane Deyo Wynkoop. Wynkoop had an exceptional and varied life for any man of his time.
Among the first African Americans to buy land in the community, he also served in the Union Army during the Civil War, organized politically on behalf of African American citizens in town, and built a series of homes that today still define a neighborhood in the village of New Paltz. [Read more…] about Black Builder Jacob Wynkoop Exhibit Goes Online
Johannes LeFevre was born in New Paltz on May 26, 1837, to Josiah P. LeFevre and his wife, Elizabeth. Around New Paltz, his family was known as the Bontecoe LeFevres because of their large farm, just outside town.
The oldest child of seven, Johannes was born in his father’s stone house on what is today White Duck Road in New Paltz, off Route 32. The home had been built by Daniel LeFevre. Later, Josiah built a home in 1849, on the opposite side of Route 32. Both houses remain standing and look much as they did during Johannes’s lifetime.
[Read more…] about Lion Courage: A New Paltz Soldier During The Civil War
Historic Huguenot Street is presenting a new online exhibit, Jane Deyo Wynkoop. Wynkoop is believed to be the first African American — man or woman — to buy land in the Village of New Paltz, in Ulster County, New York. [Read more…] about New Paltz’s Jane Deyo Wynkoop Exhibit Goes Online
A direct descendant of French Huguenots who settled New Paltz in 1678, Kenneth E. Hasbrouck Sr. had an important influence on Ulster County local history. He served as County Historian, Town of Gardiner Historian and was a founder and president of the Huguenot Historical Society (HHS). [Read more…] about Historian Spotlight: Ulster County’s Ken Hasbrouck
Historic Huguenot Street has announced their 2019 Haunted Huguenot Street tours, set for the month of October. At nightfall, the historic houses and grounds will set the stage for the restless spirits of New Paltz to tell the harrowing stories of how their lives came to a tragic ending, and then what happened afterwards. [Read more…] about Haunted Historic Huguenot Street Events In October
Historic Huguenot Street has commissioned fine artist Len Tantillo to create a series of three paintings, looking at Huguenot Street during different times in history. The paintings will become part of the permanent collection at Historic Huguenot Street, enhancing the museum’s interpretations and aiding visitors in understanding what the street has looked like in the past. [Read more…] about 1680s Huguenot Redoubt Painting, First of Series, On View in New Paltz
Ulster County Transportation Council (UCTC), in partnership with the Village of New Paltz, Wallkill Valley Land Trust, and Historic Huguenot Street, has announced the beginning of a planning and community engagement process addressing the future use and design of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail in the Village of New Paltz. [Read more…] about Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Meetings Planned
Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) is set to present the exhibit “’Never Was a Slave’: Jacob Wynkoop, Free and Black in 19th-Century New Paltz” at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center, June 1 through July 14, 2019. [Read more…] about Exhibit on Black Builder Jacob Wynkoop in New Paltz