Ulster County

Historic Huguenot Street Lecture Series Set

February 3, 2015 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Historic Huguenot Street has announced its first events of the new year: a three-part lecture series with Ulster County Historian Anne Gordon. The lecture series will kick off on Saturday, February 7, at 4 pm.

In honor of Black History Month, this first lecture – entitled “From Isabella to Sojourner: A Slave in Ulster County” – will focus on the life of local abolitionist hero Sojourner Truth, from a childhood in slavery to her bold step into freedom. [Read more…] about Historic Huguenot Street Lecture Series Set

Winter Recreation Resorts In The Catskills

December 4, 2014 by John Conway 1 Comment

Time was that the Sullivan County Catskills were as popular as any summer tourist destination in the country. And as far back as the 19th century, some enterprising hotel owners attempted to translate that popularity into year around success.

Boosted by the patronage of those seeking a cure from tuberculosis, in the 1880s the Ontario and Western Railway began advertising the area as a winter health resort, publishing its annual “Winter Homes” brochure in addition to the popular “Summer Homes” booklet. [Read more…] about Winter Recreation Resorts In The Catskills

Casino Push Recalls 1960s Catskills Nuke Project

September 30, 2014 by John Conway 1 Comment

Even those who are not particularly astute observers of the current battle for casino licenses have recognized that the struggle has devolved into one in which some of those in the running have resorted to pointing out how desperate they are.

Sullivan and Ulster Counties seem to be in the lead in this dubious category, and although it will likely be worth it if it lands a casino for one or both, it remains to be seen what the long term impact of such reverse promotion will be, especially if no casinos are forthcoming. [Read more…] about Casino Push Recalls 1960s Catskills Nuke Project

Ulster County: The Borden Family of Wallkill

July 14, 2014 by A. J. Schenkman 9 Comments

I have worked across from the old Borden Estate for over 10 years. Only recently have I started to gain a real appreciation of the role of the Borden Family not only in the history of Wallkill, NY, but also the education of its children.

The Borden Family used their fortune to make the lives of those less fortunate a little better. Nowhere is this made more evident than with Penelope Borden. Her many accomplishments are often overshadowed by her sister Marion as well as her father John G. Borden. [Read more…] about Ulster County: The Borden Family of Wallkill

Uptown Kingston House Tour On Sunday

June 16, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Tucked away in the Mid-Hudson Valley’s Ulster County is one of New York’s oldest communities – Uptown Kingston. Also known as the Stockade District, a nod to the protective fence that the early Dutch and Walloon settlers built around their settlement, uptown Kingston is a charming, walkable neighborhood of stunning houses dating from the early 1700s to the turn of the 20th century.

A special house tour on Sunday, June 22nd, highlights this “best kept secret” and features some of the neighborhood’s most stunning homes. [Read more…] about Uptown Kingston House Tour On Sunday

Roebling’s Wire Rope Modernized The D & H Canal

June 10, 2014 by John Conway 2 Comments

John Augustus Roebling celebrated two milestones in June of 1849, his 43^rd birthday and the beginning of construction of the Neversink Aqueduct on the Delaware & Hudson Canal. It was the third of the four aqueducts he would design and build for the canal company, and followed the completion of the Delaware and Lackawaxen Aqueducts the previous year.

Roebling (his given name was actually Johann August) was born in Muhlhausen, in Prussia, on June 12, 1806, the youngest son of Christoph Polycarpa Roebling and Fredericke Dorothea Mueller Roebling. He grew up in a world of private tutors, learned the music of Bach and the poetry of Goethe, and according to some sources, built a model of a suspension bridge when he was nine years old that bore a striking resemblance to what would be his most famous work, the Brooklyn Bridge. He gained admission to the prestigious engineering program at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in Berlin, where he studied languages and philosophy as well as architecture, bridge construction and hydraulics. He graduated in 1826, and went to work for the state, as was the requirement at that time, serving three years building roads in Westphalia. [Read more…] about Roebling’s Wire Rope Modernized The D & H Canal

New Book On Kingston’s IBM Years

June 7, 2014 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

What happens when a giant high-tech corporation opens a massive new plant on the outskirts of a small, rural, historic city? And what happens when it just as suddenly leaves?

In Kingston: The IBM Years (Friends of Historic Kingston, 2014), three prominent college professors, an award-winning novelist, a longtime Ulster County journalist, and two former IBM Kingston employees examine the history of the IBM complex and the work that was conducted there, the impact the facility had on Kingston and its surroundings, what life was like as an “IBMer,” how it influenced regional architecture and thrust a colonial city into the modern age, and the effect of a “boom and bust” cycle on a rural, traditional community. [Read more…] about New Book On Kingston’s IBM Years

Orange and Ulster Students Win Writing Contest

February 14, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Teaching the Hudson Valley (THV) is has announced the results of its third annual K-12 “Writing about Place” contest. In the coming weeks many of the poems and essays submitted will be published on THV’s blog.

In addition, the following top-scoring authors will host their classmates as they visit the places they wrote about. [Read more…] about Orange and Ulster Students Win Writing Contest

Historic Huguenot St Hires Historian to Lead Strategy

February 12, 2014 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz has appointed Dr. Taylor Stoermer, formerly of Colonial Williamsburg and Brown University, as Director of Strategy, Development, and Interpretation. According to a recent press release: “He is responsible for managing an ambitious strategic planning process over the next nine months to establish a new, sustainable foundation for Huguenot Street that strengthens its ties with the past, with modern guests, and with the broader regional community.”

Dr. Stoermer will also oversee historic interpretation, programming, marketing, fundraising, public communication, and political affairs. Rebecca Mackey remains at Huguenot Street in her recently announced role as Director of Operations, responsible for all administrative, site improvement and restoration, financial, and day-to-day operations of the site. [Read more…] about Historic Huguenot St Hires Historian to Lead Strategy

General Washington in 1782:
Traveling the Rondout Valley, Visiting Kingston

January 23, 2014 by A. J. Schenkman 4 Comments

In early spring 1782, General George Washington arrived at the Hasbrouck House in Newburgh, New York for his longest stay – 16-1/2 months. Washington’s time at the Hasbrouck House was one of watchful waiting, followed by a cessation of hostilities, and finally an end to the war.

From the Hasbrouck House Washington made a short trip through the scenic Roundout Valley, stopping at Stone Ridge (or Stoney Ridge), on his way to Kingston, which the British had burned in 1777. En route to his destination, Washington stopped to dine and sleep at the home of Major Cornelius Evert Wynkoop. [Read more…] about General Washington in 1782:
Traveling the Rondout Valley, Visiting Kingston