Category: Exploring Kingston NY

Hudson River Maritime Museum 50 Roundout Landing Kingston, NY 12401

Hudson River Maritime Museum

50 Roundout Landing

Kingston, NY 12401

(845) 338-0583

http://www.hrmm.org/

Open: Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm/Monday-Thursday Closed/Saturday 11:00am-5:00pm

Fee: Adults $9.00/Seniors (over 62) & Children (18 & under) $6.00/Members-Children under 4 years/Active Military Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48003-d285787-Reviews-Hudson_River_Maritime_Museum-Kingston_Catskill_Region_New_York.html?m=19905

The Kingston Hudson River Maritime Museum 50 Roundout Landing

I recently visited the Hudson River Maritime Museum after a boat cruise around the Hudson River and I found this wonderful little under-rated museum to packed with information not just about the history of the Hudson River Valley but the rich history of boating and boat building, the economic impact of the area in mining, brick building, ice manufacturing and cement development.

The Tug Boat display

It was interesting to see how the natural wonders of the area have given the rise to so much development in not just building the area but its long lasting contribution to New York City. This was not just in industry but in the pleasure and shipping boat industries as well.

The Ferry display

One part of the museum is dedicated to transportation up and down the river with sailing and steamboats in the forefront especially how the luxury steamboat industry went full force until about 60 years ago. It was considered the nicest form of transportation to and from New York City. It was interesting how the modern train and car lead to the demise of something that today would be embraced as unique and fun. The pleasure steamboat industry continued on until 1971.

The leisure ferry industry down the Hudson River

Another part of the museum was dedicated to the history and development of the area from the Native American tribes living along the shore and the Dutch settlements to the rise of modern development of manufacturing along the shores to its after effects and clean up in the 1960’s and 70’s. These included fishing, ice manufacturing and brick making.

The Ice Industry on the Hudson River

There were really nice displays on the ship building, sail companies and maritime industries that supported them. The manufacture of raw materials and building supplies because of the natural resources of the Hudson River Valley show how rich in minerals, clay, cement and stone from the cliffs built New York City and how they nearly destroyed nature.

The Brick industry in the Hudson River Valley

The displays tell the stories of activists who saved the area, Robber Barons that exploited it and the everyday people who contributed to making the valley the interesting place that it is today. It showed how protests and free speech saved the Valley from devastating development.

The Alexander Hamilton Ferry ride down the Hudson River

With each room at the museum, there is a story to tell and pictures to explain why the Hudson River Valley and the Kingston Roundout is such an interesting place to see. Outside you can find an example of the Tug Boat industry

The Tug Boat “Mathilda” on the museum grounds

The tugboat display by the riverfront

Take time to guide through the rooms and read the signs and stories. There is a lot to see and do here and make sure to leave plenty of time to walk the grounds and see the tug boat and sailing displays and walk the river front. There is even a display of ships models to explore. It makes for an interesting afternoon.

The ‘Ship Models’ display

History of the Hudson River Maritime Museum

(This information was taken from the Museum’s website and pamphlet)

Hudson River Maritime Museum

The Hudson River Maritime is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries and related industries.

Ship building was very important in the region

The Hudson River Maritime Museum was founded in 1980 to preserve the history and maritime heritage of the Hudson River. Our collections range from steamboats, tugboats and sailboats to the canal system and waterfront industries, dating back to the early 19th Century.

The ferry display

The museum has a library and archives open to researches by appointment. Some of our collections have been digitized and are available online at http://www.hrvh.org/hrmmkingston.

http://www.hrmm.org/

HRMM exhibits cover topics including:

Passenger steam boats, Hudson River rowing, ferries, ecology and conservation, ice boats, tugboats, fishing, ice harvesting, brick making, early exploration, cement production, lighthouses and more. HRMM features a new temporary exhibit every year. Information on exhibits, including online exhibits is available at hrmm.org.

The ‘Cabin Room’ display

Some of the attributes of the museum:

Wooden Boat School:

The Wooden Boat School was opened by the Hudson River Maritime Museum to preserve the rich boat building heritage of the Hudson River Valley. Wooden boat building occurred on Roundout Creek in particular throughout the 19th and 20th centuries including World War I & II and the Korean War.

The ‘Hudson River Weather’ display

Today, the Wooden Boat School offers adult classes, Youth boat program for teens and serves as the headquarters for the Sailing & Rowing School, Sea Scouts Ship 609 and the Kingston Sailing Club.

Kingston Home Port:

A timber framed carbon neutral structure, the Kingston Home Port and Education Center was completed in 2012 to serve as the winter home port and maintenance center for HHRM partner the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater during the winter season. During the summer months, the Home Port serves as an event, lecture and educational space for the museum.

The ‘Steamboat Captain’ display

The Kingston Home Port also functions as the main operational headquarters for the Roundout Rowing Club and the Kingston High School Crew Team.

The ‘Erie Canal’ display

The ‘Erie Canal’ display

The Hudson River Maritime Museum (HRMM) features a variety of programs and events throughout the year including:

*Lighthouse Tours

*Local History tours, including guided walking and car tours.

*Woodworking, maritime art and boat building classes at the Wooden Boat School

*Sailing, boating and rowing classes at the Sailing & Rowing School

*Follow the River Lecture Series

*School Field trips

*Museum Mates monthly family programs

*Free Public Festivals

*Visiting Vessels

*Special members only events-Join today!

The ‘Lighthouse’ display

Volunteer Firemen’s Hall & Museum of Kingston 265 Fair Street Kingston, NY 12402

Volunteer Firemen’s Hall & Museum of Kingston

265 Fair Street

Kingston, NY 12402

(831) 331-0866

https://kingstonvolunteerfiremensmuseum.weebly.com/

Open: The hours vary by the season so please look to the website for the openings. School groups please call for an appointment.

Fee: Free but donations accepted

My review on TripAdvisor:

The Kingston Volunteer Museum during the ‘Kingston Snowflake Festival’

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48003-d3367598-Reviews-Volunteer_Fireman_s_Hall_Museum_of_Kingston-Kingston_New_York.html?m=19905

The antique fire truck outside the firehouse during the Kingston “Snowflake Festival”

I was recently visiting Kingston, NY for an event and while walking around the downtown the doors of the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall & Museum of Kingston was open for visitors. Even if you are not a fire fighter it is such an interesting museum on the history of fire fighting and the role the Kingston Fire Department had in the formation of the City of Kingston.

The early horse drawn fire equipment

The museum welcoming people to the Kingston “Snowflake Festival” in 2022

On the main floor is four pieces of equipment from various stages of the department. The engines are from the turn of the last century featuring horse drawn ladders and steam engines and then the latest equipment from the early teens and twenties from the automotive stage. Each piece of equipment has been carefully maintained and is in pristine shape.

The museum decorated for Christmas for the recent “Kingston Snowflake Festival”

It is interesting to see how different each rig is at that stage of its history but how much has not really changed with the use of the equipment when fighting a fire.

The bay area of the old firehouse with the antique equipment

One of the more interesting pieces in the collection is the beautifully detailed Parade piece from the late 1800’s (circa around 1890’s) which has gorgeous details and intricate craftsmanship work to it. This interesting piece of equipment was the pride of the department on parade day and is one of the few of its type in the country.

The Fire Department Parade Piece

Along the walls is all sorts of pictures of old fires, men who were once members of the department, ribbons and awards, old systems for calling for firemen from the horns that used to sound the alarms to the more modern telegraph equipment to the current paging systems.

The roster upstairs

The fire department equipment pieces

Upstairs you can visit the furnished headquarters of a firehouse circa 1890’s to 1920 with vintage furniture, decorations and composites of firemen long ago. There is even a mannequin of a fire fighter sliding down a pole that leads to the first floor. Here and there are more decorative equipment pieces, furnishings and awards.

The upstairs of the Kingston Volunteer Museum

The museum has a little something for everyone and if you are interesting in knowing more of the history of the fire service and want to hear the stories by members current and retired from the Kingston Fire Department, then the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall & Museum is the place to visit.

Old decorations from fire equipment at the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall & Museum

History of the Museum and Fire Fighting in Kingston, NY:

Ulster County has a remarkable over 350 year history of noble fire fighting. See it up-close and personal at the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall & Museum of Kingston.

The award case upstairs at the firehouse

When Kingston City Hall burned on June 4th, 1927, the third alarm was sounded from the building’s own bell tower before it crashed to the ground. Fire calls in Kingston today are answered through the 911 system with a three minute response time. Ever watched a TV show about firemen and their firehouse? The ‘squawk’ to a call is unmistakable.

The upstairs in the firehouse

Seven volunteer fire companies and the Exempt Association of Kingston recognized the importance of preserving and protecting firematic artifacts as well as establishing a meeting hall for volunteer fire organizations in Kingston and Ulster County. They were charged with finding a permanent home and signed a lease with the City of Kingston for Fair Street’s historic circa 1850 Wiltwyck Fire Station and the rest is history.

The Ladies Auxiliary and rosters

Walk through the large wooden doors to the home away from home of the 19th century firefighters.

The old Kingston, NY firehouse that now houses the museum

Disclaimer: this information was taken directly from the Volunteer Firemen’s Hall & Museum of Kingston pamphlet and I give them full credit for it. Please check out their website for more information.

The living area upstairs in the firehouse decorated for Christmas

The Senate House 296 Fair Street Kingston, NY 12401

The Senate House

296 Fair Street

Kingston, NY 12401

(845) 338-2786

http://www.palisadeparksconservancy.org

http://senatehousekingston.org/

Open: Sunday 1:00pm-5:00pm/Wednesday-Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm (April 15-October 31). Open by Appointment only (November 1-April 14)

Fee: Adults $4.00/Seniors (62+) $3.00/Children under 12 and under Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48003-d3225491-Reviews-Senate_House_State_Historic_Site-Kingston_Catskill_Region_New_York.html

The recently reopened Senate House in 2023

I recently spent my afternoon at the Senate House and Museum in Kingston, NY taking a tour of the museum and the House next door. The Senate House itself had just finished its renovation and the gardens were in full bloom in 2023. It was a quiet afternoon, and I was the only patron for most of the afternoon. The grounds were full of beautiful foliage and flowers, so it was nice to walk around the grounds.

The Senate House story board

The Senate House had just reopened in 2023 after almost a four year renovation and because of the closure during COVID. The grounds are very pretty and well-landscaped and the outside has had a lot done to the gardens. The house was built for merchant Abraham Van Gaasbeek and his family. It stayed in the family for generations.

The Senate House at 296 Fair Street

We were able to tour the inside of the house and see the renovations that the State of New York made on this important structure. The home has been renovated by the state but the tour guide told us not with the historical integrity it should have had. It was not to the total interpretation of the life in the house. Still, it told the story about the people that lived there.

The Senate House Kitchen

Here you see the beehive oven, the working fireplace and many household items including waffle makers, cookie molds and candle making tools. The daily household tasks would be time consuming.

The Dining Space

The bedroom

In the original part of the house, the dining space and bedroom would be in a one room section of the home and as the family got larger, the house was added on to on both sides.

The Parlor

The Parlor was the fanciest room in the house with the best furnishings, decorations and a place of social interactions with guests. This rooms was for adult use at that time.

The Meeting Room for the leaders in change.

This was the room where plans by the patriots were made that changed the course of New York and the rest of the country. Now that the Senate House home is open again, you get a feel for what these people must have went through in developing the country during the Revolutionary War years.

When I visited the Senate House at the holidays for the “Snowflake Festival”, it was still closed for renovation but the grounds were open for touring, music and for a visit with Santa. It was a magical night on the grounds of the historical site and people had a nice time that evening. The grounds and the other buildings were decked out for the holidays.

The Senate House decked out for the Christmas holidays at the “Kingston Snowflake Festival” in 2022

The Senate House property decorated for the Kingston Snowflake Festival in 2022

Santa’s visit at the Senate House property in 2022

The history of the Kingston Stockade section of the city.

The main part of the park is the Senate House Museum, which is broken into three sections. The right side of the museum is the history of the City of Kingston and the matching artifacts. There is a description of manufacturing, merchant class and its military prominence. Here I learned about the growth of Kingston and its founding, its strategic spot on the Hudson River in the early colony, its role as diplomats to the Native Americans, which was not so pleasant and its growth after the war.

The first floor exhibitions on early life in Kingston

The history of the City of Kingston is described with the Native American settlements and the trade with the Dutch, the unsettling relationships that the two groups had with each other, the War years, the growth of industry and trade in early New York and manufacturing in the area.

The Native American exhibition

Early manufacturing and life in Kingston

The Artist’s sign

The Vanderlyn Exhibition of artist John Vanderlyn’s art

Artist John Vanderlyn’s works are featured on this part of the museum.

The left side of the museum is dedicated to the locally born artist, John Vanderlyn. His paintings line the walls of the museum of the artist at different stages of his career. His work was ahead of its time for the area, and it was noted in the collection that he forced himself to commission portraits to survive. His works advanced for the time because of his studying abroad now line the walls of the best museums in the country.

The exhibition of John Vanderlyn’s portraits

Artist John Vanderlyn’s bio in the museum

Members of the extended Vanderlyn family portraits

The second floor holds the furniture that is not historically correct with the Senate House and comes from different time periods. There is furniture, beds and chairs, spinning wheels, chamber pots and all sorts of accessories for the home and their uses in everyday life. Vintage furnishings with explanations on their use are a big part of the exhibit.

Artifacts from the past are displayed here

The everyday items used to spin material and create clothing

The Loughran House next door houses more of the furniture of the house and has a new exhibition “Back to the Future: The Evolution of Senate House”. This houses artifacts from the house.

The Senate House property during the “Kingston Snowflake Festival” in 2022

The Senate House property during Christmas 2024

The Senate House property during Christmas 2024

History of the Senate House:

(From Wiki/Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation pamphlet)

Amidst the turmoil of a British military invasion in the fall of 1777, the elected representations of rebellious New Yorkers met in Kingston to form a new state government. While convened in Kingston in September and October, New York’s first Senate met in the simple stone house of merchant Abraham Van Gaasbeek.

Here they adopted a system comprising of a senate, assembly, governor and judiciary that still exists today. Every one of the assembled delegates risked his life and property by being so openly disloyal to the Crown. Indeed, all were forced to flee for their lives when the British attacked and burned Kingston on October 16th.

While convened in Kingston in September and October, New York’s first Senate met in the simple stone house of Abraham Van Gaasbeek, a prosperous merchant trader who had suffered financial losses as a result of the war and personal losses in the recent deaths of his wife, Sara, his daughter and infant granddaughter. It was Sara’s grandfather, Wessel Ten Broeck, who built the original section of the house in 1676.

At first called Wiltwyck, Kingston was the third “city” established in the Dutch Colony of New Netherland. Planned and developed by the Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant in 1656, the town was renamed Kingston after the colony was seized by the English in 1664.

Wessel Ten Broeck’s one room Dutch style house was enlarged by succeeding owners in the 18th century. Each change reflected the increasing fortunes of the Ten Broeck/Van Gaasbeek family and demonstrated a gradual acceptance of English styles and customs over the persistent influence of the early Dutch. Kingston at the time of the American Revolution was still a noticeably “Dutch” town and most of its citizens supported the American cause. British Major General John Vaughan justified his destruction of the city because it was a “nursery for almost every villain in the country.”

In 1887, to recognize Senate House’s role in the formation of New York State, New York State acquired the property, which quickly became a vital community museum. A two-story Museum Building was constructed in 1927 to house and display the site’s burgeoning collection. Among its treasures are: major works by John Vanderlyn and other members of the Vanderlyn family of Kingston. The museum also includes the site’s popular new exhibit: “Kingston Stockage: New Netherlands’ Third City,” discussing Kingston’s early history.

(New York State Park History)

The Kingston Stockade: The City’s formation from the beginning

Bannerman Island Castle POB 843 Glenham, NY 12527

Bannerman Island Castle

POB 843

Glenham, NY 12527

(845) 831-1001

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollepel_Island

Bannerman Island: A Mystery Island on the Hudson

Open: Please check the website as this is a seasonal location

Admission: Adults and Children 11 and Up $45.00/Children 11 and under $35.00

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g47508-d2252346-r967185184-Bannerman_Castle-Cold_Spring_New_York.html?m=19905

The mysterious Bannerman Castle sits on an island in the middle of the Hudson River

The welcoming sign by the riverfront

I recently visited Bannerman Island (Pollepel Island) just outside of Beacon, New York on a cool cloudy day and I highly recommend the twenty minute boat trip to this mysterious and scenic island. The only way to visit the island is by boat or kayak and the ride is very quick depending on the weather and the waves on the Hudson River.

The dock at the Beacon Railroad station at the beginning of the tour

The dockside and park at the Beacon park