Don’t miss touring the historical sites of the Fishkill, NY area and then touring the local downtowns for something to eat.
There is lots to do and see in Fishkill, NYThere’s lots to do and see in Wappinger Falls, NY as well
Don’t miss these two wonderful downtowns and all the historical sites, parks, farms and wonderful eating establishments in the surrounding area. It makes a wonderful afternoon.
Christmas at the Brinkerhoff House
The Brinckerhoff House decorated for Christmas tea fundraiser
The First Reformed Church of Fishkill decorated for the Christmas holidays
I love visiting the Hudson River Valley so any event or tour that I can go on is an excuse to come up here. I had visited all the sites that I wanted to see on a trip two weeks earlier but wanted to see them in more detail plus I wanted to take some pictures. The weather finally broke, and it was a much more pleasant 83 degrees as opposed to the 96 degrees the trip before. That makes the trip much nicer.
I asked my aunt along so that we could share in the experience, and I could use her phone to take pictures of the all the sites. It is a much nicer trip when you have someone along who enjoys these things. The one nice thing about traveling to the Fishkill, New York area is that it is only an hour away and a straight run…
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 is being renovated and repaired and will not be open until next year. It was a quiet afternoon, and I was the only patron for most of the afternoon. The grounds were full of beautiful foliage and fall flowers, so it was nice to walk around the grounds.
The Senate House plaque
The Senate House itself was closed for the renovation but you could see in the windows and there was not much going on inside the house. There was furniture here and there and the roof really needed work. There is not much to see at the house itself but the grounds are very pretty and well-landscaped. 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
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 Senate House Museum is broken into three sections. The right side of the museum is is the history of the City of Kingston and the matching artifacts. There is a description of manufacturing, merchant class and its military prominence. 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 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.
Artifacts from the past are displayed here
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
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
For current information on guided tours, group tour reservations, school groups, special events or accessibility, call (845) 255-1660 or visit http://www.huguenotstreet.org.
App:
Our free Walking Tour mobile app features histories of the houses on the street with archival photos as well as photos of the house interiors and the collection pieces within. Mobile users can download the app on both the App Store and Google Play.
History of the site:
At our 10 acre National Historic Landmark District, visitors experience more than 300 years of history through the lens of a French Huguenot community as it evolved over time. Guided tours begin with an introduction to the pre-colonial Munsee Esopus landscape dating back 7000 years and the religion, culture and architecture of New Paltz’s earliest European settlers and enslaved Africans. The experience continues as guests visit fully furnished houses reflecting unique human narratives and changing tastes across the Colonial and Federal periods, through the Gilded Age and into the early 20th century.
(Promotional Materials)
I visited Historic Huguenot Street one afternoon after visiting here about five years earlier during the holidays. The houses are easy to tour and the street is blocked so that you can walk amongst the houses. There are tours every half hour when the site is open. Here you can tour inside the houses instead of just the grounds. On a nice day, it is interesting to look over the architecture of the homes.
Make sure that you take time to look at the historical cemetery by the church at the end of the block. Some of the original settlers are buried here. It is also nice to tour around the Waykill River.
Take the extra time to visit the gift shop and see the information video on the site and look over the literature of the site.
The area has a pretty interesting history.
History of the Huguenot Street Historic District:
The site is owned and operated by Historic Huguenot Street (HHS), which was founded in 1894. In 1899, Historic Huguenot Street purchased the Jean Hasbrouck House as the first house museum on the street. In the 1950’s and 60’s, the organization and related family associations purchased most of the remaining stone houses in the district and subsequently opened them as museums. These acquisitions were funded in large part by descendants of the original Huguenot founders. Their family associations play a key role in supporting the institution today.
The Individual Houses:
Bevier-Elting House:
Dating to the early 18th century, the house was originally a one room building built with the narrow or gable end facing the street-then the prevailing style of the low countries of Northern Europe. Two expansions were built later as was a small cellar that was used to house African slaves. The house was built by the Beiver family, one of the founding families and subsequently sold to the Dutch Elting family.
The structure as the Abraham Hasbrouck House was built in three phases in the 1720’s and 30’s. The first of the house-the center room-was constructed in 1721 by Daniel Hasbrouck, the son of Abraham Hasbrouck the patentee. The date 1721 is based on recent dendrochronology, which is a process by which wooden structural members are dated. This house represents a New World innovation in Dutch-style architecture. The initial houses in the Dutch region of New York, such as New Amsterdam, Albany and Kingston were built in the tradition of Dutch cities with the gable-ends to the street, which conserves street frontage. The basic structure of the house consists of a series of H-bents which spread the weight of the house across the entire expanse. The original one room house exhibited several defining elements of Dutch architecture, the jambless fireplace being the principal and most recognized feature in the house. Recently re-opened to the public in July 2012 following a restoration and reinterpretation focusing on the life of Widow Wyntje.
Also built in 1721 by Jean’s son Jacob (and perhaps incorporating elements of an early home built by New Paltz founder Jean Hasbrouck), this home is an excellent example of Hudson Valley Dutch architecture and the showpiece of Historic Huguenot Street. A National Historic Landmark in its own right, it boasts the only remaining original jambless fireplace of any of the Huguenot Street houses and is one of the few surviving examples in what was formerly the New Netherland.
In 2006, the north wall of the house was carefully dismantled, repaired and reconstructed. Reproduction Dutch-style casement windows were installed. Interior restoration followed, resulting in a house that is an excellent example of how a comfortable family in the region lived in the mid-18th century.
Built circa 1705 for the DuBois family, it might have served as a fortified place for the small community if needed. Originally a smaller 1 1/2 story structure, this building was expanded to its current size in the late 1830’s. Some historians and antiquarians believe that the presence of “gun ports” made it a fort but there is no evidence of the presence of any such portholes before the 19th century. The DuBois Fort currently serves as the orientation center and gift shop as well as a location for special events. Guest can purchase their admission tickets and memberships at this building. Over the last 300 years, it has also been used as a residence and a restaurant.
The Freer House is one of the six 18th century stone houses owned by Historic Huguenot Street. It was altered in various points in its approximately 250 years of occupancy with its most recent major alterations occurring in 1943 when it was purchased by Rev. John Wright Follette, a direct descendant of it s original builder, Hugo Freer. Over the years, the interior was modernized into a 20th century idea of a colonial home. This structure is not currently open to the public.
The original portion of the house was built around 1720 by Patentee Pierre Deyo. It began as a one room house was subsequently expanded to two rooms and ultimately to three when a stone addition was added off the rear by Pierre’s grandson Abraham. Circumstances for this house changed dramatically when at the height of the Colonial Revival movement, two descendants of Pierre Deyo, Abraham and Gertrude Brodhead, inherited the house. Wanting to live on the street of their ancestors but also wanted a modern, gracious home that reflected their affluence, the Brodheads partially dismantled the original stone house and build a grand Queen Anne home around it in 1894. They also significantly changed their surrounding property in essence changing a small village farm into a handsomely appointed and landscaped mini estate. The house passed out of Deyo family ownership in 1915. It was a private home until 1971, when it was purchased by the Deyo-Family Association and donated in order to be opened to be opened to the public as a house museum. The home was most recently restored in 2003 and features circa 1915 interiors.
The patentee Pierre Deyo died in 1700, so couldn’t have built the house in 1720 as stated. Per the plaque mounted outside the house it was built in 1692.
Since the community’s founding, there have been four sanctuaries built on what is today called Huguenot Street. The French-speaking Protestants who settled in New Paltz built their first church in 1683-a simple log building. This was replaced in 1717 with a straightforward, square stone building that reflected the permanence of the settlement. This existing building in the burying ground is a highly conjectural reconstructed of the 1717 building near its original location.
As the New Paltz community increased in size throughout the 18th century, a larger church became necessary. A second stone church was built down the street in 1772. When it became too small, it was demolished and replaced by a third church built in 1839. This church survives today and is home to an active Reformed congregation.
The reconstructed church is named in honor of Antoine Crispell, one of the twelve founders or patentees of New Paltz and a direct ancestor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was built as the result of a fundraising campaign led by the Crispell Family Association. The Crispell Family Foundation opted to create this reconstruction church in their ancestor’s honor. It was completed in 1972.
The 1717 church was designed to reflect Reform thinking; the pulpit was placed in a central location and the pews were placed so that everyone could see and hear more equally. This expressed the concept that each person had a direct relationship with God, rather than one mediated through a church hierarchy.
Built int 1799 by Ezekiel Elting, a prosperous merchant who was born in the Bevier-Elting House, this stone and brick building is quite different from the earlier stone houses on Huguenot Street. Its Georgian-style architecture reflects the transition of New Paltz from a French and Dutch settlement to an Anglo-American community and increasing refinement in architecture in this period as settlements matured. The house shows the changes in architectural style from the early 18th century. This house reflects the several changes in the society and home life of New Paltz in the early 19th century.
Located in the Roosa House, the Library and Archives at Historic Huguenot Street is a research facility devoted primarily to the history and genealogy of the Huguenot and Dutch settlers of the Hudson Valley. It also functions as a general repository for local history, regardless of ethnicity or religious persuasion. The collections consist of family genealogies, church, cemetery and bible records, wills and deeds, census records, genealogical periodicals, county histories and publications relating to Huguenot ancestry. Genealogists, local historians and other interested parties can access the collections by appointment. The colorful paint replicates the original colors of the house in 1891.
Native American presence on Huguenot Street:
Historians and archaeologist have learned more about the continuing relations between the Esopus, the original inhabitants of the area and the Huguenots. Some results of research can be found at the HHS site at “Relations between the Huguenots of New Paltz, NY and the Esopus Indians (http://www.huguenotstreet.org/library_archives/exhibits_research/Indian_affairs.html). The “Before Hudson” exhibit, currently on view at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center, shows some of the highlights of archaeological excavation in our area with artifacts dating back 6,000-8,000 years ago.
I recently visited the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art in New Paltz, NY and found it to be an interesting little museum that covers a lot of fields of art from ancient art to paintings and photography. The current exhibitions include “Just my Type: Angela Dufresne” and “In Celebration: A Recent Gift from the Photography Collections of Marcuse Pfeifer”. There is also a exhibition of a local institution “Mohonk Mountain House at 150”, which is on the history and progression of the development of the Mohonk Mountain House Hotel.
The Angela Dufresne exhibition was created by the artist of people who are the artist’s friends, family and of her community which are colorful and somewhat exaggerated views of people and their expressions. These giant colorful paintings had different expressions on their faces where you can only guess what the sitters were thinking.
The Angela Dufresne Exhibition
The photo collection of former gallery owner Marcuse Pfeifer, who has now relocated to the Hudson River Valley addresses the 19th and 20th Century that explore celebrity, location and life in the City. It has some interesting looks of life at a different time as well the expression of the subjects.
I went to the museum recently to see both the “Collecting Local: Twelve years of the Hudson Valley Artists Annual Purchase Awards” and “Jan Sawka: The Place of Memory” which were both interesting exhibitions both extended because of the campus being closed for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “Collecting Local: Twelve Year’s of the Hudson Valley Artists” exhibition
The nice thing about the Dorsky Museum is its dedication to the Hudson River artist. “Collecting Local” is an exhibition that highlights the accomplishments and collections of the current artists from the Hudson Valley region and showcases their interpretations of art. It is nice to see not just local artists shine but what is being shown at the local galleries around the area.
Jan Sawka is a Polish born artist who was exiled from the county and settled into the Hudson River Valley with his family. His works were taken from the context of being a stranger in a new country.
Jan Sawka’s painting dedicated to his mother in law
Jan Sawka’s painting from his time living in Asbury Park, NJ
The museum offers also objects from the permanent collection and showing the areas in which the museum has collected in the past and currently. There is anything from a Warhol photo to ancient Chinese and Japanese statuary.
The Museum’s permanent collection
The museum does a lot in a small area and does a nice job promoting up and coming artists.
History of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art:
Mission of the Museum:
Through its collections, exhibitions and public programs. The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art supports and enriches the academic programs at the university presents a broad range of national and international art for study and enjoyment and serves as a center for the arts and culture of the Hudson Valley.
About the Museum:
Located at the State University of New York at New Paltz. The Dorsky Museum comprises more than 9,000 square feet of exhibition space distributed over six galleries. The museum was launched more than 65 years ago by a dedicated committee of faculty members to enhance the teaching mission of the university. Originally known as the College Art Gallery, The Dorsky Museum was dedicated in 2001. The opening of The Dorsky Museum transformed the original College Art Gallery into one of the leading art museums in the region.
The Dorsky Museum’s permanent collection comprises more than 5,500 works of art from around the world and spans over a 4,000 year time period. While encyclopedic in nature, areas of focus include American art, with an emphasis on the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountain region, 19th century American prints, photography and contemporary metals. The museum also has a strong World Collection that includes outstanding examples of both two and three-dimensional objects from diverse cultures, dating from classical to modern times.
The museum’s temporary exhibition program has been hailed as one of the best in the region and features exhibitions, installations and projects by internationally recognized artists as well as annual thematic exhibitions of work by regional artists. “The Hudson Valley Masters Series” is one of the unique exhibitions that the museum periodically hosts which focuses specifically on a body of work by an internationally acclaimed artist who resides in the area.
A painting by Angela Dufresne
Samuel Dorsky:
Samuel Dorsky was a self made and self realized individual who came to the art world relatively late after achieving success in the garment business. Emerging from the Great Depression, World War II and the post war boom years with the desire and the where withal to pursue both art and philanthropic, he opened a art gallery in 1963. Until his death in 1994, his gallery presented hundreds of exhibitions featuring such well-known artists as Henry Moor, about whom Dorsky was a recognized authority, Richard Hunt, Willem De Kooing, Larry Rivers and Robert Rauschenberg. Sam also generously championed the work of numerous lesser-known artists who he often befriended. The Dorsky gallery closed its doors to the public in 2001 after which Sam’s children, David, Noah, Karen and Sara established the Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs (DGCP) in Long Island City, a not for profit organization dedicated to promoting contemporary visual arts.
The dedication of the Dorsky Museum brought to fruition a project that had dominated the last decade of Sam Dorsky’s life. Sam’s lead gift to the SUNY New Paltz Foundation provided the impetus for the construction of the new museum building as well as the complete renovation of the former College Art Gallery to become part of the museum. The Dorsky Museum now comprises six galleries, offices and a small teaching space.
The Dorsky family continues to be a major supporter of The Dorsky Museum and SUNY New Paltz. David, Karen and Noah Dorsky serve on the Advisory Board of The Dorsky Museum. Karen and Noah also serve as trustees of the SUNY New Paltz Foundation.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 