Reenactment of Burning of Kingston, 1998 Photograph by Bud Walker

The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places and the Kingston Urban Cultural Park proudly invite you to explore Kingston: Discover 300 Years of New York History. Established in 1652 as the third settlement in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, an active participant in the American Revolution, and a major river-port during New York's 19th-century canal and steamboat era, Kingston boasts a history that spans over 300 years. This National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary explores Kingston's rich history using 24 historic places that recall past eras when Dutch settlers and Native Americans warily shared river flood plains, when proud Revolutionaries and angry British armies walked its narrow streets, and when coal, limestone, and even patent medicines flowed through Kingston along the route of the Delaware and Hudson Canal.

Travelers through the itinerary will learn about such fascinating places as the Stockade Historic District. Built under the orders of Dutch Director General Peter Stuyvesant in 1658 when tensions flared between Native Americans and Dutch settlers, the Stockade area exists as Kingston's original colonial core. The Senate House, a New York State historic site, hosted the first meeting of New York's State Senate, but was later burnt by the British during the Burning of Kingston. You will visit the Fred J. Johnston House; sometimes called "Winterthur-on-the-Hudson," this building houses the antique collection of preservationist Fred J. Johnston. Visitors to the Rondout II Lighthouse can take a boat ride out to the site and will learn about one of its keepers, Catherine Murdock, who tended the lighthouse for over 50 years. You can drop by the Community (Broadway) Theater to see an example of America's movie palaces, or call the Ulster Performing Arts Center to catch a live show in this historic theater.

Rondout II Lighthouse Photograph by John E. Reinhardt

Kingston: Discover 300 Years of New York History offers numerous ways to discover the historic properties that played important roles in both the birth and development of Kingston and what is now New York State. Each property features a brief description of the site's significance, color and historic photographs, and public accessibility information. At the bottom of each page, the visitor will also find a navigation bar containing links to three essays concerning Kingston's role in Dutch Colonization, the American Revolution, and Transportation, as well as an essay describing the history and successes of Kingston's Urban Cultural Park/ Heritage Area program. These essays provide historical background, or "contexts," for many of the sites included in the itinerary.

Created through a partnership between the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places, the Kingston Urban Cultural Park, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), and the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions (NAPC), Kingston: Discover 300 Years of New York History is the first example of a new and exciting cooperative project. As part of the Department of the Interior's strategy to revitalize communities by promoting public awareness of history and encouraging tourists to visit historic places throughout the nation, the National Register of Historic Places is cooperating with communities, regions, and Heritage Areas throughout the United States to create online travel itineraries. Using places listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the itineraries help potential visitors plan their next trip by highlighting the amazing diversity of this country's historic places and supplying accessibility information for each featured site. In the Learn More section, the itineraries link to regional and local web sites that provide visitors with further information regarding cultural events, special activities, and lodging and dining possibilities.

Kingston is the first of more than 30 communities and regions working directly with the National Register of Historic Places to create travel itineraries. Additional itineraries will debut online in the future. The National Register of Historic Places and the Kingston Urban Cultural Park hope you enjoy this virtual travel itinerary of Kingston's historic resources. If you have any comments or questions, please just click on the provided e-mail address, "comments or questions" located at the bottom of each page.

Itinerary Home | List of Sites | Main Map | Learn More | Begin Tour