Page 36 - Dutchess Tourism 2024

History’s Tapestry
Step back into Dutchess County’s fascinating past and discover the stories of the people whose hands, work, inspirations and innovations defined our history and built our community.
HISTORY TIMELINE
Indigenous/Colonial/Revolutionary War
Clermont State Historic Site (Germantown)
Home to seven generations of the prominent Livingston family. Chancellor Robert R. Livingston helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the New York State Constitution. He later negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and helped develop the first steamboat. Tours and events include stories about all who lived and worked on the estate, including enslaved peoples, and access to trails and gardens.
Mount Gulian Historic Site (Beacon)
The Verplanck family homestead, built around 1730. Roughly 8,000 years of history are documented there, dating back
to the indigenous people who inhabited the land. The site served as Revolutionary War headquarters of Major General Friedrich Von Steuben, whose European training methods were vital to George Washington’s inexperienced soldiers.
􏰀on 􏰁teuben helped form America’s first fraternal veterans’ organization, the Society of the Cincinnati, in 1783. Read excerpts of the journal kept by James F. Brown, who was born into slavery in Maryland, escaped to freedom and worked as a free man for the Verplancks as Mount Gulian’s head gardener and property manager. Guided tours seasonally.
19th Century
Locust Grove Estate (Poughkeepsie)
This Italianate-style mansion was once the summer retreat of telegraph and code inventor Samuel F. B. Morse. See over 1􏰂,000 pieces of fine and decorative arts, paintings and furniture collected by the Young family, the last estate owners. The mansion, gardens and trails on the 200-acre property are open seasonally.
Wilderstein Historic Site (Rhinebeck)
Queen Anne-style Victorian house on the Hudson was the home of FDR’s cousin and confidant Margaret “Daisy” 􏰁uckley. The 40-acre property, designed by landscape architect Calvert Vaux, includes a network of carriage drives and trails. Guided tours held seasonally; grounds open year-round.
Discover more: Van Wyck Homestead Museum (Fishkill); John Kane House (Pawling); Oblong Friends Meeting
House (Pawling); Mesier Homestead and Museum (Wappingers Falls); Clinton House State Historic Site (Poughkeepsie); Creek Meeting House Exhibit Center (Clinton Corners); Brinckerhoff House Historic Site (East Fishkill).
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DUTCHESS COUNTY DESTINATION GUIDE
Mount Gulian, Beacon
Discover more: Montgomery Place at Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson); Irondale Schoolhouse (Millerton); Edgewater (Barrytown); Springside National Historic Site (Poughkeepsie).
Wilderstein Historic Site, Rhinebeck
Self-Guided Audio Tours
The Hudson River Train Tour and i􏰃i.TRA􏰀E􏰄’s “How Dutch is New 􏰅ork􏰆 The Hudson 􏰀alley Tour” are available on Google Play or in the Apple App 􏰁tore and find the “Walkway Past, Present, and Future” tour at walkway.org.