Everywhere you go in the Hudson Valley, you’ll find layers of visible history. It’s in the downtown streetscapes and the place names, in the old fieldstone walls you encounter on hikes, in the very DNA of the twisty back roads. And if you’d like to deepen your understanding of the lives lived here before, there’s absolutely no better place to start than at Historic Huguenot Street.
The first European residents of the neighborhood, French Huguenots, cherished their spot on the bank of the Wallkill with its fertile growing land and splendid sunset views; they built their houses to last, and lived in them for generations.
In the 1890s, Abraham Deyo Brodhead owned a two-room stone farmhouse on Huguenot Street, and was a founding member of the Huguenot Patriotic, Historical, and Monumental Society in 1894. For many decades, the Society maintained its legacy nicely—Huguenot Street was a peaceful oasis in the busy college town, a great place to walk and wonder about what life must have been like inside those stone houses. These days, we no longer have to guess:
If you’d like to deepen your understanding of the lives lived here before, there’s absolutely no better place to start than at Historic Huguenot Street.
In the last couple of decades, Historic Huguenot Street, chartered by the New York State Department of Education, has created a 10-acre marvel of historic education from that lovely legacy. Now, visitors can stroll Huguenot Street and tour seven historic stone-house museums, a reconstructed 1717 French Church, the Huguenot community’s original burying ground, and a replica Esopus Munsee wigwam. Period rooms and exhibits tell the stories of a French Huguenot settlement as it evolved over time along with the history of the area’s Indigenous and enslaved African peoples and Dutch settlers.
Rich programming includes community holidays and visits from reenactors, after-school and summer camp programs for kids, multimedia educational presentations and nature walks. Guided tours led by passionate experts happen regularly.
WHAT’S HAPPENING ON HUGUENOT STREET THIS SPRING:
MAY 2023 INDIGENOUS BIRDS OF PREY with Ellen Kalish from Ravensbeard Wildlife Sanctuary and Justin Wexler from Wild Hudson Valley. Ellen will be bringing birds of prey from the Sanctuary and talking about their natural history, what they need to flourish, and how each bird came to Ravensbeard. Justin will add information on the presence of the species in the region when the Esopus Munsee inhabited the lands, what the name of the bird species is in the Munsee dialect, as well as any folklore associated with the species. Exact date, time and ticket price TBD.
JUNE 10-11, 2023 RETURN OF THE NEW NETHERLAND MARKETPLACE, 1645: Living History Event, which first took place last May. Visitors will experience a mid-17th century marketplace, where they’ll come face-to-face with reenactors and representatives of Indigenous, European, and the free and enslaved Black community which was present in 1645 New Netherland.
LENAPE and DELAWARE representatives will be returning to their ancestral homelands to portray the life of their ancestors and their eco nomic relationship with the Dutch. Their camp will have ongoing open fire cooking, cordage making, bow shooting, flintknapping, arrow making, and hide tanning demonstrations throughout the weekend. Several enrolled members from the five federally recognized sovereign Lenape and Delaware Tribal Nations will be present representing their people and culture and speaking about their communities today.
There are seven historic stone-house museums, a reconstructed 1717 French Church, the Huguenot community’s original burying ground, and a replica Esopus Munsee wigwam.
Living historians portraying Dutch merchants, traders, and craftspeople will be offering demonstrations on leather and woodworking, hearth cooking, tailoring, wampum making, and more. The marketplace will also include displays of camp gear and furs, clothing, wooden bowls, and spoons for sale.
JUNE 18, 2023 New Paltz Community’s Annual JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION, a collaborative effort between HHS, the Elting Memorial Library, the Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Black History Research & Cultural Center, the SUNY New Paltz Black Studies Dept, and other community organizers. The celebration includes featured speakers and presentations, tours of the historic district that focus on the history of New Paltz’s Black community, live music, a community potluck, and more.
Historic Huguenot St.
81 Huguenot St, New Paltz
845-255-1660
huguenotstreet.org
