Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
Hudson River Maritime Museum
Dedicated to The Preservation of The Maritime History of The Hudson River

About the Museum

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Hudson River Valley Institute

Hudson River
Corridor of Commerce

The mission of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area is to recognize, preserve, protect, and interpret the nationally significant cultural and natural resources of the Hudson River Valley for the benefit of the nation. Extending from Waterford, just north of Albany, to the northern border of New York City, the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area encompasses over 4 million acres. The region is home to 2.5 million residents, five National Historic Sites, 58 National Historic Landmarks, 89 historic districts, and over 1,000 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1996, Congress created and dedicated funding for the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. One important objectives of the Heritage Area is to increase access to the river and encourage interpretation of nationally significant cultural and natural resources. The Management Plan proposes the implementation of Heritage Area trails to link the heritage sites using three primary themes:

Freedom and Dignity

Highlights the Hudson Valley’s role in the American Revolutionary War, the abolitionist and other important movements, and the visionary leadership of Franklin Roosevelt.

Nature and Culture

Depicts the natural landscapes and the artists, writers, and architects inspired by the valley.

Corridor of Commerce

Emphasizes the crucial role the Hudson River played in the early settlement and economic development of our nation.

The Hudson River Maritime Museum is the only museum in New York State exclusively preserving the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and the industries dependent on the river. Founded in 1980 by members of the "Steamship Alexander Hamilton Society," the National Maritime Historical Society, and local historians, the Museum is located in the Historic Rondout Waterfront at Kingston, NY, once the major port between New York City and Albany.

The Museum's extensive archive documents Hudson River transportation, industry, and commerce. The collection is comprised of paintings, prints, photographs and ephemera, vessel blueprints, artifacts such as ice-harvesting tools, a variety of ship models, and important pieces of Hudson River vessels that have long since disappeared. Our collection of small craft includes a 100 year old shad boat, a life boat from the steamboat Mary Powell, a lighthouse tender, and several ice yachts. A library is available for use by researchers.

Hudson River Sloops
The most famous sailing vessel to ply the waters of the magnificent Hudson River was undoubtedly the Hudson River sloop of the 19^th century. This incredible hybrid craft evolved from its early European ancestors, built by the Dutch and the English, into a ship specifically suited to the demands and quirks of the namesake waterway.

The sloop was the forerunner in the establishment of the vast commerce on the Hudson which reached an extent that was exceeded by few, if any, rivers in the world. This vessel played an important a part in the development and growth of the State of New York, particularly in connection with the Erie Canal, causing the city of New York to rise to be the chief city of the United States.

The sloop, as its name indicates, is of Dutch origin. They called her a sloëp. It is the same word as the French chalupe, and the Portuguese chalupa. In its simplest form, it is a vessel of one mast, carrying a mainsail, jib, and generally a topsail. The Dutch settlers of New Netherland, as well as the English and French, saw the advantages of the sloop rig for the commerce on the river and the Sound.

Hudson River Steamboats
Commercial steamboating on the Hudson River began with Robert Fulton´s successful steamboat trip from New York to Albany on August 14th, 1807. This was the first voyage of any considerable length made by a steamboat. Immediately following his demonstration, Robert Fulton started regular steamboat service on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany.

Steamboats introduced quick and reliable travel along the Hudson River. Steamboats were romantic and travel was an adventure. With the opening of the Erie, Champlain, and Delaware & Hudson Canals, steamboat traffic increased tremendously. The Erie Canal established New York City as a center of finance and shipping, provided cheap transportation for Midwestern farm products, and provided easy passage for immigrants to the Great Lakes Region. The Delaware & Hudson Canal supplied Pennsylvania Anthracite coal to New York City, and established Rondout as a center for Hudson River tow boats.

The Rondout
Kingston's Historic Waterfront District
During the nineteenth century, a combination of the forces of geography and economics were to make the mid-Hudson Village of Rondout (later to become part of the City of Kingston) the principal center of commercial activity between New York City and Albany. The geographic factor was a valley, extending in a southwest direction from Rondout to the Delaware River at Port Jervis, in which a canal was built to bring anthracite coal from northeastern Pennsylvania to the Hudson River. The development of the Delaware & Hudson Canal in 1828 transformed the Rondout Valley into the principal center of commercial activity on the Hudson River. The completed canal, 108 miles in length, ran from Eddyville on the Rondout Creek to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, a point 16 miles from the Wurts brothers' Pennsylvania coal mines. By the mid-1800s, a million tons of coal annually were carried on the canal and the surrounding region was booming.

The economic factor was the exponential growth of the City of New York and its insatiable demand for the goods and services from the areas bordering the Hudson. Towing was the main boating activity out of the Rondout in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the post-Civil War years, towing on the Hudson River was a highly competitive and lucrative business. Thomas Cornell and his son-in-law, Samuel Decker Coykendall, pursued the opportunities with enterprise and vigor. The resulting Cornell Steamboat Company, at its peak, owned more than sixty towing vessels and was the largest commercial organization of its kind in the nation. The Cornell Steam boat Company was headquartered at Rondout.