 Postcard of Kingston Point Park, c. 1900, showing the Ferris wheel and crowds. Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection. Tonight the museum will welcome Wes and Barbara Gottlock to discuss their book Lost Amusement Parks of the Hudson Valley as part of the Follow the River Lecture Series. So we thought we'd revisit some of the stories of amusement parks and steamboat landings on the Hudson River we've already published here on the History Blog. Follow the links in the introductions below to read more about each park.  Postcard of Kingston Point Park, featuring the island bandstand and rental boats. Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection. Kingston Point Park Kingston's own local amusement park, Kingston Point Park was built by Samuel Coykendall, owner of the Cornell Steamboat Company and Ulster & Delaware Railroad. It featured a merry-go-round with a barrel piano (which is now in the museum) along with walking paths, a Ferris wheel, boat rentals, and other attractions. The main point was to serve as a landing for the Hudson River Day Line, and trains and trolleys would whisk passengers to Kingston and the Catskills. Kingston Point Park also featured prominently in 4th of July celebrations in the past.  Hudson River Day Line steamer "De Witt Clinton" approaching Indian Point Park in foreground, circa 1923. From the Donald C. Ringwald Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum. Indian Point Park Formerly a farm, Indian Point Park was purchased specifically as a destination park for the Hudson River Day Line to rival that of Bear Mountain. It was later converted into a nuclear power plant.  Postcard of steamboat docks at the Palisades, Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection. Palisades Interstate Park The creation of the Palisades Interstate Park was due in large part to the work of women. The Palisades had long been a major landmark for any Hudson River mariner. Elevators were used in the late 19th century to get visitors from their steamboats at water level up to the park on top of the cliffs. Escaping Racism Amusement parks and picnic groves on the Hudson River could also be an escape. So in honor of Black History Month, we're re-sharing this wonderful article on how Black New Yorkers used steamboat charters to area parks to escape the prejudice and racism of the 1870s. Lost Amusement Parks of the Hudson Valley There's still time to join us for tonight's lecture! Register now. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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Editor's note: The following newspaper article, "Local Attractions on the Fourth" was originally published in the Kingston Daily Freeman on July 3, 1907. It was found and transcribed by Sarah Wassberg Johnson. Note the sarcasm of the introduction and the repetition of events at the end. Perhaps the newspaper editor needed to take up more space in the column?  Fireworks in Union Square, New York City, celebrating the Centennial. July 4, 1876. Library of Congress. WHERE KINGSTON FOLKS MAY GO TO CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAY IF THEY DO NOT WANT TO SHOOT FIRECRACKERS UNDER THEIR OWN VINE AND FIG TREE How to spend the Fourth of July is a problem that need not cause much worry to Kingstonians. First of all they should stay at home and shoot off firecrackers. They should begin early in the morning, fire the crackers at regular and frequent intervals all day long, and continue the noise-making process until far into the evening. In case they are compelled to leave home for a few minutes or an hour or so, someone else should be kept on the job, so that noise may shoot forth continuously. Noise, and plenty of it, will please the neighbors, and put them in a pleasant frame of mind. A good plan is to have a few accidents around the neighborhood, because this will make the day remembered, make business for the doctors, and furnish news for the newspapers. Cannon crackers, cannon and loose powder are best adapted for accident purposes, although Roman candles and sky rockets are also good. Everyone who wants to have an accident should be sure to lay in a supply of fire-stuffs. But above every other consideration should be a determination to make noise, for noise is a symbol of patriotism – on Fourth of July. For people who wish to get up early in the morning, and that will be easy for the beginning of the day’s celebration will undoubtedly keep them awake, the Mary Powell excursion is recommended. The boat will make an excursion to New York city at a low rate and the boat will leave Rondout at 6 o’clock in the morning. Returning, the Mary Powell will leave Desbrosses street at 1:45 p.m.; Forty-second street at 2 p.m., reaching Kingston in time for the fireworks display at Kingston Point Park. After the fireworks display the Powell will make a special trip to Poughkeepsie and return, reaching Rondout at about 11:30 o’clock in the evening.  "Steamer Mary Powell's Moonlight Sail," advertisement for Fourth of July excursion departing from Kingston Point Park. "Kingston Daily Freeman," July 2, 1906. Several baseball games will be played, and fans will have an opportunity of witnessing some good playing. The Mystics and the Wilburs will play two games at the Athletic Field, each game being for $50 a side. The first game will be called at ten o’clock in the morning and the second game at 3:30 o’clock in the afternoon. At ten o’clock in the morning the employes [sic] of the B. Loughran Company will play the employes [sic] of the Henry E. Wieber Company at Kingston Driving Park and a fast and snappy game is expected. Saugerties will attract hundreds of visitors from all parts of Ulster county, for Saugerties is to have an old fashioned celebration. A parade of the firemen and patriotic and other societies will be held at 9:30 o’clock in the morning, to be followed at 11:15 o’clock by patriotic exercises on the lawn of the Reformed Church. The Declaration of Independence will be delivered by the Hon. Joseph A. Lawson of Albany, after which patriotic songs will be sung by the Saugerties Male Quartet. Gartland’s famous band of Albany has been engaged for the occasion and will also give concerts during the morning, afternoon, and evening. In the afternoon a baseball game will be played by Kingston and Saugerties teams and in the evening $1,000 worth of fireworks will be burned. For those whose inclinations are for sports, races will be held at the New Paltz driving park, which scores from this city will attend. The villages of Griffin’s Corners and Fleischmanns will have a celebration similar to that of Saugerties, but not on so large a scale. The trip up the Ulster & Delaware railroad to these villages will make a delightful day’s outing, which will be taken advantage of by many. Newburgh and Poughkeepsie will probably draw some Kingstonians, although those cities have no attractions to offer aside from the fact that the Hudson river flows past them after it has passed Kingston. Morphy will sing to beat the band at Kingston Point during the afternoon and evening, although the band will be augmented by three additional musicians, all of whom are soloists. The Point, by the way, will be the Mecca of thousands of people from Kingston city, Ulster county, and from all points along the river. Kingston Point Park is too well known to need any eulogy.  Postcard depicting the steamboat landing at Kingston Point Park, c. 1900. Passengers disembarking from a steamboat and heading to the park. Hudson River Maritime Museum Collections. A quiet and delightful way to spend the day will be employed by scores of people who will make a pilgrimage to that beautiful resort. More than a dozen large parties will make the Mohonk trip, and several dozen smaller parties. Another quiet way to spend the day will be in fishing, and the fishing grounds are so numerous that it would be hard to name a place where fish do not bite. Lake Katrine, Legg’s Mills, the Hudson river and the Esopus creek all afford ample opportunity for catching “big ones,” and if the day is fair some record-breaking catches should be made tomorrow. The yacht plying the Hudson river and Rondout creek will do a big business with those who wish to make short trips, and all the railroads will carry immense numbers of passengers. There may be many Kingstonians who will not stay at home and celebrate the Fourth with firecrackers, but for every Kingstonian who leaves the city there will be two visitors who enter it, so that Kingston will not lack for crowds or excitement. Tomorrow being a legal holiday, holiday laws will be observed at the Kingston post office and Rondout station. Both offices will be open for business until 10 a.m. and the lobby will be open for the convenience of box holders until 8 p.m. There will be a carriers full delivery and collection in the morning and a partial collection in the afternoon. The banks will be closed the entire day. Many people from Kingston will spend the Fourth of July at New Paltz, where three good races will be held at the Brodhead driving park. Liberal purses have been offered and theses have attracted a number of fast horses. The enteries [sic] for the 2:17 trot and 2:20 pace are Miss Colwell, Tara, Nuefchatel, Miss Bandora, Renewal, and Cy Shelton. In the 2:25 trot and 2:28 pace are entered Dutchess, Elsie B., Aggie Lake, Trip Hammer or Paddy Wilkes, Handily and the Barbaraian. Entered in the 2:50 trot and pace are Handily, The Barbarian, Narada Bells, Elsie Wilkes, Adelta and Paddy Wilkes. The steamer Mary Powell will make an excursion to New York on Thursday for $1 for the round trip. In the evening the Powell will make an excursion to Poughkeepsie after the fireworks at the point, the fare being forty cents for the round trip. There will be two games of baseball at Athletic Field on the Fourth. The Mystics will play the Wilburs at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
 The barrel piano on display in the East Gallery of the Hudson River Maritime Museum. This barrel piano is a more recent addition to the museum's collection and is believed to have been used to provide music for the Merry-Go-Round or carousel at Kingston Point Park.  The merry-go-round at Kingston Point Park, from a postcard circa 1906. The carousel had 30 horses to choose from. Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection. A barrel piano, also known as a street piano, uses a hand crank to turn a pinned barrel. The pins in the barrel hit the levers of the piano hammers, which then strike the piano strings, making a sound. How the pins are placed on the barrel determines what song is played. The person operating the crank must move it in a steady rhythm, or the music will come out jumbled. Sometimes confused with other crank instruments like the barrel organ (which uses forced air and pipes to make sound) or the hurdy gurdy (which turns a rosined wheel against the strings of a violin-like instrument), the barrel piano was often a feature of amusement parks. Also not to be confused with the steam calliope, which would have provided music aboard steamboats and was powered by their steam engines.  Label for E. Bona & A. Antoniazzi, Manufacturers of "Cilinder" Pianos & Organs, 336-338 Water St., New York, NY. The manufacturer of the barrel piano, Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection. The museum's particular barrel piano, also known as a cylinder piano, was manufactured by E. Bona & A. Atoniazzi in New York City. Little is known about the original owners, but the company became known later as the B.A.B. Organ Company. You can read more about the company history here. To hear what a barrel piano might have sounded like, check out this video of one playing a very complex piece of music. If you would like to see the barrel piano in person, come visit the Hudson River Maritime Museum and head to the East Gallery. On Tuesdays the Hudson River Maritime Museum will share interesting images from its collection. We hope you enjoy these brief forays into the past!  The merry-go-round at Kingston Point Park, from a postcard circa 1906. A ferris wheel was the other amusement ride at the park. Mostly people strolled around, ate picnic lunches at tables scattered throughout the park, and listened to the band playing in their bandstand in the lagoon. Hudson River Maritime Museum Collection Kingston Point Park was built as a steamboat landing, amusement park, and gardens in the 1890s. Featuring a trolley station and Ulster & Delaware Railroad Station nearby, Kingston Point Park served as a central hub for tourists and travelers to come to Kingston in the early 20th century. For decades the Hudson River Day Line had docked primarily at Rhinecliff, and visitors to Kingston had to use the ferry to cross the river. But Samuel Coykendall, president of the Thomas Cornell Steamboat Company, saw the potential of Kingston Point. Coykendall was also involved in the Ulster & Delaware Railroad, and many passengers were coming to Kingston to go to the Catksill Mountain Houses, so taking the railroad to their final destination was obvious. Opened in 1896, the landing was soon populated with a hotel, amusement park rides (like the above merry-go-round carousel), boat rentals, bandstand, and more. But by 1928, nothing was left. The short-lived landing has left hundreds of postcards and photographs evoking the romance of the heyday of steamboat tourism in the Hudson River Valley.
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