Historic Sites & Museums

Historical Sites

Bannerman Castle
Description:The Scottish-style castle on the Hudson River was built in the early 1900s when purchased by David Bannerman. 2-hr. cruise around the island on the "Pride of the Hudson" tourboat. Historic lecture. An “On-Island” guided tour of Bannerman Island on “The Pollepel.”
Location: Fishkill.
Hours: May-Oct.
Contact: 845/ 831-6346 (Main), 845/220-2120 (Reservations)
URL: BannermanCastle.org
Codes: A, G, T

Clermont State Historic Site
Description: Country estate of seven generations of the prominent Livingston family. Restored mansion, visitor center, exhibit galleries, formal gardens, carriage trails, picnicking.
Location: 1 Clermont Ave. off Woods Rd., Clermont.
Hours: Grounds 8:30am-sunset. House Apr.-Oct., Tues.-Sun., 11am-5pm. Nov.-Mar., weekends, 11am-4pm.
Contact: 518/537-4240
URL: FriendsOfClermont.org
Codes: A, G, H, T

Creek Meeting House Exhibit Center
Description: Center located in a former Quaker Meeting House built in 1777.
Location: Clinton Historical Society, 2433 Salt Point Tnpk., Clinton Corners.
Hours: Weekends, July-Sept, 12-4pm.
Contact: 845/266-5494
URL: TownOfClinton.com
Codes: D, G, T

Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
Description: Home of Eleanor Roosevelt features the film "Close to Home," guided tours of home, 180 acres of grounds, hiking trails.
Location: Rt. 9G, Hyde Park.
Hours: May-Oct., 9am-5pm, Nov.-Apr., Thurs.-Mon., 9am-5pm.
Contact: 845/229-9115
URL: NPS.gov/elro or HistoricHydePark.org
Codes: A, G by reservation, H, T

Franklin D. Roosevelt Home National Historic Site
Description: Lifelong home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, including gravesite and Rose Garden area.
Location: Rt. 9, Hyde Park.
Hours: 9am-5pm
Contact: 845/229-9115
URL: NPS.gov/hofr or HistoricHydePark.org
Codes: A, G by reservation, H, T, 800/967-2283

Glebe House
Description: The 1767 house has been restored to represent a modest home of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Location: 635 Main St., Poughkeepsie.
Contact: 845/454-0605, DCHistorical@earthlink.net
Codes: A, G, H, T by appt.

Historical Society of Quaker Hill and Pawling
Location: Pawling
Hours: mid-May to mid-Oct., Sat.-Sun., 2-4pm and by appt.
Contact: 845/855-9316
URL: PawlingHistory.org
Codes: D, G, T

Includes: John Kane House, Oblong Friends Meeting House, & Quaker Museum, Akin Free Library. Listed below:

John Kane House
Description: Served as George Washington's headquarters 1778. Repository for past and present local history, including a replica of the village in 1948 with moving trains. The Lowell Thomas room focus on the life of the radio pioneer and world traveler.
Location: 126 E. Main St., Pawling.

Oblong Friends Meeting House
Description: Original 1764 Quaker meeting house that served as a hospital for George Washington's troops in 1778.
Location: Meeting House Rd., Pawling.

Quaker Museum, Akin Free Library
Description: Displays early Quaker memorabilia & artifacts of life on the Hill
Location: 2nd Fl., Quaker Hill, Pawling.

Locust Grove, The Samuel Morse Historic Site
Description: Home of Samuel F. B. Morse, designed by A.J. Davis. Extensive furniture collection, china, art, walking trails, picnic grove. Morse Gallery features telegraph exhibits and art.
Location: 2683 South Rd., Rt. 9, Poughkeepsie.
Hours: May-Nov., 10am-3pm. Year-round by appt.
Contact: 845/454-4500
URL: MorseHistoricSite.org
Codes: A, G, H, T

Madam Brett Homestead
Description: Built in 1709, Dutchess County's oldest homestead; 17 rooms of furnishings, porcelain, paintings, books, tools and gardens. Owned for seven generations by the Brett family.
Location: 50 Van Nydeck Ave., Beacon.
Hours: Monthly, second Sat. 1-4pm and by appt. Grounds daily from dawn to dusk.
Contact: 845/831-6533
Codes: A, G, T, F

Montgomery Place Historic Estate
Description: 434-acre National historic landmark estate with gardens, landscaped grounds, woodland walks, waterfalls & views of the Hudson River & Catskill Mountains. A.J. Davis-designed, neo-classical style mansion (temporarily closed for restoration.) Museum shop. Self-guided tours of the gardens & grounds with picnicking.
Location:River Rd., Rt. 103, Annandale-on-Hudson.
Hours: Open weekends May-Oct., 10am-5pm.
Contact: 845/758-5461
URL: HudsonValley.org
Codes: A, G, H

Mount Gulian Historic Site
Description: Reconstructed 18th century Dutch homestead on 44 acres with unique 1740's Dutch barn and restored garden. Revolutionary War Headquarters of General von Steuben, birthplace of the Society of the Cincinnati. Special events.
Location: 145 Sterling St., Beacon.
Hours: April-Oct., Wed.-Fri. & Sun., 1-5pm; Last tour at 4pm. Open year-round for school and group tours.
Contact: 845/831-8172
URL: MountGulian.org
Codes: A, G, T

Poughkeepsie Post Office
Description: A National Historic Landmark, with five distinctive murals depicting historic occasions in local, state and national history, including the Ratification of the United States Constitution by New York. A Federal WPA design building.
Location: 55 Mansion St., Poughkeepsie.
Hours: Mon.-Fri., 8am-5pm, Sat., 8am-3pm.
Contact: 800/275-8777
Codes: F, G, H

St. James Church
Description: Church attended by Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Congregation dating from 1811, historic cemetery.
Location: 4526 Albany Post Rd., Rt. 9, Hyde Park.
Contact: 845/229-2820
URL: BestWeb.net/~StJames
Codes: F, G, H, T

Smith Metropolitan AME Zion Church
Description: Guided tour discusses history of the church and prominent parishioners, including the first woman ordained a Methodist deacon. Descriptions of stained glass windows. Congregation established by African-Americans in 1836.
Location: 124 Smith St., Poughkeepsie.
Hours: By appt.
Contact: 845/454-1913
URL: SmithMetropolitanAMEZion.org
Codes: F, G, T

Springside National Historic Site
Description: Recognized as the last surviving example of America's first native-born landscape architect, Andrew Jackson Downing. Stroll 20 acres of old carriage roads and first site in the City of Poughkeepsie given federal recognition for its historic importance.
Location: 185 Academy St., Poughkeepsie.
Contact: 845/454-2060
Codes: D, G, H, T by appt.

Staatsburgh State Historic Site (Mills Mansion)
Description: The country home of Ogden and Ruth Livingston Mills, built in 1895-96 and furnished in the styles of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI.
Location: Old Post Rd., Staatsburg.
Hours: Jan.-March, Sun., 11am-4pm; Apr. 1-Oct. 31, Tues.-Sat., 10am-4:30pm, Sun., 11am-4:30pm; Fri. after Thanksgiving until Dec. 31, open extensive hours for A Gilded Age Christmas.
Contact: 845/889-8851
URL: Staatsburgh.org
Codes: A, G, H, T

Top Cottage
Description: Tour the hilltop retreat FDR designed. Tours depart from Home of FDR and include tour of Town of Hyde Park.
Location: Rt. 9, Hyde Park.
Hours: May-Oct., Thurs.-Mon.; Call 845/229-5300 for program times.
URL: NPS.gov/hofr or HistoricHydePark.org
Codes: A, H, T

Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site
Description: Home of Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt, built between 1896 and 1898, representative of the "Gilded Age." Grounds, trails, formal gardens and a spectacular view of the Hudson River.
Location: Rt. 9, Hyde Park.
Hours: 9am-5pm.
Contact: 845/229-9115
URL: NPS.gov/vama or HistoricHydePark.org
Codes: A, G by reservation, H, T, 800/967-2283

Wilderstein
Description: Queen Anne Victorian mansion of three generations of the Suckley family, descendants of the Beekmans and Livingstons. Grounds designed in the American Romantic Landscape style by Calvert Vaux. Interiors and windows by J.B. Tiffany. Walking trails and views of the Hudson River.
Location: 330 Morton Rd., Rhinebeck.
Hours: May-Oct., Thurs.-Sun., noon-4pm. Thanksgiving-Dec. weekends, 1-4pm.
Contact: 845/876-4818
URL: Wilderstein.org
Codes: A, G, H, T

Museums

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Description: Contains extensive displays on the lives and careers of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and a changing exhibit gallery.
Location: 4079 Albany Post Rd., Rt. 9, Hyde Park
Hours: Museum Apr.-Oct., 9am-6pm; Nov.-Mar., 9am-5pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Research library Mon.-Fri., 8:45am-5pm.
Contact: 800/FDR-VISIT
URL: FDRLibrary.Marist.edu or HistoricHydePark.org
Codes: A, G, H

Gunnison Museum of Natural History at Akin Free Library
Description: Rock minerals, birds and eggs, shells, world artifacts.
Location: 397 Mizzentop Rd., Pawling.
Hours: Mid-May-mid-Oct., Thurs.-Sun., 2-4pm.
Contact: 845/855-5099, 860/354-2822
Codes: D, G, T

Hyde Park Railroad Station Museum
Description: Built in 1914 and based on a design shown at the Pan American World Exposition of 1898. The station has been restored to its original condition by the Hudson Valley Railroad Society, Inc. and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Now open as a museum.
Location: 34 River Rd., Hyde Park.
Hours: All year, Mon. 7-9pm. Mid-Jun.-mid-Sept., Sat.-Sun., Noon-5pm or by appt.
Contact: 845/229-2338
URL: HydeParkStation.com
Codes: D, F, G, H, T

Museum of Rhinebeck History
Description: Local history exhibits.
Location: 7015 Rt. 9, 1798 Quitman House, Rhinebeck.
Hours: Jun.-Oct., Sat.-Sun., 2-4pm; Wed. by appt.
Contact: 845/876-4902 or 845/871-1798
Codes: D, G

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum
Description: Antique aircraft and automobiles on display and in action; air museum.
Location: 9 Norton Rd.,Rhinebeck
Hours: May 15-Oct. 31, 10am-5pm. Weekend airshows, mid-Jun.-mid-Oct., 2pm. Open cockpit bi-plane rides available before and after shows.
Contact: 845/752-3200
URL: OldRhinebeck.org
Codes: A, G, T

Peale Center for Christian Living
Description: Dedicated to study of positive thinking as a way of life, the Positive Thinking Visitors Center is a gathering of memorabilia marking the ministry of Norman Vincent Peale. The Isabelle Bacon Holy Land Museum contains hundreds of items: art, furniture, books, maps, and authentic costumes from the Holy Land.
Location: 66 E. Main St., Pawling.
Hours: Mon.-Fri., 10am-3pm.
Contact: 845/855-5000
URL: DailyGuideposts.org
Codes: F, G, H, T

Sports Museum of Dutchess County
Description: Sports Museum tells the history of different sports in Dutchess County including the DC Sports Museum Hall of Fame.
Location: Carnwath Farms, off Wheeler Hill Rd, Wappingers Falls
Hours: Sat. 11am-4pm, Sun. 1pm-4pm
Contact: 845/473-0903
URL: SportsMuseumDCNY.org
Codes: G

Town of Hyde Park Historical Society
Description: Tours of The Little Red School House on the grounds of North Park Elementary School off Rt. 9G by appt.
Location: 4389 Albany Post Rd., Hyde Park
Hours: Jun.-Oct., Wed. & Sun., 1-4pm.
Contact: 845/229-2559, Patsyc97@aol.com
Codes: D, F, G, H,

Van Wyck Homestead Museum
Description: 1732 Dutch Colonial homestead. Revolutionary War Headquarters 1776-83. Hudson Valley portraits, changing exhibits and events. Local history library.
Location: 504 Route 9, at Rts. 9 & I-84, Fishkill.
Hours: June-Oct. weekends, 1-4pm and by appt.
Contact: 845/896-9560, VanWyckHomestead@aol.com
Codes: D, F, G, H, T

Group Friendly Historic Sites & MuseumsExperience three centuries of New York State history are preserved within the borders of Dutchess County.