Cemetery Crawl Around Fishkill in October & November
Join us for a unique and meaningful journey through history with the Cemetery Crawl Around Fishkill — a self-guided tour of three historic cemeteries where Revolutionary War patriots rest.
Fishkill played a vital role in the American Revolution, and many who helped shape our nation are buried right here in its soil. This special event takes you to their final resting places, sharing their incredible stories and honoring their legacy.
Booklets for this self-guided tour are available at the Van Wyck Homestead Museum. The webpage with all of the same information can be accessed by clicking the button below.
Rombout Rural Cemetery-Route 52 in Fishkill
Holiday Open House
Enjoy the merriment at the Holiday Open House at the Van Wyck Homestead Museum on Sunday, December 28th at 6:30 p.m. Join us for an evening of friends, food, music, and activities for kids at the museum. Musician Steve Kelman will play contemporary music on his guitar and mandolin. For the kids, we’ll have games and crafts. For the child in all of us, we’ll hear our annual reading of the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. There is a controversy over the authorship of the poem. It is likely to have been written by Major Henry Livingston Jr., right here in Dutchess County, rather than Clement C. Moore, to whom the poem’s provenance is currently credited. By the fireplace in the kitchen, the holiday cheer continues with mulled cider, snacks, and sweets. We’ll see you at the museum for an old-fashioned holiday bash!
Volunteer docents welcome visitors to the Van Wyck Homestead Museum on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00, June through October, or by appointment.
Self-guided tour guides of the museum's grounds are available in the mailbox on the front porch.
Call for Community Contributions: Let's celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary with a commemorative book that chronicles our community's ties to the American Revolution.
Please consider submitting a piece for the book that demonstrates your Fishkill and Hudson Valley Connection to the American Revolution.
The Van Wyck Homestead Museum is a colonial-era house built in 1732 by Cornelius and Hanna Van Wyck and is owned and operated by the Fishkill Historical Society. The Continental Army used the house during the Revolutionary War as the Officers' Headquarters for the Fishkill Supply Depot.
The Fishkill Supply Depot was a key strategic center of the American Revolution, established by General George Washington in October 1776 as a central location for storing and distributing supplies during the American Revolution. Yearly, over 2,000 Continental Army soldiers were trained in Fishkill. Another 2,000 soldiers, craftspeople, and other supply depot supporters were housed year-round in barracks at the Fishkill Supply Depot encampment. The depot employed hundreds of workers, including skilled craftspeople, responsible for sourcing, manufacturing, maintaining, and repairing equipment to keep the army well-supplied. The Fishkill Supply Depot operated until the end of the American Revolution in November 1783.
Historic Site Saved from Demolition
Inside the museum, see colonial-era artifacts, learn about Fishkill's important role in the Revolutionary War, Dutch architecture, prominent people from Fishkill, and colonial-era family life. The Homestead possesses its open hearth and beehive bread oven.
The museum's grounds are open every day of the year from dawn to dusk. The grounds feature an 18th-century kitchen garden, a model of the clay bread ovens used for the Fishkill Supply Depot, and significant monuments.
The Van Wyck Homestead Museum is located in the Mid-Hudson Valley at 504 Route 9, Fishkill, New York. However, the museum's driveway is accessed from Snook Road, close to its intersection with Route 9.
The Fishkill Historical Society was founded in 1962 by local residents who dedicated themselves to preserving the history of Fishkill and the Van Wyck Homestead. The founding members established the society to save the abandoned Homestead from imminent demolition from the construction of a planned cloverleaf exit ramp for Interstate 84 at Route 9.
The Homestead has served as a historical museum since the 1970s. It is maintained and operated by volunteers of the Fishkill Historical Society. We are grateful to the founding members of this society for their foresight and perseverance to preserve and then restore the Van Wyck Homestead and turn it into a Revolutionary War-era Museum.
Many hands make light work... and volunteering has many rewards for you too! Read this article called "Volunteering and its Surprising Benefits" to find out more.
Become a Docent at the Van Wyck Homestead Museum. For more details, see the historical society's page on VolunteerMatch.org
Tour The Van Wyck Homestead Museum
Self-guided tours of the grounds are available every day from dawn to dusk. Brochure guides are next to the museum’s front door.
From June through October, the museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM.*
*The museum's opening schedule is subject to change as it is dependent on volunteer personnel availability. Off-season tour appointments can be requested.
Contact the Fishkill Historical Society
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