For over 300 years the Town of Fishkill has borne witness to some of the nation's most significant moments in history. Once the site of a major Native American settlement, Fishkill has since been dubbed the "Crossroads of the American Colonies." Many folks find our town's major part in the Revolutionary War astonishing! Please visit the Town of Fishkill's Historian's webpage for more about our story: Town of Fishkill - Town of Fishkill (fishkill-ny.gov)
Today, you'll find many sites in Fishkill that tie us to our past. When you find them on this Historical Scavenger Hunt, you'll find yourself tied with our rich history too!
Spend some time at each site looking around and taking in its story.
Consider sharing photos of enjoying your visit by uploading them to the links below!
Click on each site's name below for the address, a link for Google Maps, and the site's history.
In 1755, the Rev. Samual Seabury first traveled from Hempstead, Long Island to Dutchess County on a missionary visit sponsored by the Society for Propagation of the Gospel (SPG). At that time, the village included about 13 dwellings, a church, a tavern, and a schoolhouse along the main road from the break in the mountains to the south, to the west side of today's village. Seabury reported to the SPG that there were a good number of people in the county willing to support an English church and buy a glebe (a farm, the income from which supported the priest) if they could get the Society's help in obtaining a clergyman and paying him.
The land was purchased from Matthew Brett for two pounds and included a half-acre and 31 perches above Fishkill Creek for the use of a church burial ground. The original church building, constructed by October 1768, and probably occupied in early 1769, is still used for worship today. The interior remained unfinished during the Revolution when the army used the building as a hospital.
After the church was built, the SPG sent Trinity a Bible and Common Prayer Book published in England in 1767. The Bible is still held by the church and used on special occasions. After the war, repairs were undertaken with money received from the government as compensation. The exterior remains unaltered except for the steeple which became unsafe and the upper stages were removed in 1803.
Constructed in 1853 as a bank, this brick building has been a bank, a town hall, a private residence, and a dry goods store. It was built in 1853. In 1857 it was the home of the National Bank of Fishkill. A second bank, the Fishkill Savings Institute, rented space in the building. The National Bank failed in the 1870s in the post-civil war depression, but the small Fishkill Savings Institute prospered. Fishkill Saving Institute moved a few doors to the east on Main Street, to where Wells Fargo is today, and became the Fishkill Savings Bank.
When the National Bank failed, the property passed to private hands for many years. It was owned by Herman Dean, editor of the Fishkill Weekly Times, whose father James Dean had been Fishkill’s postmaster. Herman Dean had a dry goods store on the 1st floor. The upper floor was a residential apartment which later was used as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) headquarters.
The town bought the building in 1945. It served as the town hall until the opening of our new town hall in 1989. The walls of this building are 18-inches thick for the original bank’s security. The mansard roof, also known as a French roof, is a 4 sided gambrel style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with a lower slope punctured by dormer windows at a steeper angle than the upper the roof which creates an additional floor of habitable space such as a garret (small attic). The upper slope of the roof may not be visible from street level when viewed from close proximity to the building. Iron shutters on the outside date to banking days when they were closed every night for security reasons.
Founded in 1716 by a Dutch Reformed Congregation, and Dutchess County's oldest continuing congregation, the First Reformed Church holds a distinguished place in the Fishkill Community. Prior to the construction of the building in 1725, services were held in people's homes and barns. Services were still in Dutch until after the American Revolution.
Within its walls the Church has hosted: the Provincial Congress (briefly making Fishkill the temporary capital of New York state); John Jay; Philip Livingston and Lewis Morris (two signers of the Declaration of Independence); and Robert Livingston (who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and would later administer the presidential oath of office to George Washington). Washington also attended services here.
This building was also used during the Revolution as a military prison. Between 1785 and 1795, the church was enlarged and remodeled and balconies were added. The gold leaf rooster weather vane, added in 1795, represents Peter’s denial of Jesus, and once, one would have been found on almost every Reformed Church. Take a stroll through the churchyard and read inscriptions on the ancient stones - the earliest known stone is dated 1737.
This stone house is the kind built not only by the Dutch in the Hudson Valley, but also by early Germans and Huguenots. Although the house is called the Kip House, the original builder and owner was James Hussey, who is buried in the cemetery of the Fishkill Dutch Reformed Church. James Hussey's house was originally a primitive structure of two rooms, later expanded by Hendrick Kipp, who added two rooms toward the west with a hall. In the north wall, about in line with the chimney, is a stone marked 1753. Immediately to the east of the front porch is another stone cut with H.K. 1753.
The original entrance was on the South side of the house facing Fishkill Creek. Also facing that was the heavily traversed main thoroughfare between New England and the river. Sometime in the 19th century, the road changed its course, and the main entry was changed. In the doorway is a divided door that has been described as one of the best examples to be found of a primitive 18th century divided door with a bullseye in the upper half.
The owner of the house during the Revolutionary War was Evert Swart. Evert Swart was active in patriot activities and rounding up supplies for the rebel cause. This fact therefore leads to the long held legend that the house was used for a time by Baron von Steuben, Washington's drill master, who would later be headquartered at Mount Gulian.
The Mansion House was built in 1789 by Isaac Van Wyck and served as an inn to accommodate travelers on the stage coach runs from New York City to Albany. Isaac and two other men had founded a stagecoach line that operated between these two cities.
The building contained a dance hall and dining facilities, making it popular among the locals as well as travelers. The first floor contained dining, cooking, and administrative facilities, and two guest rooms. The second floor was entirely made up of guest rooms, and the third floor served as a ballroom. The Mansion House stables were located at the rear of the building and housed the stage line's horses. A horrific fire consumed the stables in 1836. The building was remodeled over the years and today holds businesses, private apartments, and a large attic.
This classic federal style house was constructed in 1811 by James Given, who came to this country from Ireland at the age of 21. He made his way to Fishkill and opened a general store. He prospered, became a leading businessman and built a mansion which he called Shillelagh. The house was aptly named. It may have been the “luck of the Irish” that saved it from the big Fishkill fire in 1873 that destroyed most of Main Street. Tradition says that when the house was finished, workmen threw a bottle of spirits over the roof. The bottle did not break. Therefore, according to ancient lore, the house would never burn. It didn't. The fire that raged on both sides of Main Street stopped just short of Shillelagh.
The doorway moldings and porch with their slim proportion, elegant leaded glass panes in the side lights, and other classic details exemplify the best features of the Federal style. James Given’s grave may be seen in the cemetery of the Dutch Reformed Church where he was an elder and helped organize the Sunday School. During the 19th century, the house was passed down to family members. It has seen varied uses as a family residence, a lawyer's office, a doctor's office and most recently has been restored by the McHoul family.
Excerpt from "Site History" by Tristen Mochon
In 1747, Jacobus Ter Bos donated an acre of land to establish a meeting house and burial ground “for those only who are professors of ye Presbyterian Religion in the Communion and according to the establishment of the Kirk of Scotland.”[2] Shortly thereafter, the newly formed churchyard saw its first burial for Susan, the wife of Stephen Ladue on September 21, 1747.[3]
Upon its completion in 1750, the Church became known as the First Presbyterian Church of Fishkill. However, locals referred to it as the Middle church probably “because [it was] situated between the churches of Fishkill and Hopewell.”[3] It was an impressive two-storied structure built entirely of wood. “The windows in the lower story had tight shutters, and one window shutter had a small aperture in it shaped like a crescent, so as to admit light to guide the sexton right when opening the church. The center pews had very high backs, so when seated nothing could be seen of a person but his head. The side pews were square with seats all around, surmounted with high railings, and seating twelve persons.”[3]
During the Revolution, Continental soldiers encamped nearby used the church as a military hospital to treat smallpox. The soldiers did considerable damage to the structure by “stripping the siding… as high as they could to boil their camp kettles,” as well as to keep warm. [2,3]
In 1805, the church congregation acquired another half-acre of land to expand the graveyard.[6] The land acquired in this transaction created the boundaries you see here today at this historic cemetery.
In 1830, the original church was demolished and another one was erected in its place. [3] “This new church was two stories in height, built out of limestone, and roofed with cedar shingles. The steeple went up in three sections: over the upper section was the lantern, surmounting that was a large ball, studded with arrows, and terminating with a forked prong at the top.”[3] Unfortunately, on March 5th, 1866, this second edifice was lost in a fire. “All the church furniture was destroyed” and “the towering steeple fell with a tremendous crash.”[3] Though none of the structure still stands, the footprint of the Rombout Presbyterian Church can still be seen today on the eastern side of the cemetery, specifically the open, grassy area flanked on three sides by burial markers.
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.
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.