The Hudson River Valley has inspired painters, poets and essayists for centuries. A National Heritage Area, its spectacular four seasons, historic sites and string of charming small towns captivate visitors today.
From the vineyards and orchards of sustainable-food champion Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Tarrytown to the state capital, Albany, the Hudson Valley offers a diverse blend of experiences. The region is home to a handful of world-renowned art museums and houses more than 50 historic homes, including those at Kykuit, the sprawling estate of four generations of the Rockefeller family at Pocantico Hills. The valley also boasts a stunning sculpture park, Storm King Art Center, and Dia:Beacon, a museum in a former factory that exhibits large-scale work by major 20th and 21st-century artists.
While much of the United States was colonized by British settlers, the Hudson Valley remains at its deepest roots and in some ways in its most visible ways Dutch. The region is home to the oldest continuous settlement in the country, and its historic districts teem with 17th- and 18th-century architecture.
New Paltz, for example, is home to the Historic Huguenot Street district, which features seven original stone houses, a colonial-era burial ground and a reconstructed 1717 French church. At the nearby Van Cortlandt Manor, you can tour a vast collection of historic documents and art. In Kingston, the Stockade District showcases incredible 17th- and 18th-century Dutch Colonial architecture. In fact, this is the only intersection in America where all the buildings date to before the Revolutionary War.
The valley’s landscapes stimulated a nation-wide artistic movement and became a model for land conservation practices. The soaring vistas and evocative forms of the natural world are captured in the works of such iconic American artists as Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, Jasper Cropsey, Charles Burchfield and more.
The river and its scenery helped spawn a uniquely American literary movement, Transcendentalism, which celebrated the sublime in nature and in humankind. The nascent movement spread across the country and eventually influenced other nations as well.
The natural wonders of the region have also drawn Native American societies to the Valley, from the Munsee and Lenape of the lower valley to the Mohicans and Haudenosaunee Confederacy of the upper valley. Early settlers adopted important survival techniques from the Native Americans, and they learned from them culturally as well. Their interactions continue to shape the region to this day.