The City of Kingston will mark its 150th anniversary with a celebration Friday afternoon.
The original village of Kingston was settled in 1652 and became the first capital of New York State in 1777 before it was burned by the British during the Revolutionary War that same year. Mayor Steve Noble says Kingston was rebuilt, and nearly a hundred years later merged with two other villages to form the City of Kingston.
“Three different villages, all in close proximity to one another, in 1872, decided to come together as one community, as one city," Noble said. "And it's been 150 years already. And so on Friday night at Kingston City Hall, we're going to be taking a moment to learn about that history, learn about what it was like back in 1872, to be able to have the forefathers of each of our communities come together, we have the official minutes from that meeting that we'll be reviewing.”
Ulster County Archivist and City of Kingston Historian Taylor Bruck further details how the city is actually much older than 150 years.
“We're celebrating our 150 years as a unified city. But prior to that the village of Kingston was one of the first three Dutch colonies in New York. So we in Ulster County archives, have one of the biggest collections of Dutch records outside of Albany and New York City," said Bruck. "So we really take pride in our history here in Kingston, and the Rondout as well. So, before the merger that made the City of Kingston that we know today there was a village of Kingston, which was the old Dutch colony Wilbur, and the village of Rondout, which was a hub of manufacturing and immigration. So a lot of the bricks that are in New York City brownstone buildings were made up and down the Hudson [River], but a lot of them right here in Ulster County, in the Hutton Brickyard, for instance. So we're really proud of all of our history, and we're using the celebration to celebrate all of it and the unification of all the different areas that ended up becoming part of the city.”
Noble says there’ll be history talks during the celebration.
“We’ll be placing a time capsule and what we have, you know, calling our secret basement, in Kingston City Hall, that will allow for the next mayor and community to open 150 years from now,” Noble said.
Bruck says that time capsule is being assembled right now. “We collaborated with the Kingston City School District to fill a time capsule that is going to be, not necessarily buried like a traditional time capsule, but it's going to be locked in a vault in Kingston City Hall," said Bruck. "Kindergarten students through high school, they did writing projects and art projects, both about reflecting on their time as students through the pandemic, but also looking forward to what students 150 years from now might be going through, or might find interesting. So we're just packing it up now. And it is really some fascinating, great work that these students put together.”
Noble and Bruck point out that a time capsule dating back to early in the 20th century was recently found in the city.
"We have a historic suspension bridge that crosses the Rondout Creek, Noble said. "The bridge was built in 1921. And it's being completely refurbished by the state. And while they were working on the bridge abutment a few months ago, they uncovered a time capsule that no one knew was there. And we opened it. And unfortunately, it was not watertight, and everything inside was destroyed."
Bruck said "This is something that often happens with time capsules, and why archivists tend to shy away from them. It's almost impossible to keep the things airtight for that span of time. And so it was basically just full of a gray mush that didn't have much that you could read left, and that's part of the reason that we decided to put this time capsule right inside of city hall so that it's not underground.”
There will also be musical and theatrical performances at the 150th anniversary celebration, which is free and open to the public. It begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Council Chambers at City Hall on Broadway.
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