Time Line of Hudson River & Kingston Maritime History

Prehistory  A region of intense archaeological activity, the Hudson River's watershed presents a great opportunity to learn about prehistory across the North American continent and beyond. Habitation sites abound near the river and its tributaries, with two of the best examples on the Bard campus along Tivoli South Bay.
More Information about Mid-Hudson Valley Prehistory and Archaeology

1524 Giovanni da Verrazano, a Florentine explorer employed by King Francis I of France, briefly enters New York harbor. Verrazano monument in Battery Park.
1609 Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch, is the first European to explore the river as far north as Albany. Henry Hudson and early river history
1626 Peter Minuit (Min-wee) elected commander of New Netherland. Minuit consolidated Dutch colonies from Fort Orange and the South River on Manhattan Island, and purchased Manhattan from the Manhatesen Indians for 60 guilders worth of trade goods. Minuit was recalled to Holand in 1631.
1652 Thomas Chambers obtains a parcel of land in Esopus (present day Kingston) with a path (now Broadway) from his land to the river. Early history of Kingston and Ulster County, NY
1661 Director-General Peter Stuyvesant establishes a local court at Esopus and gives the name Wildwyck to the settlement.
1664 English take control of New Netherland from the Dutch and rename it New York. The settlement of Esopus or Wildwyck became Kingston in September, 1669.
1777 The American Revolution in the Hudson Valley. The British invasion of the Hudson Valley, Burgoyne and the Battle of Saratoga, and the burning of Kingston.
1783 Hudson River whaling fleet established at Hudson.
1784 Voyage of the Hudson River Sloop Experiment with a crew of seven men and two boys, set sail for China. A Hudson River sloop had sailed around the Horn, on through the Strait of Sunda, and still farther to the great Chinese city of Canton. She had been the first American craft to make a direct voyage from the United States to China, the second to reach Canton.
1807 Robert Fulton demonstrates the first practical steamboat by traveling from New York City to Albany. Regular steamboat service is established on the Hudson River by Robert Fulton and his partner Robert Livingston
More Information about Robert Fulton and Early Steamboat History
1824 Ogden vs Gibbons Supreme Court decision broke the Fulton-Livingston steamboat monopoly. Not until the high court denied Fulton's monopoly claims did progress of expanding steamboat travel as cheap and quick transportation begin.
1825 Erie Canal completed between Buffalo on Lake Erie and Albany. The Erie Canal established an all water route between New York Harbor and the Great Lakes.
1828 Delaware & Hudson Canal completed. With the success of the canal, Rondout quickly built up as a commercial waterfront area congested with wharfs and ships, warehouses and shops.
1837

First Rondout Lighthouse was built. This wood structure became badly damaged by ice and weather and soon became unsafe for the keeper and her family.

Thomas Cornell, founder of the Cornell Steamboat Company, arrives in Rondout, buys a sloop, and enters the freight business.

1849 Rondout incorporated as a village.
1851 Hudson River Railroad completed on the eastern shore.
1861 Steamboat Mary Powell, built in 1861, sailed on the Hudson River for over 55 years. She was one of the fastest steamboats of her time, pleasing in appearance, and reliable. For virtually her entire career, her schedule was to leave Kingston early in the morning, make landings at Poughkeepsie, Milton, Newburgh and Cornwall, arriving in lower Manhattan in the late morning. On her return, she would leave New York at 3:30 p.m. and arrive back at Kingston in the early evening.
1863 Beginning of the Hudson River Day Line, the famous Hudson River steamboat company. Alfred Van Santvoord and his partner John McB. Davidson acquired the steamboats Daniel Drew and Armenia and began offering day boat service between New York and Albany
1867 Second Rondout Lighthouse built of brick and stone was constructed in 1867 on the south side of the creek. This second light was abandoned in 1915 when the present dikes were constructed at the Creek's entrance. Finally demolished in 1954 when its roof collapsed, the second lighthouse's stone footings are still visible today.
1869 The opening of Kingston Point as a landing for Day Line steamers with direct train connection with the Delaware & Hudson Railroad.
1872 Rondout and Kingston combine to form the present City of Kingston.
1899 Delaware and Hudson Canal closes. The company becomes a railroad company.
1909

Hudson-Fulton Celebration of the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton's first successful demonstration of his steamboat in 1807 and the 300th anniversary of the European exploration of what is now the Hudson River, in 1609, by Henry Hudson. Replicas of both the Half Moon and the Clermont were constructed for the exposition.

Champlain Tercentenary Celebration of the 300th anniversary of the discovery of Lake Champlain by Samuel de Champlain in 1609.
1915 Current Rondout Lighthouse completed. In 1913 construction started on a new lighthouse, which is the structure known today as the Rondout Lighthouse. The largest and last 'family' light built on the Hudson River, the third Rondout Lighthouse, was first lit on August 25, 1915.
1948 Hudson River Day Line enters bankruptcy. Probably the most famous steamboat company on the Hudson River, the Hudson River Day Line ceased operations at the end of 1948.
1964 Cornell Steamboat Company enters bankruptcy. Early in the twentieth century, the mighty Cornell Steamboat Company was at its peak and dominated Hudson River towing. Within two decades, however, the tides of change, natural, industrial, and social, overwhelmed Cornell just when bitter conflict within the family that had built the company caused it to founder. Although its executives and trustees worked gallantly to rescue Cornell, and with considerable success, by 1964, Cornell as an operating company was gone forever.
1980 Hudson River Maritime Museum founded by members of the "Steamship Alexander Hamilton Society," the National Maritime Historical Society, and local historians.
2009

Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricetennial 400th Anniversaries of Henry Hudson's exploration of the Hudson River and Samuel de Champlain's discovery of Lake Champlain, and the 200th Anniversary of Robert Fulton's historic steamboat trip from New York to Albany.

Time Line Created by Kenneth S. Panza
Last changed July 2005