Columbia County Historical Society New Permanent Outdoor Exhibition

The Columbia County Historical Society announces a new permanent outdoor exhibit, ‘Early Heritage of Columbia County” Outdoor Narrative Panel Exhibit. The exhibit features eight narrative panels set along the treeline of its rural properties on 9-H: The c.1850 Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse and the 1737 Luykas Van Alen House located at 2589 NY-9H in the Town of Kinderhook.

“Treat yourselves to a 20 minute walk around the grounds of our rural properties to soak up a lot of history quickly.” said former Board President, Bob Peduzzi.

As the spring season beckons, the narrative panels are ready to be discovered–or rediscoveredddfor those who were able to view them before the winter snow covering.

Open now for viewing, and located on CCHS’ two contiguous rural properties located along Route 9H in Kinderhook, New York, the new exhibit is an accessible and educational ‘wayside’ narrative panel installation that will increase and reinforce awareness, knowledge, and preservation of our shared cultural heritage for our community and our visitors, including the broad, public audience of residents and visitors from both sides of the river.

“While the challenges of this pandemic era has changed how we approach our programming, we have found new ways to engage with our community and present the history and heritage of Columbia County,” said former Executive Director, Lori Yarotsky, who implemented the project with funding from local and international grants.

The prominent property at this location is an 18^th century Dutch Colonial structure, the Luykas Van Alen House, a National Historic Landmark, comprising approximately 53 acres including the Van Alen family homestead.

Adjacent to the Dutch structure is the Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse, a circa 1850 one-room schoolhouse, named after author Washington Irving’s fictional, Dutch character, a schoolteacher.

Also on the grounds is the trailhead to the Dutch Farming Heritage Trail, the 1.7 mile foot trail to Van Buren’s home, Lindenwald.

Stories portrayed on the eight panels include: