Human presence on the vicinity of Hudson landing spans over 400 years when
local Indians used the resources of the Hudson River for fishing and travel.
Since the City of Kingston began in 1614 as a Dutch trading post with the
Esopus Indians, the waterfront has seen a long and varied history. Dutch
trading led to the establishment of a colony, known at that time as Esopus,
at the mouth of the Rondout creek in the early 1650’s. By 1683, with the
colony under the rule of the British Crown, the settlement was known as
Kingston.
From this point, the Kingston region grew and prospered. By the early
1800’s, Kingston with its location on the confluence of the Hudson River and
the Rondout Creek became a major port of call. The building of ships and
river barges became a major industry during this era and river travel was at
its height. The Hudson Landing site itself saw tremendous industrial
occupation and rock quarrying by no less than four different brick works,
the Newark Lime & Cement Manufacturing Co as well as the Rosendale &
Kingston Cement Company, and numerous Ice Houses located along the shore
which harvested Ice from the river for transport to New York City and
beyond. Most recently the property was occupied by the Hudson Cement company
which ceased operations in the late 1970’s.
Today, the property stands as a ghostly reminder of the region’s long
industrial past.
