Local Info

The first lighthouse in Saugerties was built in 1838 with funds appropriated by Congress. Five whale oil lamps with parabolic reflectors lighted it. The present lighthouse was built in 1869. It sits on a massive circular stone base sixty feet in diameter. The six-order Fresnel lens lights the harbor to direct river traffic when Saugerties was a major port with daily passenger boats to Manhattan and ferries to Tivoli. Automation of the light in 1954 made light keepers obsolete. The building was closed by the Coast Guard and fell into decay. Local historian Ruth Reynolds Glunt, and architect Elise Barry, succeeded in placing the Lighthouse on the National Register in 1978. This stimulated local citizens to restore the building. In 1986 the newly formed Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy acquired the Lighthouse and the adjacent wetlands. After extensive fundraising and restoration work the building was completely reconstructed. After 36 years the light was restored to operation on August 4, 1990. The Saugerties Lighthouse is open weekends and holidays, Memorial Day through Columbus Day, 2:00 to 5:00pm and by appointment. It contains a museum, a caretaker's apartment, two bedrooms and a living room. Models, displays of the reconstruction work, and Lighthouse artifacts are displayed in the building. For information, contact the Lighthouse Conservancy (845) 247-0656.

By Spider Barbour
The lighthouse trail starts just east of the Coast Guard station fence, about fifty feet from the road through a steel gate (usually open). Go at low tides (check tide tables) if you want to reach the lighthouse. At high tide you can get to the beach, but the trail will be flooded after that. The lighthouse trail passes first through a wooded tidal swamp with cottonwood, elm, white willow, and red maple. Wild yam vines with three-walled fall fruit trail over spice bush and witch hazel shrubs. In spring, jack-in-the-pulpits bloom in the rich alluvial soil. Edging the sunnier tidal channel are swamp dogwood and pussy willow shrubs, and late-summer flowers such as yellow, daisy like sneeze weed, misty magenta, purple loosestrife, and brilliant scarlet cardinal flower. Pickerel weed, arrow arum, and cattail grow in the deep muck f the channel itself. River ward of the channel the trail enters woods and angles off along a stretch of the spit's sandy north beach, The trail may seem lost among the tall loose strife and sneeze weed, but it becomes clear again as the spit narrows into a low shrub swamp (mostly swap dogwood and willows). Look in the debris piles for otherworldly, spiny gray sea pods of European water chestnut. The lighthouse trail offers access to an unusual diversity of the Hudson River tideland habitats in excellent, undisturbed condition. It's a delightful introduction to an ecosystem unique in the Northeast.

Clearwater is an authentic replica of Old Dutch sloops that carried cargo up and down the river. Launched in 1969, the sloop has an important educational role. Every year, more than 12,000 school children and adults sail the Clearwater. The Sloop Clearwater spends each winter docked in Saugerties. Tourists are welcomed.

At the Saugerties countryside you will find abandoned quarries of the bluestone industry. One quarry was transformed into a monument commemorating the industriousness of early quarry workers and the enduring beauty of the local bluestone. Opus 40 was conceived of by artist/sculptor Harvey Fite. He built an environmental sculpture of native bluestone over thirty-seven years. Originally conceived of as forty-year project, his nearly completed work was halted by his accidental death. In addition to the outdoor sculpture, a small museum is open to the public. The museum displays quarrying tools collected by Harvey Fite. The site also features a series of outdoor concerts. It is open each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from Memorial weekend to November 1st. Hours are 12:00 to 5:00pm. Admission is charged. For information on group tours or special events call (845) 246-3400.

"A park, a breathing place, open and free at all times to every person." In deeding this property to the village in 1909, John Seamon's insight has kept Seamon Park a Mecca of tranquility in today's high-tech society. The Mum Festival, is held the first week of October, ushers in a month of leisurely strolls along paths lined with fall plantings, interspersed with thousands of rainbow-hued chrysanthemums. The festival features varied music: chamber, country, and Sousa marches. There are Colonial demonstrations, an art show, live animals, and puppets. The Mum Queen and her Court will distribute mum corsages. The park is open 9:00am till dusk. Picnic tables and stone fireplaces built by Camp Fire Girls are adjacent to a playground area. A gazebo allows privacy for reading and writing; park benches afford spectacular views of the Village and the setting sun. Seamon Park is the site where a sawyer operated a mill in 1652-1663 on a stream now the northern boundary of the park. An original wheel can still be seen near the site. School children donated pennies to purchase the "boy and girl under an umbrella" fountain near the front gate. A bronze tiered fountain on the upper level, circled with flowers, is a favorite for wedding pictures and ceremonies.

The tantalizing aroma of garlic permeates the air each September as thousands flock to the Cantine Memorial Field complex, Washington Avenue. Each year the annual Hudson Valley Garlic Festival is held on the last weekend in September. The Kiwanis Club of Saugerties adopted the festival at the request of Pat Reppert who could no longer accommodate hordes of garlic lovers descending on her Shale Hill Farm. Food vendors, area restaurants, caterers, and nonprofit community groups line the field offering everything from garlic snacks to gourmet entrees. Chefs' cooking demonstrations are continuous all day. Tons of freshly harvested garlic of every variety, garlic wreaths, and braids of garlic. as well as seeds, are available in the Garlic Farmers' Market Place. Half-hour lectures offer tips for small garlic patches to commercial growing and marketing and the medicinal uses of garlic. Morris street dancers, banjo bands, barbershop quartets, plus educational exhibits, an amateur cooking contest, craft and business booths of garlic or garden-related items, add up to a unique, unusual event. Rain or shine! Call (845) 246-3090 for further information or visit the site at www.hvgf.org.

Located in the Cantine Veterans Memorial Complex at the corner of Small World and Washington Avenues. Telephone numbers: Department Office (845) 246-5890; Ice Arena (845) 247-2590; Fax (845) 247-2592; e-mail kiwanisice@saugerties.ny.us

85' x 190' Olympic size refrigerated ice rink.
Accommodates all age levels, recreational skating, instructional skating, promotional events/activities, tournaments, youth and adult leagues.
Fully enclosed with a 120' x 235' Titan series structure.
The largest of its type in the Northeast.
Complete with professional Metal Halide Lighting. Desiccant Dehumidification with return hot air heating in the spectator seating area.
Full service concession area, large heated changing room, full service rentals of skates, sticks, etc.
Open seven days a week, September - March. Hours vary depending on activities and day of week. Call ahead.
Private ice bookings still available at $180.00 per hour. Please call.
Public Fees: Adults $5.00, Students $3.00, drop-in hockey, Adults $7.00, drop-in hockey students $5.00, skate sharpening $5.00, rentals $3.00. Many hours of open public skating available weekly. Season passes available. Please call. **Fees and schedule subject to change.

To Promote Business, Tourism and Community Pride
This traditional event was created to herald the coming of spring and provide a series of events with activities of interest and enjoyment for all. As part of the Festival, a program to select a SPRING FESTIVAL PRINCESS and ATTENDANTS has been ongoing. The Princess program is open to all girls in the fifth grade of Saugerties schools. A princess and two attendants are chosen annually from applicants based on community service and the writing of an essay concerning their interest and concerns in the Saugerties community. The young ladies are crowned at a special reception and receive an array of gifts including savings bonds, jewelry and other items. The princess and her attendants reign over all festival activities.

Purchased by the Saugerties Historical Society in 199, the historic Kiersted House at 119 Main Street in the Village of Saugerties is the Society's headquarters and the surrounding Mid-Hudson Valley community. The Kiersted House is architecturally significant as an exceptional example of early eighteenth and nineteenth century local building craft and practices. The original builder is still unknown, but the first recorded owner of the homestead was Hiskia Dubois in 1724, and it was purchased by Dr. Christopher Kiersted in 1773. The farm at that time extended on both sides of the present Main Street in Saugerties. The rubble stone building appears to have been built in four sections. The old kitchen wing may date from 1724, and may have been the original residence while the main section of the house was being built in 1727. In about 1800 the dwelling was expanded with the addition of a stone parlor wing, the hall and present front door, and the joining of former outbuilding to the main house. The back porch, and possibly present kitchen are thought to have been the last expansions. The Kiersted House retains much of its interior composition. The includes the wide wood plank floors; the box stairs; the Georgian mantels molding and cabinetry; much original iron hardware; and even many eighteenth century glass windowpanes, some bearing inscriptions. In 1998, the Kiersted House was placed on both New York State and the National Register of Historic Places. As the museum of the Saugerties Historical Society, the beautifully landscaped 11/4-acre property, complete with centuries old black locust trees, is the site of many spinal eats, including History Day, Colonial Reenactments, and seasonal community concerts. Open 2:00 to 7:00pm weekends and holidays, Memorial Day through Labor Day, and by appointment Fridays and Mondays. Changing displays are featured within the elegant house. Call (845) 246-9529 for further information and a schedule of events.