NEWSLETTER
June 10, 17 and 24 at 10am
Staatsburg, N.Y. (6/1/21) — This June, Staatsburgh State Historic Site will give guided landscape tours on the Gilded Age estate’s beautiful grounds overlooking the Hudson River. The tour, entitled “What You See… and What You Don’t See,” will show how Staatsburgh’s landscape architect designed a glorious setting that showcased the good life in the Gilded Age, while deliberately using landscape elements to hide the technology and labor that made a turn-of-the-century estate run. Using historic photos of the grounds, the tour will reveal what visitors would have seen at the turn of the 20th century, but also step behind the curtain to show what was hidden from them.
“On this guided walk, you’ll be able to imagine what it would be like to be a guest of Ruth Livingston Mills for one of her very exclusive parties at Staatsburgh,” says site educator, Don Fraser: “On a beautiful afternoon, you might stroll along the Hudson, or sail the river on the Mills’ yacht, or take a carriage drive. The grounds would present you with stunning vistas and lovely gardens, but tucked out of view, the estate staff would be shoveling coal, laundering piles of cloths and linens, or tending to animals, and all that would be invisible to you.”
The tour will be about one mile of mostly level terrain, with some uphill walking. The program, including the walk, discussion, and looking at historic photos, will take about 1½ hours.
The landscape walk will be offered on June 10, 17, and 24 at 10:00AM.
There is no charge for the tour, but visitors must register in advance. Attendance will be limited to aid in social distancing. Staatsburgh follows all NYS Department of Health guidelines for safety during the COVID 19 pandemic. Unvaccinated visitors should wear a face covering when unable to maintain social distance outdoors. Social distancing will be required of all tour participants; assisted listening devices are available to make hearing easier. To make reservations, visit Staatsburgh.Eventbrite.com.
The grounds also offer strolls along the river, picnic locations and hiking on the woodland trails.
Staatsburgh State Historic Site and the Ogden Mills & Ruth Livingston Mills Memorial State Park are located on Old Post Road in Staatsburg, off Route 9 between Rhinebeck and Hyde Park. The historic site is one of 6 sites and 15 parks administered by the Taconic Region of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. For more information, call 845-889-8851, or visit Staatsburgh’s websites at Parks.NY.gov, Facebook, and Blogger. Staatsburgh’s events are listed at Parks.NY.gov/Events.
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual parks, historic sites, recreational trails and boat launches, which were visited by a record 78 million people in 2020. A recent university study found that spending by State Parks and its visitors supports $5 billion in output and sales, 54,000 private-sector jobs and more than $2.8 billion in additional state GDP. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit www.parks.ny.gov, download the free NY State Parks Explorer mobile app or call 518.474.0456. Also, connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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