NEWSLETTER
Free Admission for Veterans and Active Service People
Monday, May 30, Memorial Day, at 1:00 PM
Staatsburg, N.Y. (5/19/22) — To commemorate Memorial Day, Staatsburgh State Historic Site will present its special theme tour of the mansion, “World War I and the End of the Gilded Age” on Monday, May 30, at 1:00pm. Reservations are required: www.bookeo.com/StaatsburghSHS. The cost is $10; $8 for students and seniors; children 12 and under are free.
All are welcome to join this tour. To honor those who serve, or who have served, in the United States military, The Friends of Mills at Staatsburgh, the community-led support group of Staatsburgh State Historic Site, will offer free admission to this special tour for veterans, active-duty service people, people in the reserves, and their immediate family members:Once reservations have been made online, service members and veterans can present their ID or proof of service when they arrive at the site. “We hope that veterans and current members of the military, and their families, will enjoy this special tour, created by the site to commemorate the centennial years of the First World War, which intersects in interesting ways with the history of the Mills family and the Gilded Age,” says Diane Topkis, president of the Friends of Mills at Staatsburgh. “And while they are here, we think they will fall in love with this special landscape along the river, and all the site and park have to offer.”
Led by a costumed interpreter, this special tour will last 90 minutes, and will include the partially-restored servants’ area in the basement of the mansion. While visiting the site, visitors can also enjoy the estate’s historic grounds and strolls along the Hudson River, as well as hiking trails in the woodland areas of Mills Memorial State Park.
Staatsburgh was the home of prominent social hostess Ruth Livingston Mills and her husband, financer Ogden Mills. The 79-room mansion on the Hudson River showcases the opulent lifestyle enjoyed by the wealthy elite of the early 20th century. The Millses’ son, Ogden Livingston Mills, quit his job as a New York State Senator to join the army and serve in the Great War, and the Millses’ Paris home became American General John J. Pershing’s headquarters in France. In a setting rich with Louis XIV furniture, Italian marble and 17th-century Belgian tapestries, the theme tour, “World War I and the End of the Gilded Age,” explores the impact of the war on the Gilded Age and on the Mills family.
By the war’s end in 1918, changes in society – including the enactment of the income tax – ushered in a new era. Within a generation of being built, many of the great mansions of the Gilded Age were gone, abandoned by families that could not afford them or no longer celebrated ostentatious displays of wealth. Staatsburgh remains as a time-capsule of the Gilded Age, with its original lavish furnishings intact. The mansion and estate of the Mills family remained in their possession until the late 1930s, when a descendant made a gift of much of the property to New York State.
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 and www.facebook.com/StaatsburghSHS.
Staatsburgh’s events are listed at parks.ny.gov
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 78.4 million people in 2021. 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 parks.ny.gov, connect on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.
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Contact:
Frank Pidala | Frank.Pidala@parks.ny.gov | (845) 889-8851 ext. 345