The
Town of Kingston is a small municipality nestled in the valley between the
City of Kingston and Woodstock. Originally, it surrounded the City and
included the Town of Ulster, part of Woodstock and Hurley. The heart of the
town began to be settled by the late 17th century, mainly by
small farmers and millers who used the Sawkill Creek for grinding grain and
making gunpowder. In 1696 a tract of land along the Sawkill Creek was
conveyed by the Trustees of Kingston to William Legg for 50 schipples of
wheat.
The deed permitted the erection of a sawmill and required the payment of "a half bushel of good winter wheat yearly to ye Trustee and their Successors forever".
Throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries,
the town was primarily a self-sufficient community which was engaged in some
commercial trade on the Hudson River with Sawkill as the center of town. It
changed dramatically with the discovery of Bluestone and with the influx of
immigrants who came to live in the town and work the quarries. Extensive
quarrying of Bluestone began with the opening of the Delaware and Hudson
Canal, which facilitated the transport of heavy rock slabs, and accommodated
the increased demand of growing Northeast cities for stone to pave sidewalks
and streets. (continued)
The
Town of Kingston is a small municipality nestled in the valley between the
City of Kingston and Woodstock. Originally, it surrounded the City and
included the Town of Ulster, part of Woodstock and Hurley. The heart of the
town began to be settled by the late 17th century, mainly by
small farmers and millers who used the Sawkill Creek for grinding grain and
making gunpowder. In 1696 a tract of land along the Sawkill Creek was
conveyed by the Trustees of Kingston to William Legg for 50 schipples of
wheat.