The History of Hudson Before It Was Hudson
We often think of the history of Hudson as beginning in 1783, when, soon after the end of the Revolutionary War, Seth and Thomas Jenkins discovered the site while on their search to find a seaport far from the sea, but the history of Hudson extends back in time more than a century before that.
On Sunday, December 11, as part of the autumn lecture series sponsored by Historic Hudson and the Columbia County Historical Society, Dr. David William Voorhees will present a lecture entitled "Before the Proprietors: The Dutch Port of Claverack Landing." The lecture will describe the prosperous community developed by
Dutch inhabitants of the region which served as an anchorage for ships carrying raw materials from inland farms to markets downriver and delivering in exchange European manufactured goods to inland communities and explore the history and events that shaped the port of Claverack Landing for 120 years before the arrival of the Proprietors.
The lecture begins at 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 11, at Stair Galleries, 549 Warren Street. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the website of Historic Hudson or the Columbia County Historical Society.
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK
Not sure if David will cover this, but there's a wonderful story about the discovery of a "giant's tooth" in Claverack Landing in 1705--a discover that would help shape the world view of evolution when Jefferson got a hold of it and started wondering if it were from a prehistoric creature (mastadon) instead of a biblical creature. My memory of the history is a bit foggy at the moment, but the discovery of mastadon remains in Hyde Park a decade or so ago revived interest in the 1705 Claverack Landing find (see http://newyorkhistoryblog.org/2013/12/02/size-matters-new-yorks-mastodons/)
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