A Traveling House Party Along the Hudson River
This year, the New Baltimore Conservancy’s annual Taste of History event will be held on June 15th.
Proceeds of this event are used toward funding the annual scholarship, given by the Conservancy to a graduating, local, high school senior with a strong background of activities and work to support the community.
A Little About New Baltimore
The hamlet of New Baltimore coalesced around a landing and anchorage on the Hudson River during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Shipbuilding began in the 1790s and by 1800, the landing had several dozen houses and taverns and was named New Baltimore. Several Dutch families settled in the community along with a number of Rhode Islanders. New Baltimore had the advantage of being situated below bars which often obstructed navigation to Albany. The hamlet thrived on shipbuilding and the sloop trade on the river and beyond.
Shipbuilding became a major source of employment in the nineteenth century. The Baldwin shipyard was founded in 1858 and built more than 100 steamboats, tugboats, and barges. The marine railway built-in 1884 remains on Mill St. at the center of the yard’s historic operations. The ice industry operated a series of icehouses north and south of the hamlet as well as across the river on Houghtaling Island. The hamlet became urban in scale, boasting fine churches, stylish houses, and several hotels.
New Baltimore declined after World War I. Wooden shipbuilding was no longer competitive and the ice industry collapsed as a result of health concerns and mechanical refrigeration. Destructive fires hollowed out the historic business district between 1897 and 1919. Labor moved to the cities. Efforts to clean up the Hudson River and a renewed interest in historic architecture brought new people to the hamlet beginning in the 1970s. The hamlet was entered on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 1996 and a number of historic houses have been thoughtfully rehabilitated during the past several decades.
Tickets are $30 per person. You can purchase online here or at the door.
What is Taste of History?
It’s an event that celebrates the beauty of historic homes in the Hamlet of New Baltimore and provides a lovely evening of people getting together to relax, get to know each other and especially, to enjoy the creations of our local talented cooks! We’ll have a selection of appetizers at the first two houses and desserts at house #3. Wine will be served along with other beverages at each house.
We will share some history of our three host homes, each of which reflects the beautiful architecture of the area.
Schedule of Events:
We begin at 6 pm at the first home, 89 Main Street in the hamlet of New Baltimore, with appetizers. At 7 pm we continue on to home #2, 979 State Route 144, with more delectable finger foods. At 8 pm we continue our evening with a brief stroll down Mill Street, right along the Hudson to home #3, 56 Mill Street, to enjoy wonderful desserts with a beautiful view of the river.
Please review map provided for suggested parking. While the first house has sufficient parking, space at the other two is limited.
Here is a map of this year’s traveling house party:
While enjoying the traveling house party, you may also enjoy our self-guided walking tour:
Our First Home: Laurel Ariev & Charlotte Ariev
89 Main Street
This house was built in several sections. The large north end has Federal style features – the pediment and the semi-circular fanlight above the main entrance, pilasters (false columns) on the east side, and decorative window crowns and borders. All of this suggests a construction date of circa 1820, or just before. Andrew Van Slyke was the probable first owner. He died in 1827 and left it to daughter Jane who married Edwin S. Colburn. It was in the Colburn family until 1926. The Colburn farm consisted of several hundred acres.
Our Second Home: Dean Altvater & Guillermo Martinez
979 State Route 144
This house is a contributing structure to the New Baltimore Hamlet Historic District, on the National Register of Historic Places. The three-story polygonal shape turret distinguishes it as the only Queen Anne style residence in the hamlet. This was built circa 1890 by the Nodine family on the site of the first home in New Baltimore of the shipbuilding Baldwin family.
Our Third Home: Jennifer & Eric Whipple
56 Mill Street
This home is a contributing structure to the New Baltimore Hamlet Historic District, on the National Register of Historic Places. This is dated circa 1865, perhaps the busiest era in the history of the waterfront in New Baltimore. Directly to the north was a shipyard, to the south a steamboat landing. At the time of the 1867 map, Mrs. Matthews lived here. It was purchased by William Wade, the last operator of the shipyard, in 1919. After his death at a young age, his widow Bertha lived here for five decades. A wood frame outbuilding, considered to be contemporaneous in age to the house, is also a contributing structure to the Historic District.
New Baltimore Conservancy 