If you are a new resident of Philipstown and interested in learning about the history of the community in which you live, you are invited to a Getting To Know You! Reception on Saturday, October 23 from 5 to 7 pm at the Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum, 63 Chestnut Street in Cold Spring. Cocktails and hors d’oeurves will be served. This is an opportunity for new residents to meet other people who have recently moved to Philipstown. You may consider this article your invitation, but please call the Society at 265-4010 to let them know you plan to attend.
"Philip Who?" That’s the title that local author Gretchen Sprague has given to her "Capsule History of Philipstown." The Historical Society asked volunteers Audrey Ridpath and Janet Rust to do the research which Ms. Sprague used to prepare this booklet. New residents will be given an autographed copy at the reception. General Putnam, who headquartered in Garrison; General Washington, who visited General Putnam (and left one of his silver teaspoons behind him); the men who built the West Point foundry; Abraham Lincoln, who visited the Foundry during the Civil War and won that war in large part because of the Foundry’s output; the families who built mansions in the hills and along the river; the Hudson River School of artists who painted the local scenery (adding trees to take the place of the ones cut down to fuel the Foundry furnaces) - these are the people who made Philipstown history. The Historical Society has their histories, their ballgowns, their furniture, their quilts.
Over the last few years the Historical Society has staged exhibits of antique quilts, paintings, old glass manufactured in the area, clothing from the last century, cannons, cast-iron garden furniture, and many other beautiful and historically significant items from its collection. The current exhibit, "Roads, Rails and the American Heritage River," tells the history of the development of transportation along the Hudson River.
In addition to their regular and special exhibits, the Historical Society is prepared to answer questions about local history. Robert C. Bickford, President of the Society, said, "New residents in Philipstown have a lot of questions about the history of the area. Sometimes they have questions about the houses they have bought or the street where they live. Our staff and volunteers love to share the history they know. They dig out old records and pictures, and if they don’t know certain things themselves they often know who does."
Doris Shaw, Executive Director of the Society, and Janet Rust, who is chairing this event, will be there on October 23 to greet new residents. "The Historical Society offers many things to new residents," said Ms. Shaw, "and I think we help them foster a sense of common identity as Philipstown residents."
