Discover

'Kingston' is a city in Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany along the Hudson River. The population was 23,456 at the 2000 census.
The 'City of Kingston' is on the eastern border of Ulster County, and is the county seat.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Transportation

Media

Notable people, past and present

Actors, musicians and others in the entertainment industry

Politics, political activism, government service

Others

Notes

External links

History

The City of Kingston was first called 'Esopus' after a local Indian tribe, and later renamed 'Wiltwyck' (Dutch: game (as in animals) neighborhood/area). It was one of the three large settlements in New Netherland. After the Dutch colony was taken over by the British in 1664, the settlement was renamed Kingston.
In 1777 Kingston became the first capital of New York. Shortly after the Battle of Saratoga, the city was burned by British troops moving up the Hudson River from New York City, disembarking at the mouth of the Rondout Creek on the formation the Dutch had named ''Ponck Hockie''^[1]. The area was a major granary for the colonies at the time, so the British burned large amounts of wheat and all but one or two of the buildings. There is some debate over exactly how much of a fight was put up against the British; one third of the local militia regiment was still to the north at Saratoga, and one third was to the south manning several forts (which were captured days before by the British). This would have left approximately 150 militiamen to defend the city against approximately 2,000 British regulars. In 1797, the capital was reestablished at Albany.

Geography

Kingston is located at (41.928877, -74.004088).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.6 square miles (22.4 km²), of which 7.3 square miles (19.0 km²) is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), or 15.03%, is water.
The city is on the west bank of the Hudson River. Neighboring towns include Hurley, Saugerties, Rhinebeck, and Red Hook.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 23,456 people, 9,871 households, and 5,498 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,189.5 persons per square mile (1,232.2/km²). There were 10,637 housing units at an average density of 1,446.4 houses per square mile (558.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 80.38% White, 12.77% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 1.90% from other races, and 3.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.46% of the population.
There were 9,871 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.2% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.3% were non-families. 36.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,594, and the median income for a family was $41,806. Males had a median income of $31,634 versus $25,364 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,662, with 12.4% of families and 15.8% of the population below the poverty line, including 23.5% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

There is bus service to New York City. Passenger railroad service to Kingston itself has been discontinued for several decades. However, about away is the Rhinecliff-Kingston Amtrak station. CSX Transportation operates freight rail service through Kingston on the River Line Subdivision. There is also a small rail yard of about 7 tracks in Kingston.
New York State Route 199 has the nearest bridge traversing the Hudson River, to the north. U.S. Highway 9W runs north-south through the city. The New York State Thruway, also known at this section as Interstate 87, runs through the western part of the city.
The area is served by Kingston-Ulster airport (2ON), located at the western base of the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge. ^[2] The closest commercial airports are Stewart International Airport in Newburgh and Albany International Airport in Albany.
City bus service is provided by the city-owned CitiBus system, while service to points elsewhere in Ulster County is provided by Ulster County Area Transit (UCAT).
Kingston historically was an important transportation center for the region. The Hudson River, Rondout Creek and Delaware and Hudson Canal were important commercial waterways. At one time, Kingston was served by four railroad companies and two trolley lines. Therefore, Kingston was designated as a New York State Heritage Area with a transportation theme.

Media

★ 'Newspapers'- ''In Kingston''- Daily Freeman, Kingston Times, Ulster County Press ''Outside Kingston''- Poughkeepsie Journal, Times-Herald Record, (Middletown)

★ 'Television' - Public Access Cable, Channel 23

★ 'Radio' ''In Kingston''- WGHQ, 920 AM, WKNY, 1490 AM, ''Outside Kingston'' WDST - 100.1 FM (Woodstock)

Notable people, past and present

Actors, musicians and others in the entertainment industry

★ Peter Bogdanovich (b. 1939) a film director, writer and actor, was born in town.

★ Robert Craft (b. 1923), an award-winning conductor who has led many of the major orchestras in the United States, and a collaborator with Igor Stravinsky, was born in the city.

★ Joseph Kesselring (1902-1967), a writer and playwright best known for his play ''Arsenic and Old Lace'', died in the city.

★ Elissa Landi (1904–1948), an Italian born actress was popular in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s, died of cancer in the city.

★ Sarai (born Sarai Howard in 1981), a white female rapper, was born in the city.

★ Tudi Wiggins (1935–2006), an actress best known for roles in television daytime drama, later produced and appeared in her own talk show on WTZA-TV in the city.

Politics, political activism, government service

★ George Clinton (1739–1812), fourth vice president of the United States and governor of New York, is buried in the city.

★ Charles DeWitt (1727-1787), a miller and statesman from Kingston, served as a delegate to the Continental Congress.

★ Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck (1791–1879), a U.S. Congressman and the sixth President of Rutgers College (now Rutgers University), was born and died in the city.

★ Alton B. Parker (1852–1926), Democratic presidential nominee in 1904, practiced law in the city and was the first president of the Ulster County Bar Association. He not only lost the election, he didn't even carry Ulster County.

★ Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883), former slave and early abolitionist, tried to gain her freedom in Ulster County Court in the city.

★ John Van Buren (1799-1855), a congressman, New York Attorney General and son of President Martin Van Buren, was born in the city.

★ Virginia M. Apuzzo (b. 1941), an american feminist, lesbian, and lecturer. Advocate for lesbian and gay rights and President of the Board of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center in uptown Kingston.

Others

★ Heywood Hale Broun (1918–2001) a sportswriter and commentator, died in the city. (Surname rhymes with "noon".)

★ Ezra Fitch (1866–1930), the "Fitch" in "Abercrombie & Fitch, practiced law in Kingston before leaving to join Abercrombie in his wilderness outfitting store in New York City in 1900. He bought out Abercrombie in 1907.

★ Brian Kenny (b. 1963), a journalist who anchors ''Friday Night Fights'' and ''ESPNEWS' The Hot List'', previously worked for WTZA in the city.

★ Evaline Ness (1911-1986) an illustrator and author who won a Caldecott Medal in 1967 for ''Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine'', and who was married to Untouchable Eliot Ness from 1938-1946, died in the city.

★ Maud Petersham (1890-1971), who won the Caldecott Medal with her husband and coauthor, Miska Petrezselyem Mikaly, in 1946 for "The Rooster Crows", was born in Kingston.


★ Andrée Ruellan (1905-2006), a painter whose works are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum, died in the city.

★ Anne Sweeney (b. 1957), Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks and President of the Disney-ABC Television Group, who has been named the "Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment" by The Hollywood Reporter, and one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" by Fortune magazine and one of "The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women" by Forbes, was born in the city.

★ Mike Ferraro (b. 1944), a third baseman for the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers, and later coach for the Kansas City Royals, was born in the city.

★ Jervis McEntee (1828-1891), a painter of the Hudson River School, is buried in Wiltwyck Cemetery in the city.

★ John Vanderlyn (1776-1852), a neoclassicist painter, was born in the city.

★ Calvert Vaux (1824-1895), a noted architect and landscape designer; codesigner of Grand Central Park, NYC; buried in Kingston's Montrepose Cemetery.

Notes

1. Bond Brungard for the Poughkeepsie Journal [1]
2. http://www.ulstertourism.info/travlersinfo.html

External links

★ City of Kingston, New York

★ City Data with Charts

★ KingstonJobs.Net - Jobs in Kingston, New York & surrounding area

★ Ulster Publishing, Home of the Kingston Times and four other weekly newspapers in surrounding towns

★ Daily Freeman daily newspaper

★ Arts Society of Kingston webpage

★ Kingston Jazz Festival

★ Kingston Library

★ New York State Heritage Areas

★ People born in Kingston, NY