Welcome to the City of Kingston, NY

Kingston, dating to the arrival of the Dutch in 1652, is a vibrant city with rich history and architecture, was the state's first capital, and a thriving arts community. City Hall is in the heart of the community at 420 Broadway, and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except July & August (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Come tour our historic City, with restaurants that are among the region's finest, and local shopping that promises unique finds.

Historic Churches

Kingston is home to many historic churches. The oldest church still standing is the First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Kingston which was organized in 1659. Referred to as The Old Dutch Church, it is located in Uptown Kingston. Many of the city's historic churches populate Wurts street (6 in one block) among them Hudson Valley Wedding Chapel is a recently restored church built in 1867 and now a chapel hosting weddings. Another church in the Rondout is located at 72 Spring Street. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in 1849. The original church building at the corner of Hunter Street and Ravine Street burned to the ground in the late 1850s. The current church on Spring Street was built in 1874.

Kingston, NY

Kingston became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British on October 13, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga. In the 19th century, the city became an important transport hub after the discovery of natural cement in the region, and had both railroad and canal connections.

Kingston, NY

The town of Rondout, New York, now a part of the city of Kingston, became an important freight hub for the transportation of coal from Honesdale, Pennsylvania to New York City through the Delaware and Hudson Canal. This hub was later used to transport other goods, including bluestone. Kingston shaped and shipped most of the bluestone made to create the sidewalks of New York City.

Contact Us

City Hall Address:
420 Broadway
Kingston, New York
12401

Phone:
(845) 331-0080
Email:
[email protected]

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ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION/NATURE CENTER

The City of Kingston Parks and Recreation Department operates one of the state's only municipal nature center's which houses a variety of plants and animals along with an array of cutting edge sustainability displays. The Department also boasts a year round Environmental Education Program that operates out of a variety of Kingston's parks and strives to educate local school students and adults so they are more literate of the natural world around them and the boundless opportunities available in the park system.

Weekly Wednesday Winter Virtual Nature Series

Kingston Parks and Recreation is happy to announce a weekly nature program starting February 10th- March 24th 2021. Every Wednesday at 9am we will be releasing a new video featuring a winter topic (see list below). Each video will be two parts. The first will be a teaching video discussing important vocabulary and demonstrating real life examples of the topic. The second video will be a hands on experiment/ activity for you to do at home or in school. Included with each video release will be fun worksheets. These videos are designed for grades Pre K- 3rd but all are welcome to watch and participate. We hope you will join us along our winter adventure.

Date	Nature Series (Part 1)	Nature Activity (part 2)	Worksheet Activity (PreK-2)	Worksheet Activity (3-5)
Feb. 10, 2021	Winter Survival	DIY Snow	Survival Matching Game	Survival Crossword
Feb. 17, 2021	Scat, Tracks and Nests	Play Dough Footprints	Footprint Matching Game	Scat and Tracks Discovery
Feb. 24, 2021	Plants in Winter	Seed Growing	Seasonal Tree Art	Venn Diagram Conifer vs. Deciduous
Mar. 3 2021	Mammals	Insulation Experiment	Acrostic Poetry	All or Some?
Mar. 10, 2021	Birds	DIY Bird Feeders	Native or Non-Native	Hummingbird Detective
Mar. 17, 2021	Reptiles Part 1 Reptiles Part 2	Soft Shell vs. Hard Shell	Reptile Tissue Collage	Snake Dinner Party
Mar. 24, 2021	Insects	DIY Bug Home	Ladybug Math	Monarch Math

For more information about each program click on the date above to see our program curriculum including vocabulary, materials, step by step instructions for the experiment, and a quick summary of the worksheets.

School Programming Registration On Hold

We are excited, as always to start the new year with you all, ready and engaged to explore our natural world, both in the classroom and in the field. This year, we are happy to offer the following programs as part of our regular registration:

Into the Forest

Day in the Life of the Hudson River

What's a Watershed

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... Rethink!

Winter Bird Watch

Maple Sugaring at Hasbrouck Park

Owl Pellet Dissection

Forsyth Nature Center Self-Guided Tour

Forsyth Nature Center Zoology Program

Hudson River Ecology

Kayaking 101

You can connect to the registration site via www.kingstonparksandrec.org