Hurley in the Revolution: History Happened Here
Come to the Hurley Museum and help us celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution! Our new exhibit tells the stories of Hurley residents during the war years. We feature women and children, landowners and tenant farmers, immigrants and indigenous people, enslaved and free people of color, servants, loyalist neighbors and spies. This broad look at life in Hurley during the War of Independence gives visitors a more tactile and complete experience than ever before. Textile production for the war effort, mainly women’s work, became a vital industry during this period. Visitors learn about raising sheep, growing flax, dying, spinning and weaving in Hurley. Crops, farming, and milling are explored. Intricate family histories and connections are on view, not only for those who owned the homes that remain today, but also for those who had much less. Complicated Patriot and Loyalist dynamics and the motives and coercion behind allegiances may surprise you. Many of the old stories are told, but with new perspectives and nuance. A Lego diorama of Main Street is sure to delight the kiddos and those still young at heart! Please join us in exploring what liberty and freedom meant for all the residents of Revolutionary Hurley.
The Wynkoop House: Inspiring the Arts Across the Centuries
For over 300 years, eight generations of the Wynkoop family owned a Hurley farmstead, located at the intersection of Wynkoop Road and Hurley Mountain Road. Cornelius Wynkoop received the original land grant in 1663, and it stayed in the family until 1971 when t was acquired by Robert and Viola Opdahl. The Opdahls were superb stewards of the estate and its rich history, and to them we dedicate this year’s new exhibit. The property has attracted a remarkable number of artists over several centuries: from portrait painter Pieter Vanderlyn, grandfather to artist John Vanderlyn, in the eighteenth century, to several listed artists in the latter half of the 19th century, and local artists in the 20th and 21st centuries. It even became the set of a major motion picture.
A Fortuitous Discovery
Our interest in the art created at the Wynkoop place was piqued by a discovery made back in 2016 by Reilly Rhodes, an author and long-time collector of Winslow Homer’s art. I remember clearly the day an email arrived from Mr. Rhodes, asking if the museum had an interior picture of the Hurley Wynkoop House showing exposed beams. Doreen Lyke, then town historian, and Bruce Whistance had just collected an oral history from Viola Opdahl and had scanned many of the vintage photographs left by the Wynkoops. Reilly was astonished by the ca.1890 image we sent to him. It turned out to be definitive proof that Homer was in the Wynkoop house sketching for his 1875 wood engraving The Family Record. Just as in Homer’s engraving, the photograph shows the Pieter Vanderlyn portrait (1743, Huntington Art Museum) of the 8-year-old Colonel Cornelius Wynkoop hanging on the wall below his sword from the Revolutionary War. Even more importantly, the man in the engraving is sitting on the exact New York slat-back great chair appearing in the photograph. Viola pulled out the estate auction record from 1970, listing an “antique Dutch chair” which brought the top price at the auction. The chair’s current location is unknown, but was likely sold to a local person. Anyone know where it might be? It would be a grand addition to the museum’s collection. Reilly insists it would have national significance.
A Destination for Artists
The discovery of the Homer connection spurred us to identify four other paintings of the Wynkoop house by noted artists of the late 19th century, each a picture of the south-facing porch. At least one of these artists, Platt Powell Ryder, traveled to Ulster County at the same time as Homer. We do not know the exact circumstances of how and why these four artists came to the Wynkoop farm, but it is likely that both George Wynkoop (1814-1885) and James D. Wynkoop (1843-1904) met these artists in New York City where both were patrons of the arts. The Wynkoop farm seems to have been a rural retreat for artists seeking views of a bygone era. What better place than Hurley?
In 1981, the Wynkoop house once again became the nexus of creative activity when the movie Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, came to town and chose the Wynkoop farm for its upstate New York setting, along with the Hurley Mountain Inn for the interior bar scenes. That was the era when antlered deer heads peered down from the walls of the Inn. More recently, local artists such as Dr. William Askue, Judy Howard, and Cindy Gill Lapp have made paintings that feature the Wynkoop house or surrounding farmland.
Virtual Exhibition: Winslow Homer's Hurley – An Artist's View
Winslow Homer, one of America's greatest painters and illustrators, visited Hurley, NY, during summers of the 1870s to sketch and paint views of American pastoral life. It has been a not-so-well-kept secret that that Homer's famed Snap the Whip is a Hurley scene. Now, recent research has unearthed a trove of his artworks that were inspired by Hurley homes and landscapes. This exhibition is based on work done by members of the Heritage Society with author Reilly Rhodes for his 2017 book on Homer.
The Dutch Room
Hurley is proud of its Dutch heritage. Nieuw Dorp (now Hurley) was established in 1662 when Philip Pieterson Schuyler and five other business men petitioned New Netherland Colony Governor General Peter Stuyvesant to establish a new village. The Dutch brought with them a thriving culture and soon established a self-sustaining community. Wheat, rye, and barley were grown on the river valley. Each homestead consisted of a barn, kitchen garden, and orchard, growing apples and pears for family use.
The Dutch Room showcases how a living area might have looked in the Dutch and Colonial period in the 17th and 18th centuries. All curated items—Dutch bible, antique chairs, tables and cupboards, baby cradle, canvas floor cloth, butter churn, Dutch oven, pewter and china dishes—are typical of ones used by Hurley’s early Dutch settlers.
Hurley's Native American Heritage
The original settlers in Hurley at the time of Henry Hudson’s voyage in 1609 on the North River, were referred to as the Esopus Indians; a northern branch of the Delaware Tribe, Lenni-Lenape. It is their culture and customs that helped shape our present-day Hurley community and remains a powerful force today. In the Spring of 1662, the Village of Nieuw Dorp was founded by Peter Stuyvesant and the Lenape’s fertile land was divided into several parcels. Eventually, disputes were settled and the Lenape, respected as peacemakers, adopted some of the Dutch traditions and shared common land and cultures.
The showcase of Native American artifacts, located in the upstairs hall, features a timeline of projectile points(spearheads) from the earliest prehistoric times to 1350 AD. Many early tools and stone tools used by the River Indian Tribes are displayed with explanations and documented dates. The history of early pottery tells how and why the Indian settlers crafted utensils from local clay pits and kilns.
Photographs and a replicated Headdress of Chief Joseph Brant 1742-1807 (Thayendanegea), translated to mean “he who places two bets”, signify the involvement of Chief Joseph Brant, Mohawk, War Chief, politician, and missionary during the American Revolution. Joseph Brant fought for the British cause, with the hopes that Indian lands would be returned to them as promised.
Collections and artifacts are on loan from Steven Hart and Ronald Rifenburg.