The Cragsmoor Historic District in a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

that includes most of the Cragsmoor

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

atop the

Shawangunk Ridge The Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of the border with New Jersey ...

in the Town of Wawarsing, part of

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. It is roughly bounded by Henry, Cragsmoor and Sam's Point roads, a Y-shaped area of 3,620 acres (14.5 km²). Within it are 168 buildings (mostly homes), 15 structures and 11 objects, all located amidst a quiet, heavily wooded ridgetop community. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1996. ''See also:'' Many of the buildings in the district date to Cragsmoor's founding as an

art colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

in the late 19th century, when

Edward Lamson Henry Edward Lamson Henry (January 12, 1841May 9, 1919), commonly known as E.L. Henry, was an American genre painter, born in Charleston, South Carolina. Early life Though born in Charleston, by age seven his parents had died and Henry moved to live ...

and some of his fellow painters visited what was then a small mountain hamlet for local loggers and grew enamored of the scenery. Many homes were designed by Frederick Dellenbaugh and

Bert Goldsmith Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

George Inness, Jr. George Inness Jr. (January 5, 1854 – July 27, 1926), was one of America's foremost figure and landscape artists and the son of George Inness, an important American landscape painter. Biography He studied with his father and Léon Bonnat i ...

and

Charles Courtney Curran Charles Courtney Curran (13 February 1861 – 9 November 1942) was an American painter. He is best known for his canvases depicting women in various settings. Biography Curran was born in Hartford, Kentucky in February, 1861, where his father ...

were among the artists who lived and worked here.

References

{{Portal, Hudson Valley National Register of Historic Places in Ulster County, New York Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Shawangunks Shingle Style architecture in New York (state) Federal architecture in New York (state) Historic districts in Ulster County, New York