Johnson Hall State Historic Site was the home of Sir William Johnson (1715–1774) an Irish pioneer who became the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

, known for his strong relationship especially with the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

and other

Iroquois League The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

nations. Johnson Hall is located at Hall Avenue, West State Street and Johnson Avenue, in

Johnstown, New York Johnstown is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. The city was named after its founder, Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York and a major general during the Sev ...

History

The house was built seven miles from the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...

, close to Hall Creek. Hall Creek provided water sufficient to power a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

and later a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

. Built of wood, the house frame was covered with wood planks intended to simulate stone. Johnson engaged leading colonial architect Peter Harrison (1716-1775) to design the house; he hired the carpenter, Samuel Fuller, to build it. At least some of the ideas for the house came from the ''Builders' Companion'' magazine. Johnson also had two stone block houses built as defenses against attack on the frontier, as the British had just ended the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

with the French. The stonehouses were also used for storage and other domestic uses. Johnson founded

, and came to own a estate. Johnson moved here from

Old Fort Johnson Old Fort Johnson is a historic house museum and historic site at 2 Mergner Road (junction of New York State Routes 5 and 67) in Fort Johnson, New York. It is the site of Fort Johnson, a two-story stone house originally enclosed in fortificat ...

in 1763 and lived here until he died in 1774. The house was inherited by his son, John Johnson. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, the rebel government in New York seized Johnson Hall because the Johnsons had gone to Canada as

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

. In 1779 the state sold the house to

Silas Talbot Captain Silas Talbot (January 11, 1751June 30, 1813) was an American military officer and slave trader. He served in the Continental Army and Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War, and is most famous for commanding from 1799 ...

, a migrant from New England. It was used as a private residence by various owners until 1906, when the state bought it for preservation and interpretation as a

house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...

of the most important colonial landowner in the state. It received restoration in the early twentieth century and in the 1950s, to remove additions of the late nineteenth century and better reflect its original time. The historic site includes more than 18 acres of land. The mansion and the West Stonehouse are the only original structures on the site; the East Stonehouse is a reproduction.Historic sign on site The house was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1960. and

References

External links

*
Revolutionary War Heritage Trail: Johnson Hall State Historic Site
Heritage New York *

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HABS): ** ** {{Protected areas of New York Historic American Buildings Survey in New York (state) Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) New York (state) historic sites Museums in Fulton County, New York Biographical museums in New York (state) Houses completed in 1763 Historic house museums in New York (state) Houses in Fulton County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Fulton County, New York

History

See also

References

External links