Crailo State Historic Site

Crailo State Historic Site Located in Rensselaer, NY, Crailo State Historic Site is the Museum of the Colonial Dutch in the Hudson River Valley.

Located in Rensselaer, Crailo is the museum of the Colonial Dutch in New York's Hudson River Valley. Originally a part of the vast landholding called the Manor or Patroonship of Rensselaerswyck, the Crailo farm was named after the Van Rensselaer's estate in the Netherlands, variously spelled Crayloo or Cralo in the 17th century, and meaning "crows' wood" in Dutch. Crailo was built in the early 18t

h century by Hendrick Van Rensselaer, grandson of the First Patroon. Hendrick died in 1740 and his eldest son, Johannes, inherited Crailo. He remodeled the house and added an east wing in the Georgian style, reflecting the increasing influence of the English on the Albany-area Dutch. In the late 18th century, Crailo was remodeled in the Federal style. It served as a boys' boarding school in the 1840s and later as a church rectory. Each new venture brought more changes to the structure. In 1924 Crailo was donated to New York State for development as a museum. Crailo today tells the story of the early Dutch inhabitants of the upper Hudson Valley through exhibits highlighting archeological finds from the Albany Fort Orange excavations, special programs, and guided tours of the museum. Outreach programs to schools and hearthside cooking programs are available by reservation.

May at Crailo State Historic Site 📷🌷🔨
05/31/2026

May at Crailo State Historic Site 📷🌷🔨

Today is ! When the Dutch settled a colony in North America it was with the purpose of remaining a key player in the No...
05/27/2026

Today is ! When the Dutch settled a colony in North America it was with the purpose of remaining a key player in the North American fur trade. The most popular fur may have been beaver pelts, but otter pelts were also incredibly popular trade items. There are many records of beaver, otter, mink, and even bear pelts being sent and requested by van Rensselaer family members and business associates.

In the correspondence of Jeremias van Rensselaer there are letters from his bother Richard van Rensselaer requesting payment for a desk that was taken by Jeremias to the New Netherland colony. In March of 1657 Richard writes to Jeremias, “…do not forget to send my a beaver for my desk…” Jeremias never send his brother a beaver pelt but did eventually send him an otter pelt. In December of 1657, Richard writes, “I have received your favor of August 12th and learned from it that you sent me by Sr. Vastrick a fine otter [in payment] for my desk, which, God be praised, I have duly received. I thank you for sending it to me. I have already sold it for fl.8, which, is very high. I did not think that I should get so much.”

🖼 Otter with a fish in its mouth, by Gerard ter Borch, c. 1612, Rijksmuseum
Otter (Lutra Lutra), 1596 - 1610, Rijksmuseum

Happy Memorial Day from Crailo State Historic Site
05/25/2026

Happy Memorial Day from Crailo State Historic Site

05/22/2026

Please join us at this historic event. For further information, please contact Kelly Grimaldi at St. Agnes Cemetery.

It’s International Tea Day! ☕In New York, tea wouldn’t have become a popular beverage in North America until the late 17...
05/21/2026

It’s International Tea Day! ☕
In New York, tea wouldn’t have become a popular beverage in North America until the late 17th century. By the mid to late 18th century, it was a commonplace beverage in American households. Take a look at what Peter Kalm, a Swedish botanist who traveled through North America between 1748 and 1750, thought of the beverage:

“I think we would be as well, and our purses much better, if we were without both tea and coffee. However, I must be impartial, and mention in praise of tea that if it be useful It must certainly be so in summer on such journeys as mine through a vast wilderness, where one cannot carry wine or other liquors and where the water is generally unfit for use, being full of insects. In such cases it is very refreshing when boiled and made into tea, and I cannot sufficiently describe the fine taste it has under such circumstances. It relieves a weary traveller more than can be imagined, as I myself have experienced, and as have also a great many others who have travelled through the primeval forests of America. On such journeys tea is found to be almost as necessary as food”
-Peter Kalm Travels in North America, 1770

🖼Woman Taking Her Tea, by Pierre Filloeul, c. 1759, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Happy ! Crailo State Historic Site is the Museum of the Colonial Dutch in the Hudson River Valley. It was originally a ...
05/18/2026

Happy !

Crailo State Historic Site is the Museum of the Colonial Dutch in the Hudson River Valley. It was originally a part of the vast landholding called the Patroonship or Manor of Rensselaerswyck. The Crailo farm was named after the Van Rensselaer’s estate in the Netherlands, variously spelled Crayloo or Cralo in the 17th century, meaning “crows’ wood” in Dutch.

Crailo was built in the early 18th century by Hendrick van Rensselaer, grandson of the First Patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer. Crailo has been a family home, boarding school, and church rectory. In 1924, the historic structure was donated to New York State to be developed into a museum.

Today, Crailo tells the story of the early Dutch inhabitants of the Upper Hudson Valley through exhibits highlighting archaeological finds from the Fort Orange excavations, special programs, and guided tours of the museum. In addition to the exhibits there is also an interpreted hearth cellar kitchen.

Guided tours are currently available Saturday and Sunday. Crailo will be open weekends only to ensure public safety during a site renovation project. Tours will begin at 11:00 a.m., and be offered on the hour, with the last tour starting at 4:00 p.m. As access to the historic house and grounds will alter during this time, calling the site at (518) 463-8738 prior to your visit is recommended.

Admission: $5 Adults/ $4 Seniors & Students / Children under 12 are free
We anticipate resuming our regular five-day operating schedule this summer. Crailo's park on the Hudson River remains open to the public.

Today is and we’d like to share some facts about sturgeon! New York is home to several species of endangered sturgeon:...
05/15/2026

Today is and we’d like to share some facts about sturgeon! New York is home to several species of endangered sturgeon: the Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus), the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvenscens) and the Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum).

Sturgeons are scaleless fish which are covered with bony plates called scutes and have four whisker-like organs found on either side of their mouths called barbels.

The largest sturgeons in New York are the Atlantic Sturgeons. They are anadromous, meaning they are born in freshwater but primarily live in saltwater, before returning to freshwater to spawn. They can live over 60 years and typically grow to be 6-8 feet long and weigh an average of 300 pounds, but some can grow much larger. The biggest Atlantic Sturgeon ever recorded was 14 feet long and weighed 811 pounds!

Archaeological evidence shows that Native Americans have been utilizing sturgeons as a food source in North America for at least 4,000 years. When Dutch colonists arrived in the 17th century, they were already familiar with sturgeons, as several species are native to Europe, and they found the Hudson River bursting with these large fish. Sturgeon remains have been found at Crailo and other Dutch sites, indicating that some colonists did catch and eat sturgeon.

However, according to written records of the time, the early Dutch settlers of New Netherland weren’t particularly fond of the fish, nor the longstanding delicacy (caviar) that can be harvested from them. In 1664, Domine Megapolensis wrote that, “there is also in the river a great plenty of sturgeon, which we Christians do not like, but the Indians eat them greedily”. Roughly ten years later Adriaen Van der Donck wrote that “in the rivers, according to season and locality, we have sturgeon. It is not valued and seldom taken as food when full-grown. No one takes the trouble to salt it for profit, and the roe, of which the precious caviar is made, is not utilized at all”.

Due to overfishing in the 19th and 20th centuries, sturgeon populations around the world were severely depleted. In fact, sturgeons today are more critically endangered than any other group of species on earth, with twenty-seven species of sturgeon currently on the IUCN Red List, and 63% of those Critically Endangered. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is currently working with other organizations to survey and monitor the presence of sturgeon in the Hudson River. The Netherlands is also working in a joint operation with France to bring back sturgeon populations to their rivers with sturgeon bred in France. You can learn more information on those conservation efforts at the links below:

https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/109120.html
https://www.ark.eu/natuurontwikkeling/dieren/steur [Dutch language webpage]

As many as a dozen Van Rensselaer men fought as soldiers in the Revolutionary War, but one who stands out from the rest ...
05/12/2026

As many as a dozen Van Rensselaer men fought as soldiers in the Revolutionary War, but one who stands out from the rest is Lt. Col. John Van Rensselaer of the 14th Regiment of Albany County Militia. He served honorably throughout the War, even being credited with capturing a half dozen British scouts during the leadup to the Battles of Saratoga. What makes his story unique however, is his 1781 confrontation with rebellious Vermonters!

Vermont was not recognized as a U.S. state until 1791, and prior to that period it was considered disputed territory between New York and New Hampshire. The settlers living in Vermont resented incursions from their neighbors, and by the 1780s were actively pushing back. One of Van Rensselaer’s own militiamen, a man named Samuel Fairbanks, was arrested after accepting an officer’s commission in a Vermont regiment in October in 1781. Fairbanks eventually escaped, however, and by December he had gathered a force of his own and managed to capture Col. Van Rensselaer in Lansingburgh, where he was attempting to quell riots. He was released a few days later, as part of an attempt by then Vermont Governor Thomas Chittenden to ease tensions between New York and Vermont, but for months afterwards this incident and others like it stoked fears among the New York military establishment that Vermont would seek a reunion with Britain rather than accept subjugation by New York or New Hampshire.

Happy Mother's Day from Crailo State Historic Site🥰🖼Mother Combing Her Child’s Hair, Gerard ter Borch, c. 1652-1653, Mau...
05/10/2026

Happy Mother's Day from Crailo State Historic Site🥰

🖼Mother Combing Her Child’s Hair, Gerard ter Borch, c. 1652-1653, Mauritshius, The Hague

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05/08/2026

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Address

9 1/2 Riverside Avenue
Rensselaer, NY
12144

Opening Hours

Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+15184638738

Website

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