The Century House Historical Society

10/30/2020

History Alliance of Kingston

Who doesn't want to win a prize? Play along with our Hudson Valley History Hunt and get entered in our prize raffle!

10/18/2020

It's a nice day - come on down and help out!

09/01/2020

... and one of them is Century House!

Did you know?

08/24/2020

No performances, but you can still visit - and contemplate - in the Widow Jane Mine.

Today I finished structuring the last piece of “Seeds Under Nuclear Winter: An Earth Opera”. I cried a bunch, because it’s been 3 years in the making, and I finally see and feel the threads coming together. Much much (much) more to do, but the form is formed, and the pieces are decided and written.

I spent my day in the underground space where the opera will first premiere (hopefully) one year from now, listening deeply, studying light, and space, singing a little. If COVID wasn’t making its rounds, yesterday would have been our annual collaborative “Mamalama Y Andes Manta” concert in the mine, where I may have also shared a few excerpts from the opera-in-the-works. But this pause from performance has allowed for a complete focus on this earth opera. Just this. Just finishing the following of a vision. There is still a LONG way to go, but the story is alive and unfolding ✨

To support this unfolding opera as a foundational
patron, visit www.patreon.com/mamalamamusic
Thank you to all who have already become patrons!

You may hear from me soon, because it’s almost time to begin recruiting the small village of a cast of musicians, singers, dancers, visual artists, actors, puppeteers, and all kinds of beautiful human beings who will help bring this vision to life. Also, volunteers for *whatever* (building and/or operating moth wings and other flying things? ushers? Operating fog machines? stagehands? Drone choir? boat people?) most welcome. Many hands makes light 💡 work.

#earthopera #seedsundernuclearwinter

08/04/2020

Site closed due to the storm. Thank you for your patience while we clean up downed trees....

08/01/2020

Century House Historical Society is a volunteer run organization. Meet our newest Security guards! Join and become a member...

08/01/2020

Welcome back members and guests! Please enjoy our self-guided walking tour be sure to stop at the kiosk and get a copy of your own. Learn more about our local history while taking in the sights! Have fun and be safe...

07/24/2020

CHHS Reopening Statement

The Century House Historical Society intends to reopen the Snyder Estate for socially distanced hiking and self-guided touring on August 1st, 2020. The open hours will be from 10AM to 6PM.

Self-guided tour brochures are available on the Entrance Kiosk. Thank you for bearing with us as we upgraded our signage, put up new fencing, and removed dangerous trees from the estate! The estate is free for Society members to visit, and a small donation is requested for others.


This year, we won’t be able to open the Rosendale Cement Museum for the general public as we used to. On Sundays, from 1-4PM, a CHHS docent will be outside the museum to tell the history of the cement district, and answer questions. One or more carriages may be brought out from the A.J. Snyder II carriage collection for viewing purposes.

The Widow Jane Mine will be open for individuals and small family groups, masked and with six feet of social distancing. As on the trails, please leave ample room and wait for others to enter and exit.

Based on advice given to the CHHS Board by the County and State, we sadly cannot have any events with audiences this year. The 50 person gathering limit and other restrictions would include performers and staff as well as the audience, and there would be extra duties for that staff, and the small size of the audience would not end up with much of a benefit for the performers or the Society, and so we are cancelling all live events in the Mine this year.

Regarding other uses of the Estate, such as independent filmmaking, photo shoots, music videos, parties, and other events, if they involve under 50 people, and carry their own liability insurance, they should be put to a vote for approval by the board. Send your requests to [email protected].

Other society projects, such as site maintenance and repairs, archive organization, and carriage research are being carried on in a cautious manner. We’d like to thank our members, partners, and sponsors for supporting us while our usual sources of income, tours and concerts, are not possible right now.

Regarding the behavior of visitors: if we see overcrowding, vandalism, and unhealthy behaviours onsite, we’ll have to close the site again as it was earlier this year.

Should county and state regulations ease up, pop up events may occur later in the year.

There also may be some Century House sponsored benefit events, possibly live streamed or recorded, or done with a limited audience elsewhere on the site.

Keep up with https://centuryhouse.org to find out about changes in our schedule, and the site’s availability.

07/02/2020

The Snyder Estate will be the featured site on next Sunday's "Sunday Afternoon With Our Historian", with Historian Bill Merchant , 2PM!

Join us this Sunday at 2:00pm for the latest "Sunday Afternoon With Our Historian". Bill and some friends will be coming to you from the Century House Historical Society, where they will discuss the D&H Canal and Rosendale Cement.

(Image of a light canal boat with a bridge and cement plant in the background captioned "LAWRENCEVILLE, NY")

05/28/2020

Century House Historical Society – Cementing history and the arts

The Century House Historical Society is located on the Snyder Estate, at 668 Rt. 213 in Rosendale, NY. The Society's mission is to promote the history of the Rosendale Cement district, and the role the Snyder family played in it. The Snyder Estate is known for the Widow Jane Mine, the only publicly accessible former cement mine in the district, the Society's Museum and carriage collection, and the trails around the estate. The estate is free for members to visit, and a small donation is requested for others.�

Normally, the Society opens up the museum on Sundays during the summer and holds events in the mine that benefit the Society. Those activities have been put on hold this year. Nevertheless, the Estate was open earlier this year for responsible hiking and visits to the mine.

��As other outdoor sites in the area grew more restricted, we saw an increase in site visits and trail usage. Unfortunately, along with this increase were a few outliers who were not behaving responsibly. Graffiti appeared, and people were using the society's parking lot while they went off the property. In one tragic case, a dog died and another was severely injured after falling in mines adjacent to the estate. The Society Board decided to close the site immediately to address these safety issues.

��While the site has been closed, new fencing has been put up by our neighbors, Iron Mountain at Rosendale, that clearly demarcates the border between our two properties. New signage has been put up, making it clearer where the borders and trails are on the estate. Coronavirus related reminders have also been posted. ��

A new self guided tour map should be available soon as well. We're also taking this time to put up new safety fencing in areas that were newly cleared earlier this year. ��When these projects are complete, we will be reopening the site again for hiking. The Museum, official opening, and mine related events are still on hold. �Watch social media and our official website, https://www.centuryhouse.org, for details on reopening.

�The Society, like other parks around New York, is waiting for state and local guidance on how best to operate for the rest of the year. Some events may be reconfigured to operate virtually without audiences, and there may be some small lectures from the museum as well. ��Other society projects, such as site maintenance and repairs, archive organization, and carriage research are being carried on in a cautious manner. We'd like to thank our members, partners, and sponsors for supporting us while our usual sources of income, tours and concerts, are not possible right now. �

-- Henry Lowengard, President, CHHS Board of Trustees

05/16/2020

The Snyder Estate and Widow Jane Mine are closed until further notice.

05/10/2020

Mother's Day is usually the official start of the Century House Season: The museum opens, some refreshments are available, and Steven Schimmrich gives a geology walk.
That's not happening this year until people can gather together again safely.

Meanwhile, this postcard is in the museum in the "Ulster County Vacation" display case:

05/09/2020

Still working on trees near the parking lot, so the Estate is still closed.

05/08/2020

The Snyder Estate is Closed today for some tree work!

05/04/2020

PLEASE NOTE! THE SNYDERS ESTATE / CENTURY HOUSE/ WIDOW JANE MINE IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO ELECTRIC LINES BEING DOWN.
Thank you for your patience.

03/07/2020

The Snyder Canal Slip – Century House Historical Society

Thanks to the many who came out to clean up the Snyder Canal Slip today! Here's a report on the slip from 2011, when that stretch of Route 213 underwent reconstruction:
https://www.centuryhouse.org/the-snyder-canal-slip/

The Snyder Canal Slip The Delaware and Hudson Canal went right past the Snyder estate. The Snyder factory had its own canal slip connected to the canal, which was used to transport coal into the factory for use in the kilns, and to take cement out of the factory to the Hudson river and beyond. In th...

02/21/2020

The Century House Historical Society

Just thought I'd remind you fans of the CHHS to nominate us for a Chronogrammie! Enough nomination votes will put us on the ballot! NO DEBATES ARE NECESSARY!

The Chronogrammies are here! You can vote for the CHHS three ways:

- as a historical Museum (CHHS)
- as a Picnic spot (Snyder Estate)
- as a Performance Space (Widow Jane Mine)

02/04/2020

Check out Century House Historical Society.

The Chronogrammies are here! You can vote for the CHHS three ways:

- as a historical Museum (CHHS)
- as a Picnic spot (Snyder Estate)
- as a Performance Space (Widow Jane Mine)

Chronogrammies 2020

12/30/2019

CHHS 2019-20 Capital Campaign

A review of CHHS Activities in 2019 - please contribute to keep us going!

12/24/2019

Best wishes for this holiday season from the CHHS!

12/20/2019

The Widow Jane Mine is now too icy to visit. Stay safe - stay out of the Mine!

12/15/2019

https://www.centuryhouse.org/dietrich-werner/

12/14/2019

Help us keep the history and the magic going!

We hope to welcome you back when we reopen on May 10th, 2020. Please donate to keep the property open to the public next summer. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-our-museum-and-carriage-collection?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

12/07/2019

Thanks to John Cox of Quercus Cooperage for the excellent talk today at the CHHS Annual Meeting!

11/26/2019

Century House News for December 2109

Century House News for December 2109 - https://mailchi.mp/17acc7f6e2db/century-house-news-for-december-2109

December 2019 Events at the Century House CHHS Annual Meeting Saturday, December 7th, 1PM featuring a talk by John Cox of Quercus Cooperage, High Falls.

11/26/2019

Click here to support Help save our Museum and Carriage collection! organized by Althea Werner

Please help out the CHHS to help us further our mission of history and art events!

Althea Werner Help save our Museum and Carriage collection! Century House Historical Society is a small, volunteer run organization whose mission is to preser

10/25/2019

How to find the Snyder Estate on Rt 213:

Check out the awesome new sign at the Snyder Estate in Rosendale, home to the historic Century House Museum and famed Widow Jane Mine.

10/10/2019

Please come out to the
Snyder Estate this Sunday October 13th,
for 👩‍🌾FALL CLEAN UP DAY👨‍🌾 !
10am - 2pm!

09/13/2019

Tomorrow! The Scottish play, transported underground in the mystical environs of the Widow Jane Mine!

09/13/2019

Rock Slides Lead to State of Emergency in Ulster County

Cement Mines in the news! Not very good news, though. The collapsing Newark Cement Mines in East Kingston are resulting in rockslides.

https://hudsonvalleypost.com/imminent-danger-causes-a-state-of-emergency-in-ulster-county/

Officials in Ulster County declared a State of Emergency due to Imminent Danger over rockslides.

09/08/2019

Thanks for coming out to the 29th Annual Subterranean Poetry Festival!

08/23/2019

The Snyder Estate is closed today for Road Maintenance.

It's back open tomorrow for Mamalama y Andes Manta!

08/04/2019

Victorian Picnic at the Snyder Estate!

07/30/2019

Widow Jane Mine

On this day in 1942, our founder Dietrich Werner was born. He would have been 77 today. Dietrich loved his children, lively debate, justice, history, and Rosendale – in that order. With vision and guts that are still a power of example to us, he stewarded this property into a public trust for all to enjoy. Learn more about his life here. http://www.centuryhouse.org/Next/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2010sprg.pdf

07/28/2019

Widow Jane Mine

Still time today!