page_title: Kingston, New York
section_title: Rondout
hierarchical_section_title: Kingston, New York / History / Rondout
caption_attribution_description: Office &amp; Depot of S. &amp; W. B. Fitch, Wholesale Dealers in North River Blue Stone, Kingston, Ulster Co. N.Y. English: Scanned page of an atlas of Ulster County, New York prepared by F. W. Beers and first published in 1875. The house still stands at 545 Abeel Street
context_page_description: Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is 91 miles north of New York City and 59 miles south of Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with the New York metropolitan area around Manhattan by the United States Census Bureau,
  It became New York's first capital in 1777. During the American Revolutionary War, the city was burned by the British on October 13, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga.
  In the 19th century, the city became an important transport hub after the discovery of natural cement in the region. It had connections to other markets through both the railroad and canal connections.
  Many of the older buildings are considered contributing as part of three historic districts, including the Stockade District uptown, the Midtown Neighborhood Broadway Corridor, and the Rondout-West Strand Historic District downtown. Each district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
context_section_description: Rondout was a small farming village until 1825, when construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal from Rondout to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, attracted an influx of laborers. When they completed the canal in 1828, Rondout became an important tidewater coal terminal. Natural cement deposits were found throughout the valley, and in 1844 quarrying began in the "Ponchockie" section of Rondout. The Newark Lime and Cement Company shipped cement throughout the United States, a thriving business until the invention of cheaper, quicker drying Portland Cement. Workers cut and stored ice from the Hudson River each winter, keeping it in large warehouses of ice near the river. The ice would be cut in chunks and delivered to customers around the city. It was preserved in straw all year and ice chunks served as an early method of refrigeration.
  Large brick making factories also were built near this shipping hub. Rondout's primacy as a shipping hub ended with the advent of railroads. These lines were built through Rondout and Kingston, with stations in each place. They could also transport their loads through the city without stopping.
caption: A 19th-century Bluestone shipping depot on the Rondout Creek
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