Huguenot Street Historic District

Historic Huguenot Street
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District
The Bevier-Elting House, left, and Dubois Fort, location of the Visitor Center at Historic Huguenot Street
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Location	New Paltz, New York
Nearest city	Poughkeepsie
Coordinates	41°45′00″N 74°05′21″W / 41.75000°N 74.08917°W / 41.75000; -74.08917
Area	10 acres (4.0 ha)
Built	Founded 1678. Houses date to ca1705.
Architectural style	Dutch-style colonial; Georgian.
Visitation	16,500 (2007)
NRHP reference No.	66000578
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHLD	October 9, 1960[2]

Historic Huguenot Street is located in New Paltz, New York, approximately 90 miles (140 km) north of New York City. The seven stone houses and several accompanying structures in the 10-acre National Landmark Historic District were likely built in the early 18th century by Huguenot settlers fleeing discrimination and religious persecution in France and what's now southern Belgium. After negotiating with the Esopus Indians, this small group of Huguenots settled on a flat rise on the banks of the Wallkill River in 1678. The settlers named the site in honor of Die Pfalz, the region of present-day Germany that had provided them temporary refuge before they came to America.^[3] Archaeological finds indicate that the immediate area settled by the Huguenots was occupied by Native Americans prior to European contact. The site is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the United States.

The house museums of Historic Huguenot Street are in their original village setting. The street has been included in the National Register of Historic Places since it was created in 1966, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.^[2][4]

In addition to the houses, the 10-acre (4.0 ha) site features a burying ground dating to the early 18th century, a reconstructed 1717 stone church, a visitor center, a library and archives, and spaces for other programming.

The site is owned and operated by Historic Huguenot Street, which was founded in 1894. In 1899, Historic Huguenot Street purchased the Jean Hasbrouck house as the first house museum on the street. In the 1950s and '60s, the organization and related family associations purchased most of the remaining stone houses in the district and subsequently opened them as museums. These acquisitions were funded in large part by descendants of the original Huguenot founders. Their family associations play a key role in supporting the institution today.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1980s, the organization began offering related educational and informative programming to the public.