Columbia County is home to several historic sites open to visitors.
• Olana State Historic Site, the Moorish-fantasy home of Hudson River School artist Frederic Church, overlooks the river from a bluff south of the City of Hudson in Greenport (518-828-0135).
• Clermont State Historic Site (518-537-4240), once the Robert Livingston Manor, occupies a riverside site in the southwest corner of the County and includes a handsome eighteenth-century great house.
• The FASNY Museum of Firefighting displays vehicles, equipment and memorabilia on the grounds of the New York State Firemen’s Home in Hudson (518-828-7695).
• The Columbia County Historical Society (518-758-9265) maintains a museum in the Village of Kinderhook and the seventeenth-century Luykas Van Alen house south of the village.
• The Shaker Museum and Library in Old Chatham (518-794-9100) holds a major collection of Shaker furniture, tools, artifacts and documents.
• Mount Lebanon Shaker Village on Route 20 in New Lebanon (518-794-9500) is under development as a museum of Shaker life.
For everything you want to know about tourism in Columbia County, from accommodations to dining, from historic sites to antiquing, from tours to outdoor activities, and much more, visit the Columbia County Office of Tourism’s web site at www.columbiacountyny.org.
Cultural Life Columbia County is home or second home to creative people in many fields, whose work reaches the public via concerts, readings, film showings and gallery exhibits. Arts activities and events are coordinated by the Columbia County Council on the Arts (518-671-6213).
Recreation Columbia County offers recreation for everyone.
• Lake Taghkanic State Park in Ancram/Gallatin (518-851-3631) has facilities for camping, boating, fishing, swimming and hiking.
• Rugged and largely unimproved, Taconic State Park in Copake Falls (518-329-3993) includes Bash Bish Falls, hiking trails, and limited camping facilities.
• Skiers can find trails and all amenities at Catamount Ski Area on Route 23 in Hillsdale (518-325-3200). Catamount has snowmaking equipment, and trails are lighted for night skiing.
• Besides the two state parks, fishermen make use of the Roeliff Jansen Kill, Kinderhook Creek and other waterways. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (518-457-5420) maintains public access points.
• New York State operates boat launches on the Hudson River at Germantown and Hudson; a launch site at Nutten Hook in the Town of Stuyvesant is projected.
• Racing fans watch stock car and drag racing and special events at Lebanon Valley Speedway on US Route 20 in New Lebanon (518-794-9965).
Columbia County has nearly fifty country farm markets and orchards, many of them specializing in organic produce.
The Old Chatham Sheepherding Company is the largest sheep dairy farm in the United States.
Census/Demographics
The estimated population of the County is 63,668.
Hudson, once a busy port city frequented by whalers, is the Seat of Columbia County.
Arts & Culture
PS/21 - Performing Spaces for the 21st Century, is a new venue under the direction of Gwen Gould, offering classical sings under an open-air tent in Chatham. www.ps21chatham.org.
What's New
Migrant Farm Workers Get New Housing Through Innovative Program
Migrant workers on several farms in Columbia County are receiving new living quarters thanks to a unique program created by the Columbia Hudson Partnership.
