Kingston conducting historic district study

By Peter Katz / pkatz@westfairinc.com

According to Mayor Steve Noble, a draft report has been completed by the firm Archaeology & Historic Resource Services, LLC in conjunction with an advisory committee and will be the basis for developing an asset preservation plan for the areas.

“The often-overlooked neighborhoods of Wilbur and Ponckhockie played key roles in Kingston’s storied history," Noble said. "Each of these neighborhoods possess assets that need to be protected, preserved and recognized. We are happy to make this first step toward having these neighborhoods identified as historic districts."

The report includes an inventory of the historic assets in Wilbur and Ponckhockie along with a detailed history.

Alderwoman Michele Hirsch who represents the area that includes the Wilbur neighborhood, expressed the hope that the neighborhood that formerly was the Hamlet of Wilbur or individual properties would receive placement on the State and National Register of Historic Places.

"When you visit Wilbur, it feels like a step back in time due to its geographical constraints and unique architecture that hugs along the once industrious Rondout Creek that helped build Kingston and New York state," Hirsh said. "In the 1850s, Wilbur became a center of activity for shipping bluestone and quarrying limestone for natural cement. The canyon was quarried, and limestone was processed in the lime kilns that remain along Wilbur Avenue."

Alderman Steve Schabot, who represents the Ponckhockie neighborhood, said that it once was a center of local industries, including brick manufacturing, cement, lime and tourism resulting from from travel on the Hudson River.

"I am encouraged that we are moving to protect and enhance our neighborhoods with thoughtfulness and balance,” Schabot said.

A total of 62 buildings in the Wilbur neighborhood were surveyed as well as 246 in the Ponckhockie neighborhood. The survey found that both neighborhoods may be eligible for listing as historic districts and that both have a few individual structures that are eligible for listing in the state and national registers.