MID HUDSON

Knox's Headquarters State Historic Site

https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/5/details.aspx

289 Forge Hill Road

Vails Gate, NY 12584

Hours: Open Memorial Day through Labor Day: Wednesday-Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM and Sunday 1 PM – 4 PM. Other times are available by appointment only.

Phone: (845) 562-7141

 

Historical Description: The elegant fieldstone mansion now called Knox's Headquarters was constructed in 1754 when by stonemason William Bull for the prosperous miller and merchant, John Ellison. High-ranking officers, including Generals Henry Knox, Nathanael Greene, and Horatio Gates, shared the home with the Ellison family at various times during the American Revolution. Major General Knox occupied the house four different times, including when he commanded the artillery park during the winter of 1780-81. He and his wife Lucy made their final stay there in the summer of 1782 prior to his assumption of command of Fortress West Point. Subsequently, Major General Gates used it as his headquarters when he was Commandant of the New Windsor Cantonment

 

The Site: Built in the Georgian style the house is elegant and beautiful. The rooms are still furnished in the eighteenth century style bringing to life the wartime appearance of the house had when it was shared by Ellisons and their military guests. The Jane Colden Native Plant Sanctuary, named after Jane Colden, the daughter of the last Royal Lieutenant Governor of New York and the first woman botanist in North America, contains over one hundred different kinds of wild flowers. The ruins of the 1741 Ellison gristmill on Silver Stream can also be found at site.

 

Research Patron: Barnabas McHenry