Web Content Display
Upper-Hudson
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site
http://www.nps.gov/mava/index.htm
1013 Old Post Road
Kinderhook, New York 12106
Hours: Season opens May 21st through the end October. Tours are given at the top of every hour from 9 am to 4 pm every day of the week.
Notes: There is a fee for the guided tour for those 16 and older. Walking the grounds is free of charge and a brochure is provided.
Phone: (518) 758-9689
Historical Description:
This is the great estate of our nation’s 8th President Martin Van Buren. He purchased this estate and 137 acres in 1839 and immediately began acquiring more land and renovating the estate until 1845 where he had 225 acres. After having failed to be reelected in 1840 he came back to his estate and decided to run again. Here he used his house as a campaign headquarters and ran on the Free Soil Party ticket, which was opposed to slavery. He failed to get reelected and lived out the rest of his life as a happy farmer on his 225-acre estate.
The Site:
The site now holds daily-guided tours by a park ranger of his main house. Over the years the estate had become many things including an antiques store and a nursing home. But it has been renovated to look how President Van Buren had his estate when he was alive. Besides original furnishings of Martin Van Buren the house also has historical documents and letters from the former president. The Historic site holds some great events including every Saturday in July they hold a lantern tour of the house and talk about life after dark in the 19th century.
Directions:
Take US Route 9 north to Kinderhook. At the stoplight in the Village Kinderhook, turn right onto Hudson Street. Proceed approximately one mile over the Kinderhook Creek and make your first left following the signs for NY Route 9H. Turn right onto NY Route 9H south. Park is approximately 1.5 miles south on the right.
