Kerhonkson was the site of a colonial fort, on Deyo's Hill, that served settler-colonial interests.
Before the Burning of Kingston on October 12, 1777, all the important documents of the nascent New York state government and government officials were moved to Kerhonkson, remaining for two weeks until they were moved to Albany, making Kerhonkson briefly the capital of New York.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal was completed in 1828. This opened up local industries such as coal, lumber, dairy, and hotel. Barges towed by mules transported goods along Rondout Creek from Pennsylvania to the Hudson River. In the canal era, Kerhonkson was known as Middleport
Passages that mention Kerhonkson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Ulster County, New York1907 · page 385Read the page →
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brought down to us point to Indian Hill, at Wawarsing, east of the old cemetery, as the place indicated by the late Jonathan W. Hasbrouck in his history of the fort. The location of the fort at the head of the Kerhanksen creek, west of the village of Kerhonkson, in a rocky ravine near the boundary line between Rochester and Wawarsing, by Rev. Charles Scott, D.D., in a paper read before the Ulster County Historical Society, does not appear to be supported by the facts. Indian Hill, in 1663, was probably much higher than now, as the erosions of time on such a glacier moraine have
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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