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AHistory
History · Saugerties

Saugerties’ post office opened in 1806, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #217 of 758 in New York. What drives it

12 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 97 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1820.

1806first post office
12on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Saugerties’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Saugerties began

When was Saugerties founded?

1806

The Saugerties post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name. Nine smaller post offices, Centreville (1821), Malden (1826) and Quarryville (1854), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 2,699 in 18202020 census: 19,038220 years

How historic is Saugerties?

A

More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Saugerties post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Saugerties’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Saugerties is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #217 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Saugerties’ overall grade.
Founding era1806, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194028.9% of homes (±4.0) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register12 listings, 112 historic buildings, 58.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 92%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 71%

New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Saugerties’ 58.3 sits above most of its state (70% of New York towns have fewer) while its 112 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Saugerties’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages9 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Saugerties, and 22 old place names are still on the map.A historic districtThe Main-Partition Streets Historic District takes in 78 historic buildings.On the map since 18955 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1997. Watch Saugerties change.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1887 to 1912, drew every building in Saugerties.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Saugerties’s post office has been open since 1806. Nine other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Saugerties
1806–today
Centreville
1821–1828
Malden
1826–1907
Glasco
1830–today
West Camp
1836–today
West Camp
1836–today
Quarryville
1854–1902
High Woods
1872–1900
Saxton
1874–1905
West Saugerties
1874–1906
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AsburyBlue MountainCanoe HillCentervilleEavesportFish CreekFlatbushGlascoGlenerieHigh WoodsKatsbaanMalden-on-HudsonManorvilleMount MarionMount Marion ParkQuarryvilleSaxtonShultis CornersTrinka's Mobile Home ParkVeteranWest CampWest Saugerties
Gone or out of use
Saxton Sandstone QuarrymineSchool Number 14schoolSchool Number 15schoolSchool Number 18schoolSchool Number 2school
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Saugerties
Chestnut HillMount MarionMountain ViewSaint Mary of the SnowShoubTrinity Episcopal Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

12 listings protect 112 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
12
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
112
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Saugerties Lighthouse
Saugerties Lighthouse, built 1869Main-Partition Streets Historic DistrictLoerzel Beer HallWynkoop HouseDubois-Kierstede Stone HouseTrinity Episcopal Church ComplexOpus 40, built 1939Saugerties and New York Steamboat Company WarehouseTrumpbour Homestead FarmAugusta Savage House and StudioOaterhoudt Stone HouseAsbury Historic District
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Mid-19th Century2
Greek Revival2
Italianate1
Vernacular1
Colonial1
Georgian1
Saugerties LighthouseItalianate · Built 1869
Main-Partition Streets Historic DistrictDistrict
Loerzel Beer HallBuilding
Wynkoop HouseBuilding
Dubois-Kierstede Stone HouseVernacular
Trinity Episcopal Church ComplexMid-19th Century
Opus 40Built 1939
Saugerties and New York Steamboat Company WarehouseBuilding
All 12 listings
Trumpbour Homestead FarmBuilding · listed 1985Augusta Savage House and StudioBuilding · listed 2001Oaterhoudt Stone HouseBuilding · listed 2001Asbury Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

On the map

Saugerties on the map, 1895 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Saugerties. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Saugerties on the 1895 USGS mapSaugerties on the 1934 USGS mapSaugerties on the 1941 USGS mapSaugerties on the 1963 USGS mapSaugerties on the 1997 USGS map1895Catskill sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Saugerties.

The story

How Saugerties came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Saugerties.

Read it all →

In the 1650s, Barent Cornelis Volge operated a sawmill on the Sawyer's Kill, supplying lumber for the manor of Rensselaerswick. He had secured a title from the Esopus Sachem to this land sometime before 1663. Volge likely left the area at the outbreak of the first Esopus War in 1658. The "footpath to Albany" was not laid out until 1670. In April 1677, Governor Edmund Andros purchased land from the Esopus Indian Kaelcop, chief of the Amorgarickakan band, for the price of a piece of cloth, a blanket, some coarse fiber, a loaf of bread, and a shirt. The Mynderse House was built by John Persen, formerly of Kingston, an early mill owner, circa 1685.

ChaptersSt. John the Evangelist

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Saugerties, 1806 to 1986

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1806Post officeThe Saugerties post office opens
  3. 1821Post officeThe Centreville post office opens
  4. 1826Post officeThe Malden post office opens
  5. 1828Post officeThe Centreville post office closes
  6. 1867Born hereIrving Fisher is born here
  7. 1869BuiltSaugerties Lighthouse is built
  8. 1870In the archiveViewing Tower, Saugerties, N
  9. 1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1896Born hereDorothy Frooks is born here
  11. 20th century
  12. 1907Post officeThe Malden post office closes
  13. 1934Born hereRoger Donlon is born here
  14. 1939BuiltOpus 40 is built
  15. 1986Born hereDennis Bermudez is born here
By decade

Saugerties, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s12 items
Viewing Tower, Saugerties, N1870Viewing Tower, Saugerties, NBeers Ulster County Atlas Page0261875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page026MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page032-0331875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page032-033MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page0341875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page034MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page036-0371875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page036-037MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page0381875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page038MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page0391875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page039MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page040-0411875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page040-041MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page0421875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page042MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page0641875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page064MapBeers Ulster County Atlas Page0951875Beers Ulster County Atlas Page095MapNorth River Blue Stone Works Malden NYc. 1875North River Blue Stone Works Malden NY
Every building

Saugerties, building by building, 1887–1912

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Saugerties fire insurance map, 1887, sheet 11887Sheet 1 of 8
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Viewing Tower, Saugerties, N
Retake this viewViewing Tower, Saugerties, N, 1870

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Saugerties’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Saugerties, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,0001850190019502000Peak: 19,482

Between 2,699 and 19,482 people in every census since 1820.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Saugerties’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

11 famous people were born in Saugerties

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Irving FisherAmerican economist and statistician · b. 1867
Dennis BermudezMixed martial artist · b. 1986
Dorothy FrooksAmerican author, publisher, military figure and… · b. 1896
Roger DonlonUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1934
Jeremiah RussellUnited States Representative from New York · b. 1786
L
Linda MontanoAmerican artist · b. 1942
Help out

Finish Saugerties’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewViewing Tower, Saugerties, N: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Red Hook9 historic placesA−Ulster1 historic placeC+GlascoIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCatskill18 historic placesA+Saugerties SouthIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClermont12 historic placesA+Palenville1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRubyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWoodstock7 historic placesA

Questions about Saugerties’ history

What year was Saugerties founded?

The Saugerties post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Saugerties rank for history?

Saugerties is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #217 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Saugerties?

12 listings: 8 buildings, 2 historic districts, the Main-Partition Streets Historic District and the Asbury Historic District, with 97 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 112 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Saugerties?

29% of Saugerties’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1960.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.