Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Staatsburg

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Staatsburg

Staatsburg’s post office opened in 1802, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1898 on.

1802first post office
2on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Staatsburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Staatsburg began

When was Staatsburg founded?

1802

The Staatsburg post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 703224 years
Founding year: the first Staatsburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Staatsburg’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18984 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1980. Watch Staatsburg change.Deep rootsA post office since 1802: 224 years of Staatsburg.Old housesHalf of Staatsburg’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Staatsburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Staatsburg’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSt. Margaret's, Stratsburg: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Staatsburg on the map, 1898 to 1980

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

Staatsburg on the 1898 USGS mapStaatsburg on the 1934 USGS mapStaatsburg on the 1963 USGS mapStaatsburg on the 1980 USGS map1898Rhinebeck 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 Staatsburg.

Timeline

Staatsburg, 1799 to 1976

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1799Born hereMorgan Lewis Livingston is born here
  3. 19th century
  4. 1816Born hereMaturin Livingston Jr. is born here
  5. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1910In the archiveSt. Margaret's, Stratsburg
  8. 1940In the archiveLocust on Hudson, designed by architect John Churchill
  9. 1976In the archiveHelen Huntington Hull and her dogs
The story

How Staatsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Staatsburg.

Read it all →

Staatsburg was part of the Pawling-Staats land patent, one of many granted by the English colonial government in the 1690s with the intention of encouraging more colonials to settle in the sparsely populated Hudson Valley. The original patent was made to Henry Pawling. Subsequently, a large portion of the patent was purchased by Dr. Samuel Staats, a surgeon of Dutch origins who resided in New York City. He and Dirck Vanderburgh bought it for 130 pounds from Pawling's widow. As a result of the combination of their names, the area came to be known as "Staatsburgh". The concluding "h" in the name appears to have been dropped in 1890 as part of the United States Board on Geographic Names' standardization efforts.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Staatsburg, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1970s4 items
St. Margaret's, Stratsburg1910St. Margaret's, StratsburgStaatsburgh station, circa 1915c. 1915Staatsburgh station, circa 1915Locust on Hudson, designed by architect John Churchill1940Locust on Hudson, designed by architect John ChurchillHelen Huntington Hull and her dogs1976Helen Huntington Hull and her dogs
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club Sunset2011Poughkeepsie Yacht Club SunsetDowntown2008Downtown
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.

St. Margaret's, Stratsburg
Retake this viewSt. Margaret's, Stratsburg, 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 235 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
235
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Staatsburg

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

See all →
Maturin Livingston Jr.American merchant · b. 1816
M
Morgan Lewis Livingstonb. 1799

Questions about Staatsburg’s history

What year was Staatsburg founded?

The Staatsburg post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.