Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ulster

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
C+History
History · Ulster

1 of Ulster’s places is on the National Register

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #707 of 758 in New York. What drives it

Most of Ulster was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1880.

1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

About Ulster’s history

How historic is Ulster?

C+

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ulster’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ulster is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #707 of 758 in New York. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ulster’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19407.7% of homes (±2.2) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 3 historic buildings, 2.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 39%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 7%

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 Ulster’s 2.4 sits below most of its state (26% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 Ulster’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ulster, and 21 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ulster are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

East Kingston
1886–1915
Heath
1886–1900
Stony Hollow
1886–1918
Ruby
1896–today
Lake Katrine
1909–today
Eddyville
1910–1988
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Boices Mobile Home EstatesBrink's Trailer ParkEast KingstonEddyvilleElliot Mobile Home ParkGallis Hill Station Mobile Home ParkGlenerie Lake ParkH and H Mobile Home ParkHillsideLake KatrineLincoln ParkPardee Park Mobile Home ParkParish Lane Mobile Home ParkRubySawkill Trailer ParkSnows Mobile Home ParkSpring Lake Mobile Home ParkStony HollowTall Oaks Mobile Home ParkUlster LandingUlster Landing Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Flatbush SchoolschoolKingston Auxiliary FieldairportLower Sawkill SchoolschoolSchool Number 3schoolStony Hollow SchoolschoolSunset Drive-Inlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ulster
Mount CalvaryPine Bush

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

Help out

Start Ulster’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ulster came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ulster.

Read it all →

The town of Ulster, newest of the twenty towns in the county, was created by the Ulster County Board of Supervisors on November 28, 1879, with land taken from the town of Kingston. Formed in protest to what was considered political misrule by the authorities of the town of Kingston, the action of the supervisors was soon ratified by the state legislature. The first meeting of the town of Ulster was held in the hotel of George A. Stoddard on March 2, 1880. James Myer Jr. was its first supervisor. The new town contained approximately 27.5 square miles of land. It was bordered the city of Kingston on three sides, and by the Hudson River and the towns of Kingston, Saugerties, Hurley, Woodstock, and Rosendale. Rondout Creek separated Ulster from the town of Esopus to the south.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Ulster, 1887–1903

Passages that mention Ulster, cut from the printed page as they were published.

When the white strangers came from over the sea, these natives shai-ed with them their huntinggi-ounds, and generously set apart, for their use, fields for planting. Esopus, and other early settlements of Ulster, lay along the old- Indian ti-ail connecting the Hudson with the head waters of the Del…
Legends of the Shawangunk (Shon-Gum) and its environs, including historical sketches, biographical notices, and thrilling border incidents and adventures relating to those portions of the counties of Orange, Ulster and Sullivan lying in the Shawangunk reg1887 · page 11Read the page →
Read the text

When the white strangers came from over the sea, these natives shai-ed with them their huntinggi-ounds, and generously set apart, for their use, fields for planting. Esopus, and other early settlements of Ulster, lay along the old- Indian ti-ail connecting the Hudson with the head waters of the Delaware, while the ancient settlement of Peenpack grew and flourished in the heart of the Delaware country. Thus the savages, thrown into frequent communion with the whites, were initiated into some of the customs of their more civilized neighbors; while the latter not infrequently adopted some of the habits of their

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Then Conchubar sent to Fergus and to the other chief men of Ulster, and he told them of what he was about to do. Though it was early when the songs and the music of the birds began in the woods, it was earlier yet when Conchubar, king of Ulster, rose up with his little company of near friends, in t…
Cuchulain of Muirthemne1903 · page 110Read the page →
Read the text

Then Conchubar sent to Fergus and to the other chief men of Ulster, and he told them of what he was about to do. Though it was early when the songs and the music of the birds began in the woods, it was earlier yet when Conchubar, king of Ulster, rose up with his little company of near friends, in the fresh spring morning of the fresh and pleasant month of May, and the dew was heavy on every bush and flower as they went

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
own. And besides that, they consulted who would be the best man to put over the whole army, to lead them and to show them the way. And they all said Fergus would be the best, for he had been king of Ulster seventeen years, until Conchubar put him out of the kingship, and he had stopped on in Ulster…
Cuchulain of Muirthemne1903 · page 188Read the page →
Read the text

own. And besides that, they consulted who would be the best man to put over the whole army, to lead them and to show them the way. And they all said Fergus would be the best, for he had been king of Ulster seventeen years, until Conchubar put him out of the kingship, and he had stopped on in Ulster after that until the time Conchubar killed the sons of Usnach in spite of the guarantee he had given them.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Ulster, 1840 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Born hereCharles Mills is born here
  3. 1886Post officeThe East Kingston post office opens
  4. 1886Post officeThe Heath post office opens
  5. 1886Post officeThe Stony Hollow post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900Post officeThe Heath post office closes
  8. 1915Post officeThe East Kingston post office closes
  9. 1918Post officeThe Stony Hollow post office closes
  10. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ulster, decade by decade

Today17 recent
2024-07-08 14 31 14 View north along Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) from the overpass for New York State Route …20242024-07-08 14 31 14 View north along Interstate 87 (N…2024-07-08 14 30 37 View south along Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) from the overpass for New York State Route …20242024-07-08 14 30 37 View south along Interstate 87 (N…2024-07-08 14 22 49 View north along Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) from the overpass for Ulster County Route 1…20242024-07-08 14 22 49 View north along Interstate 87 (N…2024-07-08 14 22 07 View south along Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) from the overpass for Ulster County Route 1…20242024-07-08 14 22 07 View south along Interstate 87 (N…2024-06-20 15 53 06 View south along Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) at the Ulster Service Area in20242024-06-20 15 53 06 View south along Interstate 87 (N…2024-06-20 11 33 02 View north along Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) just north of Exit 19 in20242024-06-20 11 33 02 View north along Interstate 87 (N…2024-06-20 11 31 04 View north along Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) just north of Exit 19 in20242024-06-20 11 31 04 View north along Interstate 87 (N…2024-06-20 11 28 58 View north along Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) at Exit 19 (New York State Route 28, Kingst…20242024-06-20 11 28 58 View north along Interstate 87 (N…US 9W at US 209 and NY 199, Nov. 20232023US 9W at US 209 and NY 199, Nov. 2023US 209 approaching NY 28, Nov. 20232023US 209 approaching NY 28, Nov. 2023Northern terminus of US 209, Nov. 20232023Northern terminus of US 209, Nov. 20232022-10-02 11 22 26 View southwest along the ramp connecting Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) to Interstate 587 a…20222022-10-02 11 22 26 View southwest along the ramp con…Turbid Esopus Creek in January 20212021Turbid Esopus Creek in January 2021Sign and front of Staples store, Lake Katrine, NY2019Sign and front of Staples store, Lake Katrine, NYEarly back-to-school display at Walmart, Kingston, NY2016Early back-to-school display at Walmart, Kingston, NY2014-08-28 08 49 01 View north along the New York Thruway (Interstate 87) near milepost 88.6 in20142014-08-28 08 49 01 View north along the New York Thr…US 209 expansion into freeway N of Hurley, NY2007US 209 expansion into freeway N of Hurley, NY
On the map

Ulster on the map, 1964 to 1980

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

Ulster on the 1964 USGS mapUlster on the 1980 USGS map1964Kingston West sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Ulster

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2020
De Meyer-Burhans-Felten Farm
De Meyer-Burhans-Felten Farm
Districts
All 1 listings
De Meyer-Burhans-Felten FarmDistrict · listed 2020

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

People over time

Ulster, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,0001880190019201940196019802000202012,660

Grew from 2,806 people in 1880 to 12,660 in 2020, 4 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Kingston48 historic placesA+KingstonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEsopus10 historic placesAHillsideIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSaugerties12 historic placesAHurley2 historic placesA−Red Hook9 historic placesA−Rhinebeck42 historic placesA+RubyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincoln ParkIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ulster’s history

How does Ulster rank for history?

Ulster is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #707 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 Ulster?

One place: the De Meyer-Burhans-Felten Farm (listed 2020).

How old are the homes in Ulster?

8% of Ulster’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.