The Bronck Museum features what may be the oldest surviving dwelling in
upstate New York. Its design illustrates changes in early architectural
styles.
The house was built in three phases. Pieter Bronck
constructed a single-room stone structure in 1663, a year after he purchased
10 square miles from the Mohican Indians. A large single-room addition was
added in 1685. In 1738, Leendert Bronck, Pieter's grandson, built the
four-room dwelling to the north of the original house and connected the two
with a brick "hyphen." Timber-framed and veneered in brick, the "new"
section features characteristic Dutch sloping dormers and parapet gables.
The farm remained in the Bronck family for eight generations, undergoing
little change. In 1939, it was donated to the Greene County Historical
Society.
Family furniture (primarily 19th-century), china, silver,
glass, and artwork decorate the rooms, which feature 18th-century woodwork.
Outbuildings include the restored 19th-century kitchen dependency and three
barns (among them the state's first 13-sided barn). Two barns house displays
of agricultural tools, sleighs, and wheeled vehicles; the third contains an
exhibit about the great Catskill Mountain hotels and a collection of locally
made stoneware. Temporary exhibits take place in the visitor center.
The Bronck Museum, located on Route 9W in Coxsackie, is open 12-4 p.m.
Wed.-Fri., Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sun. 1-4 p.m. from Memorial Day
weekend-October 15. Guided tours. Admission fee. 518-731-6490.