New Paltz, NY

300 Years of History

On Huguenot Street above the banks of the Wallkill River in New Paltz, N. Y., one can journey into Colonial America—just a few steps from the hustle and bustle of a university campus.

Some call it the oldest street in the country with its original houses. Eric Roth, 27-year-old archivist and librarian for the Huguenot Historical Society, describes it as “300 years of continuous history.”

Roth bridges both worlds. A graduate of the State University of New York in New Paltz, he chose to remain in the community because of the blend of new and old.

“I like the small town feeling and, at the same time, the culture,” says Roth, who lives in an apartment above the historical library on Huguenot Street.

Six stone houses, the earliest dating to the 1600s, a fort, and a reconstructed 1717 church and burial ground stand as testament to 12 Huguenot families who fled France because of religious persecution under King Louis XIV. They called their new home New Paltz—after die Pfalz, where they came from near the Rhine River. One elder from each family formed a ruling council, a unique form of government at the time.

Peeking in the Deyo House, Roth notes the carriage entrance with a step high enough for women to descend modestly from a buggy without their legs showing.

“The Deyo House is interesting,” he says, “because it’s the first house and the last house.” Built by Pierre Deyo in 1692, it became a Victorian mansion in 1894 when residents gave it a face-lift. A piano, violin, and Rosewood melodeon grace the music room. The sitting room offers a wealth of furnishings, including a walnut armchair and rocking chair with scrolled arms.

The other heavily timbered Huguenot houses are filled with old spinning wheels, pudding molds, billows, sausage stuffers, Dutch cupboards, shoulder yokes, pewter dishes, copper kettles, and other pieces that make them museums. Many homes in the historic district are open for guided tours. (For information, see “Getting There.”)

But as much as Roth steeps himself in history, he thrives on the modern amenities his town provides.

“I like to boast that I live in a village that has more health food stores than supermarkets,” he says with a chuckle.

New Paltz, with a year-round population of 12,830 and about 8,000 college students, claims a healthy share of bookshops and bistros. The locally owned, eclectic Ariel Booksellers sits next to Starbucks Coffee on Main Street, with an outdoor cafe connecting them.

Esoterica, a New Age store nearby, sells sarongs and incense, candles and CDs, books and bells. The Groovy Blueberry down the street has Indian-print dresses and sheets, tie-dyed clothes, and oils in every scent imaginable, from hazelnut to honeydew. A deli between the two advertises organic beef and poultry.

“I’d say the night life has a Woodstock feel,” Roth says.

Fifty-four percent of New Paltz residents—more than twice the national average—attended college, which helps explain the town’s interest in the arts. And located in the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains, the town draws athletes who appreciate rock climbing, hiking, biking, skiing, and snowshoeing.

Cynthia Listort, 28, lived in a bedroom community of Manhattan but returned to her hometown when she found out she was pregnant with her second child. “We wanted to come someplace close to family and someplace we knew was friendly,” she says. “My husband grew up in New Paltz also. We both came home.”

Strolling downtown on a sunny day after lunch at The Bistro with her father and two children, she pauses to reflect on the difference. In the suburbs of the city, “I found it difficult to meet people.”

In New Paltz, she says, “walking down the street, asking someone for the time, turns into a 15-minute conversation.”

Ronda Robinson is a Knoxville, Tenn., freelance writer who spent last winter in upstate New York.

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