Rondout is a fine example of a 19th Century waterfront district. Known as Kingston Landing until the 1820's, it had been a peaceful river port since the time of Hudson's voyage along the Hudson River. In 1828, Rondout burst into activity with the opening of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and began to develop the kind of physical character it has today.

As a terminal port on the Hudson River, not only was Rondout vital to the transport of Pennsylvania coal, but also to the transport of Ulster County bluestone, and locally manufactured cement and brick. Shipbuilding--first sail, then steamboat--and work associated with the canal, the stone quarries and the brick and cement yards attracted a great number of Irish and German immigrants and Blacks from the South and Canada. The waterfront became progressively more congested, and warehouses, stables and workers' homes were squeezed into the small blocks on the rocky hillside.

Incorporated as a village in 1849, by the 1870's Rondout had emerged as a densely populated and highly charged commercial center. Passenger and freight railways were built to accommodate the demand for improved inland transportation. Streamlined steamers such as the Mary Powell increased their size and speed capacity, and brought hundreds of tourists to the popular Kingston Point amusement park. As a result, despite the decline of trade along the Delaware and Hudson Canal, Rondout prospered well into the 20th Century.

However, when shipping and leisure travel via the highway system became efficient and profitable, Rondout's commercial prominence began to fade. In the 1960's, faced with aged housing and depressed business conditions, Rondout experienced the upheaval of the Urban Renewal clearance process. This resulted in the razing of a section of the neighborhood in order to build several apartment complexes, a new city hall and the expansion of a state highway into an arterial.

Today, a revitalization effort is underway and restoration is being done by individuals and community-based groups. The surviving section reveals a great deal about the character of a growing 19th Century American town.