Thomas Cole National Historic Site

Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of landscape painting, first visited this handsome Federal-style dwelling in the late 1820s when he rented a room during his sketching trips to the Catskills. In 1836, he married Maria Bartow, who occupied the house with her uncle, and moved in permanently. In the newly restored and furnished studio on the property, he painted some of his best-known works. Frederic Edwin Church (who later built his home, Olana, just across the Hudson River) spent two years here as Cole’s pupil. Today, the site is home to a great variety of educational programs about the Hudson River School. Several rooms feature a museum-style display on Cole’s creative process, exhibiting unique objects such as his portable paint box and easels. The porch offers a spectacular panoramic view of the Catskills while the visitor center provides a map to the nearby places where Cole and others sketched dramatic views of mountains and waterfalls.

Amenities: Passport Stamp