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MK_in_VT
A small estate overlooking the Hudson River in the inner-city of Newburgh, N.Y. holds quite a surprise. When I visited Washington's Headquarters, a colonial-era dressed guide did a great job making her tour current; you walk thru the original house that was "lent" to the general in the Revolutionary War period, when George Washington had the responsibility of planning the war against the British. Washington had a VERY small war staff -maybe 4 or 5 planners and security guards- they all lived amongst each other in this small house for only a couple of years. The house holds many original items from their stay. Seeing how low ceilings were, cooking conditions, etc., one gets a sense of the times. The guide impressed me by relating how Washington's personal body guard -she mentioned him by his name- slept with his rifle in front of the only door to Washington's bedroom- intruders would have to climb over him first. Wow. A small but relevant museum building sits alongside the house; sections of the original huge chains that were strung across the Hudson River to block British warships are on display. The neighborhood the Headquarters now sits in has experienced it's share of economic decline, but this museum is too important -and interesting- to avoid.
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Westernhorizon
Extremely well preserved early Dutch colonial style building that served as General George Washington's Revolutionary War headquarters for an 18 month period in the early 1880's.The approximately 1 to 1.5 acre site overlooks the Hudson River and is also home to an early 1900's victory Memorial as well as a 1900 era building that currently serves as the museum and visitors center for the site, housing many exhibits and artifacts from George and Martha Washington as well as the time period.Very interesting, educational and pleasant setting and Hudson River Valley overlooking the Hudson River.Recommend 1.5 to 2 hour visit to allow for full and proper exploration as well as tour of the HQ house
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storell
Absorb Colonial American history and how our first American hero saved America during the Newburgh Address.
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94741233
Our guide, in Revolutionary War soldier attire, did a nice job of bringing us through the house where Washington had his headquarters for over a year near the end of the war. I learned quite a bit and came to appreciate how different life was back then.The tour starts in the museum building nearby. I found the museum to be poorly designed, and very frustrating to view. On the first floor there's a computer screen that displays pictures of objects in the museum's collection, and invites you to select one for information about it. I pointed to a top hat, and information on something entirely different came up. I tried again with a different object, and again irrelevant information about something else was displayed. Clearly there's a programming issue here.Then I went upstairs. The objects in the display cases do not have any text to identify what they are; all that's next to each one is a card with a number. To find out about it, you need to go to a computer (there is only one, so if it is crowded, lots of luck), type in the number, and read the information. I saw the top hat and noted its number, then went to the computer and discovered that is was not functioning, making it impossible to tell anything about any of the objects on display. Aside from the bad idea of making you look up the numbers just to find out what things are, why aren't there at least two computers for this purpose?Now if that isn't annoying enough, here's another dumb museum design feature. There are several flat cabinets with drawers that you pull out to view various objects. Not only are they similarly identified only by number, but you cannot tell what's in any of the drawers without pulling them out to see. If you aren't interested in toys and dolls, you may very well pull out several drawers full of them and waste your time. If you are interested in something in particular, there's no way to know where to find it.The bottom line is that this is a poorly designed museum that really needs some reworking to make it visitor friendly.Note that you can only go into the house if you are on a tour; you cannot see it on your own.
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travelinmother
We walked into the house and we were greated by an wonderful woman who we could clearly see loved what she was doing! She explained how the program runs - you look around the museum and the tour would begin in 10 minutes. We looked around the musuem and in 10 minutes she rounded up the 12 people that were going into the house next door and began the tour. This woman knew her stuff and brought history to life with her tour! I can't say enough about how wonderful she was. We toured the house that Washington stayed in- it lasted about 40 minutes I think (we lost track of time) then we went outside and walked around the grounds on our own. We were did not schedule enough time to go back into the museum and we were mad at ourselves for that!! A little gem that shouldn't be missed!
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159barbarar
On a lark we checked this out on the way up to the Catskills. First we were a bit reluctant to leave our car on the street because it is not in the best part of town and the grounds look a little tired. The museum, however, was amazing! Who knew how creative Washington was in protecting the upper Hudson from British ships. You get to see some MASSIVE logs with humongous iron chains that strung them together that were found in the mud in the bottom of the Hudson 100's of years later. These formed an iron barrier across the river which prevented ships from being able to make it up river. Also the clever steel pointed trees that were sunk in large numbers to be just under the surface of the water and pointing downstream to puncture the hulls of any ships trying to come up river. It was pretty cool to see that. The HQ house was also amazing. One of the dutch styles stone houses with MASSIVE and I do mean MASSIVE ceiling beams. They just made trees bigger back in the 1700's. Impressive. OK, the museum does not look like much downstairs, kind of a tired brick building that looks kind of shabby. But go up stairs. WOW! Tons of cool and weird stuff. Not all colonial, but definitely worth seeing and totally state of the art. All the way from someone's cool doll collection (and I am not a big lover of dolls) to old beaver top hats, revolutionary muskets, phillipino tortoise shell hair combs, super old cooking ware, you name it, it is there. I guess people in the region who were collectors simply willed their stuff to this museum when they died. You have got to see it! Great views of the Hudson as well.
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beachbirder
I was looking forward to seeing this historically significant property on a recent trip to the Hudson River valley. As a solo traveler I was driving up from West Point Academy to Newburgh. As I got near the Washington site my red flags went up. The property is in the inner city near the wharf district and near vacant buildings and run down tenements. Nothing in any of the reviews spoke to this safety issue. The parking lot had two cars that were not there to see the site, people were milling about the cars. I did not see any groups or visitors on the grounds. Parking in the street was not an option. I did not feel safe and did not go and see the property. Other travelers should be aware of this when planning a visit there. Maybe safety in numbers.
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dijordan55
A very nice tour of Washington's Headquarters. Check times/dates on their website because sometimes the entrance fee is waived. Tour guides are costumed in living history fashion and are extremely knowledgeable about Washington, the house and the Revolutionary War.Definitely stop if you are in the area.
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soultspiritwanderer
Washington's headquarters during the last 18 months of the Revolutionary War i, NY, sits on a hill in Newburgh, NY overlooking the Hudson River across from Mt. Beacon, The setting is beautiful. There are two buildings on the site- a house with various exhibition galleries and the actual house in which Washington resided, remarkably well preserved. The house tour costs only $4 and is well worth every penny. The tour guide was incredibly well-informed, with a delightful sense of humor. Amidst news every day of "revolutions" being fought in various parts of the world, the visit to this site was a reminder of the determination and intelligence of our founding fathers and mothers in fashioning and fighting for the republic in which we enjoy so many freedoms and rights of full citizenship today. There is a parking lot at the site, and Liberty Street across from the Headquarters has several delightful cafes. Just a few blocks away is a riverfront promenade which offers a lovely walk along the river as well as several restaurants.
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Love2travelthree
We visited this on a day they were closed???? Check the website for the limited days this place is open. They were kind enought to let us look around but we couldn't go in the buildings. It is privately ran and it shows. I would recommend just driving by as it can be seen from the road. There is not a secure place to park and the area around it seems pretty rough.
