Beyond the doors of the venerable brick-faced former church on Route 9W in Ulster Park, lies a wide collection of artifacts, excerpts, and other historic treasures that are part of the Klyne Esopus Historical Society Museum collection.

“Our goal is to protect, propagate, and collect local history,” said Louis Timperio, museum president.

In the past, Timperio explained, the Town of Esopus encompassed far more land than its current borders. The territory, originally lived upon by groups of indigenous peoples culminating in the Lenni Lenape nation, was first colonized by the Dutch, then British. Esopus back then encompassed Kingston, Saugerties and New Paltz, and even all the way to the southern portion of Ellenville, Timperio said. Therefore, unlike most local museums, the Klyne Esopus collection offers a little taste of a variety of industries and communities from numerous local towns that were once a part of Esopus.

The museum is hosted in the former Klyne Esopus Reformed Dutch Church building, built in 1827 to replace a smaller church built in 1792. By 1965, the church had closed and its governing body was ready to demolish it. To save the local landmark, community members and former churchgoers banded together to buy the building. In 1969, the Klyne Esopus Historic Preservation Committee was formed to complete the sale and the museum was officially opened to the public in 1986. In 2002, the museum building was designated as a state and National Historic Landmark.

When you step through the heavy white front doors, you immediately see that the bones of the church are still intact. The towering ceiling is covered with light-blue, patterned tiles and adorned with gilded chandeliers that sparkle overhead. A balcony covers three of the walls, well above the floor below. This is where enslaved people would be seated for sermons, including the woman who would one day call herself Sojourner Truth. A few worn, wooden benches still populate the floor along with the preacher’s stage, but all sides are filled with glass cases of artifacts, early American tools, paintings, books, photographs and more.

Some of the oldest artifacts include a collection of Native American tools and treasures, including a collection of stone arrowheads, beads made from shells called wampum (used as both currency and to memorialize treaties), and other indigenous technology. You can run your fingers across decadently carved chairs, furniture, and other colonial-era tools like the spinning jenny, which was used to make textiles. Timperio said he’s trying to schedule someone to demonstrate how the spinning jenny was used, to enrich the educational experience of visitors.

You will also find items that belonged to Col. Oliver Hazard Payne. One of the Gilded Age’s more notable capitalists, he had an estate in Esopus which is now owned by Marist College. The museum was able to acquire Payne’s French-style Ansonia mantel clock, and an ornate decorated urn from his elegant Esopus estate. On the floor next to Payne’s display, you’ll find an old apple-grinder that was used to make apple cider. The area was home to Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple, the Esopus Spitzenburg apple. The variety was shipped overseas because the long storage time enhanced the flavor, Timperio said. The apples are still grown at nearby Maynard Farms.

A tiny bookshelf is filled with painted bricks that represent only a fraction of all the brick companies that used to exist in Esopus. Local clay deposits were rich with iron, making them some of the most reliable bricks available in early America. At one time, Timperio said, 98 percent of all bricks used in New York City came from the Esopus area. The Washburn Brick Company held a special place in his heart, he said, as his grandfather used to work and live at the Washburn brickyard with his 17 children.

The museum also acts as a library, with a collection of newspapers dating back to the 1940s and numerous books written by local historians. Timperio said that the museum’s current display only represents a fraction of its total collection. He’s trying to digitize the museum’s entire collection to be used as a research tool for those who subscribe to an online membership. While the pandemic forced the museum to close its doors for a few years, Timperio is hoping that more school groups, locals, and tourists stop by to check the collection out.

“I want people to come to see and touch something that they have never seen before,” Timperio said.

The Klyne Esopus Historical Society Museum is located at 764 Broadway (Route 9W0 in Ulster Park. The museum’s regular visitation hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. However, Timperio would be happy to schedule a midweek visit with prior notice. For more information, visit https://www.esopushistorymuseum.org/.