The RHS archives is a treasure trove of exciting history. It consists of records dating back to the 1700s, including books, pictures, maps, letters and diaries. The catalog of the archived materials can be accessed below.

MEMBERSHIP

We are very much in need of your continued support. Your donations and membership allow us to pursue our efforts to preserve Rhinebeck history, whether that be through our archival work, in-person presentations, or community collaborations.

Most recently, we've been gifted antique newspapers from the Strong family that fill an enormous gap in RHS's collection of The Rhinebeck Gazette. Thanks to your support, decades in the latter half of the 19th century– previously unavailable– will be accessible to all at no cost, once digitized and posted online.

GUESTBOOK

We highly encourage all visitors to leave a message in our guestbook below! Whether it be general comments, feedback, etc., we'd love to hear from you!

NOTE: If you have questions, please contact us here. We cannot guarantee that we will respond to guestbook comments, especially if neither an email nor phone number are provided.

PROGRAMS

UPCOMING PROGRAM: Linda and Duane Watson, "200 Years of Fashion Preserved at Wilderstein"

WHEN AND WHERE: Friday, 4/25/25 @ 7:00pm at the Starr Library Local History Room, entrance in the rear

DESCRIPTION: From outer wear to underwear, from swimming costumes to ball gowns, the garments cared for at Wilderstein document the interests and activities of the Suckleys and their extended family from the late 18th century to the late 20th century. With a wealth of images, Linda and Duane Watson define the scope, conservation, and preservation of this unique collection, bringing these outfits once more to life.

PLEASE DONATE

Our special project during 2024 has been to make our collection of The Rhinebeck Gazette available to the public in a searchable format at no cost to the public. The project’s impetus was the Strong Family’s gift of seventeen years of the newspaper from the 19th century. That gift filled an enormous gap in our collection. We then decided to muster our resources to digitize not only the years from the Strongs but the entire span of years The Rhinebeck Gazette served as our local newspaper, from 1846 to 2009. We see this project as the ideal way to achieve our mission of preserving local history and making it available to as many people as possible.

In our dues notice a year ago, we asked for help to raise $7,500 as the 50-50 match needed to secure a grant that would allow us to move toward that goal. Our members not only came through but donated more than twice that amount! As a result, a grant from the Frost Memorial Fund for $14,000 allowed us to make greater progress than we had anticipated—all Gazettes from 1846 to 1899 have now been scanned, made searchable, and are posted online. The result of your contributions is viewable here on our website. From this home page, select “Archives”, and then “The Rhinebeck Gazette.”

We are not stopping at 1899. A recent $10,000 grant from the Thompson Trust allows us to continue the project into the 20th century, but only if we can continue to depend on the generous support you gave us in 2024. We hope enough of our members add some additional support on the line for special projects on the membership form to allow us to reach, perhaps even exceed, that goal of $10,000. To donate, please go to the Membership Form. Every little bit is most welcome.

Thank you from all of us at the Rhinebeck Historical Society.

Rhinebeck

Historical

Society

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MEMBERSHIP

ARCHIVES

GUESTBOOK

PROGRAMS