Trapps Mountain Hamlet Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Trapps Mountain Hamlet Historic District is located on the Shawangunk Ridge
in Gardiner, New York, United States. It is a large area that covers the site of a settlement that thrived there from the late 18th to mid-20th centuries. Inhabitants practiced subsistence farming
, making it one of the rare such communities in the East
to have left any trace remaining. They supplemented that with a variety of other trades, primarily in the forest products industry, with most inhabitants gradually coming to work at nearby mountain resorts in the 20th century. The last resident died in 1956.
Only foundations
remain for most of the buildings, and only six remain standing. Those that do show a unique structural system that suggests an influence of the Native American
tribes that lived in the area at the time it was settled. Today most of them are on protected lands
in the area, with a few privately owned. In 2000 the area was designated a historic district
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
/NY 55
highway and the Coxing Kill atop the ridge in the western corner of Gardiner, with some portions overlapping into neighboring Rochester
. Most of that area is forested, part of either the Mohonk Preserve
or Minnewaska State Park Preserve
, with a few private residential inholdings. There are few cleared areas other than the unpaved parking lots for both preserves.
Mohonk Mountain House
is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) to the northeast. The nearest large settlements are New Paltz
to the east and Kerhonkson
to the west. The district's topography
is mostly determined by the Coxing Kill valley, its highest elevations roughly 1100 feet (335.3 m) above sea level, falling to 700 feet (213.4 m) at its lowest points. To the southeast are the Trapps and Near Trapps climbing
cliffs, with a gap between them providing access for the highway. Between the roads are portions of the two preserves' hiking trail
networks, as well as some of the former roads now referred to as carriageways.
Most of the district's area is the land between routes 44 and 55 on the southwest and Trapps and Clove Roads on the northwest. From there branches follow Clove Road northeast to the last contributing property
in that direction just over the town line, northwest along 44/55 to the former sawmill site along Peters Kill, and southwest almost to the confluence
of Coxing Kill and the Lake Minnewaska outlet brook. From the western extension another corridor includes most of dead-end Lyons Road near the Gardiner-Rochester town line. The Mohonk Preserve's Coxing Trail and Trapps Road carriageway provide the southeast boundary.
Within this area are 65 total resources. All but 7 are considered contributing to the district's historic character. Most are sites, the remaining cellar holes or foundations
of buildings within the former hamlet. Several bridges and cemeteries are included, and there are six buildings still standing, mostly frame
houses with an unusual structural system
.
were the dominant group in what is now Ulster County
, using the Shawangunk ridgetop as a hunting ground and campsite. With the arrival of European colonists
in the 17th century, they began living there more permanently as it was one of the few places not heavily settled. They were able to retain a distinct social and cultural identity through the 1870s.
The land was first subdivided with the Groote Transport ("Great Transaction") Patent
of 1730, which covered most of today's Town of Rochester. Later subdivisions affecting the future Trapps Hamlet included a 1764 grant to a man named Henry Harp, and the 1770 Nineteen Partners Tract. A map of the latter from 1799 shows the sawmill later associated with the Enderly family at the intersection of the Old Shawangunk Path, an Indian route through the area, and Coxing Kill. This is the earliest record of any of the district's extant remains. Two other buildings were also indicated below a nearby summit
, but no trace of them has been found. The earliest known inhabitants were the van Leuven brothers, who were described as charcoal
makers.
Settlement continued along the creek. It is believed some of the early settlers were single European men who married and started families with local Esopus women. At first they built log home
s, none of which remain except for the foundation of one house. Most of the hamlet's surviving frame houses, as well as some other settlements on the ridge, are built in an unusual form called "Shawangunk batten
-plank". It consists of two layers of thin vertical battens over heavy horizontal planks, built in sections and connected to their neighbors with lap joint
s. There are no vertical members at the corners. This has no antecedent in any European building tradition
and may well have come from the Lenape. Circular burial stones in the district's cemeteries also suggest Lenape influence on the local lifestyle.
The slopes, cliffs and thin, rocky soil prevented the establishment of large farms. Records suggest that for most farmers butter was the only product that was produced for sale. Residents supplemented their farm produce by harvesting timber from the surrounding forests for timber and charcoal. They also peeled the bark of the hemlock
trees for the tannin
used in tanning
leather and made millstone
s from the rock. Later on, the manufacture of barrel hoops was introduced to the hamlet.
By 1857 there were several small farmsteads along the Coxing. That year the Wawarsing
and New Paltz Turnpike was built along the route presently followed by Clove and Trapps roads. It opened up the markets in the lower areas near the Hudson River
to the Trapps produce, and the hamlet began to grow. Soon it had a hotel, store, and Methodist
chapel
. In 1887 the first written reference to the hamlet appeared noting these features.
These would be the peak years of the hamlet's settlement. Huckleberry
picking was introduced to the area, and the pickers frequently set the woods on fire
to create conditions more favorable to the berry's growth, the effects of which can still be seen today. In the 1860s the Smiley brothers opened Mohonk Mountain House
and buying up available land to provide a natural retreat for their guests. Another Smiley built a hotel at nearby Minnewaska Lake, now the site of the state park.
The resorts provided employment for the hamlet residents, even as many sold their land to them. The carriage roads provided new arteries of transport, but also required the demolition of some older homes. In 1897 a school was built, and three years later the settlement appeared on the first U.S. Geological Survey maps of the region, under the name Minnewaska.
In the first decades of the 20th century the hamlet began to decline. Between the development of a process to synthesize tannin and the depletion of the hemlocks, the tanning industry had disappeared. The town vacated Van Leuven Road, the main local north-south route in the Trapps in 1907, no longer able to afford to maintain it. The Spanish Flu of 1918 took its toll on the Trapps, killing many of its children.
The realignment of routes 44 and 55 in 1929 to the current route accelerated this process. The highway now bypassed the center of the hamlet, hurting business there that depended on passing traffic. Many of the remaining residents sold out completely and moved. The resorts bought their properties and allowed them to reforest
.
In 1956 Irving van Leuven, the last resident, died. Another van Leuven house, bought by the Mohonk Mountain House in the 1920s and leased for a time in the 1960s by members of the Appalachian Mountain Club
as a base for their rock climbing
sessions on the nearby cliffs. Today, restored
and used as a museum, it is the only hamlet building still standing on Mohonk Preserve land.
The Smiley hotels at Lake Minnewaska were closed in the 1970s. Both had burned down by 1986, and after a proposal by the Marriott Corporation to redevelop the area as a private resort led to widespread opposition the state arranged for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission
to buy that property and manage it as Minnewaska State Park Preserve
, putting that section of the hamlet in public ownership.
Shawangunk Ridge
The Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains.The ridgetop, which widens considerably at...
in Gardiner, New York, United States. It is a large area that covers the site of a settlement that thrived there from the late 18th to mid-20th centuries. Inhabitants practiced subsistence farming
Subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye...
, making it one of the rare such communities in the East
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
to have left any trace remaining. They supplemented that with a variety of other trades, primarily in the forest products industry, with most inhabitants gradually coming to work at nearby mountain resorts in the 20th century. The last resident died in 1956.
Only foundations
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
remain for most of the buildings, and only six remain standing. Those that do show a unique structural system that suggests an influence of the Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes that lived in the area at the time it was settled. Today most of them are on protected lands
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
in the area, with a few privately owned. In 2000 the area was designated a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Geography
The district is an irregularly shaped 433 acres (175.2 ha) area centered along the US 44U.S. Route 44 in New York
U.S. Route 44 in the state of New York is a major east–west thoroughfare in the Hudson Valley region of the state. Its entire length is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation, with the exception of the Mid-Hudson Bridge, which is maintained by the New York State Bridge...
/NY 55
New York State Route 55
New York State Route 55 is a state highway in southern New York, running from the Pennsylvania state line at the Delaware River in Barryville to the Connecticut state line at Wingdale...
highway and the Coxing Kill atop the ridge in the western corner of Gardiner, with some portions overlapping into neighboring Rochester
Rochester, Ulster County, New York
Rochester is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 7,018 at the 2000 census.The Town of Rochester is an interior town located near the center of Ulster County...
. Most of that area is forested, part of either the Mohonk Preserve
Mohonk Preserve
The Mohonk Preserve is located in the Shawangunk Ridge, a section of the Appalachian Mountains, north of New York City in Ulster County, New York, USA. The Preserve is west of the Village of New Paltz...
or Minnewaska State Park Preserve
Minnewaska State Park Preserve
The Minnewaska State Park Preserve is a 21,106 acre preserve located on the Shawangunk Ridge in New York on US 44/NY 55, five miles east of New York State Route 299. The park is managed by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. It is primarily used for picnicking, hiking, mountain biking,...
, with a few private residential inholdings. There are few cleared areas other than the unpaved parking lots for both preserves.
Mohonk Mountain House
Mohonk Mountain House
The Mohonk Mountain House also known as Lake Mohonk Mountain House, is a historic American resort hotel located on the Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster County, New York. Its prominent location in the town of New Paltz is just beyond the southern border of the Catskill Mountains on the western side of the...
is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) to the northeast. The nearest large settlements are New Paltz
New Paltz (village), New York
New Paltz is a village in Ulster County in the U.S. state of New York. It is about north of New York City and south of Albany. The population was 6,818 at the 2010 census.The Village of New Paltz is located within the Town of New Paltz...
to the east and Kerhonkson
Kerhonkson, New York
Kerhonkson is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 1,684 at the 2010 census.Kerhonkson is a small hamlet which, along with Accord, makes up the Town of Rochester on US 209, just south of the town's boundary with the Town of Wawarsing and just north of where US 44...
to the west. The district's topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
is mostly determined by the Coxing Kill valley, its highest elevations roughly 1100 feet (335.3 m) above sea level, falling to 700 feet (213.4 m) at its lowest points. To the southeast are the Trapps and Near Trapps climbing
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
cliffs, with a gap between them providing access for the highway. Between the roads are portions of the two preserves' hiking trail
Trail
A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...
networks, as well as some of the former roads now referred to as carriageways.
Most of the district's area is the land between routes 44 and 55 on the southwest and Trapps and Clove Roads on the northwest. From there branches follow Clove Road northeast to the last contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
in that direction just over the town line, northwest along 44/55 to the former sawmill site along Peters Kill, and southwest almost to the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of Coxing Kill and the Lake Minnewaska outlet brook. From the western extension another corridor includes most of dead-end Lyons Road near the Gardiner-Rochester town line. The Mohonk Preserve's Coxing Trail and Trapps Road carriageway provide the southeast boundary.
Within this area are 65 total resources. All but 7 are considered contributing to the district's historic character. Most are sites, the remaining cellar holes or foundations
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
of buildings within the former hamlet. Several bridges and cemeteries are included, and there are six buildings still standing, mostly frame
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
houses with an unusual structural system
Structural system
The term structural system or structural frame in structural engineering refers to load-resisting sub-system of a structure. The structural system transfers loads through interconnected structural components or members.-High-rise buildings:...
.
History
Archaeological digs nearby have demonstrated a human presence in the vicinity going back at least 8,200 years, possibly 11,500. The Esopus tribe of the LenapeLenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
were the dominant group in what is now Ulster County
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
, using the Shawangunk ridgetop as a hunting ground and campsite. With the arrival of European colonists
European colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
in the 17th century, they began living there more permanently as it was one of the few places not heavily settled. They were able to retain a distinct social and cultural identity through the 1870s.
The land was first subdivided with the Groote Transport ("Great Transaction") Patent
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
of 1730, which covered most of today's Town of Rochester. Later subdivisions affecting the future Trapps Hamlet included a 1764 grant to a man named Henry Harp, and the 1770 Nineteen Partners Tract. A map of the latter from 1799 shows the sawmill later associated with the Enderly family at the intersection of the Old Shawangunk Path, an Indian route through the area, and Coxing Kill. This is the earliest record of any of the district's extant remains. Two other buildings were also indicated below a nearby summit
Summit (topography)
In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation...
, but no trace of them has been found. The earliest known inhabitants were the van Leuven brothers, who were described as charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
makers.
Settlement continued along the creek. It is believed some of the early settlers were single European men who married and started families with local Esopus women. At first they built log home
Log home
A log home is structurally identical to a log cabin...
s, none of which remain except for the foundation of one house. Most of the hamlet's surviving frame houses, as well as some other settlements on the ridge, are built in an unusual form called "Shawangunk batten
Batten
A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...
-plank". It consists of two layers of thin vertical battens over heavy horizontal planks, built in sections and connected to their neighbors with lap joint
Lap joint
In woodworking or metal fitting, a lap joint is a technique for joining two pieces of material by overlapping them. A lap may be a full lap or half lap....
s. There are no vertical members at the corners. This has no antecedent in any European building tradition
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
and may well have come from the Lenape. Circular burial stones in the district's cemeteries also suggest Lenape influence on the local lifestyle.
The slopes, cliffs and thin, rocky soil prevented the establishment of large farms. Records suggest that for most farmers butter was the only product that was produced for sale. Residents supplemented their farm produce by harvesting timber from the surrounding forests for timber and charcoal. They also peeled the bark of the hemlock
Eastern Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis, also known as eastern or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as pruche du Canada, is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It ranges from northeastern Minnesota eastward through southern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and south in the Appalachian...
trees for the tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
used in tanning
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
leather and made millstone
Millstone
Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...
s from the rock. Later on, the manufacture of barrel hoops was introduced to the hamlet.
By 1857 there were several small farmsteads along the Coxing. That year the Wawarsing
Wawarsing, New York
Wawarsing is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 13,157 at the 2010 census. The name means "a place where the stream bends" in the Warwarsink language and refers to the geography of the land; particularly the joining of the Ver Nooy Kill and the Rondout Creek. The...
and New Paltz Turnpike was built along the route presently followed by Clove and Trapps roads. It opened up the markets in the lower areas near the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
to the Trapps produce, and the hamlet began to grow. Soon it had a hotel, store, and Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
. In 1887 the first written reference to the hamlet appeared noting these features.
These would be the peak years of the hamlet's settlement. Huckleberry
Huckleberry
Huckleberry is a common name used in North America for several species of plants in two closely related genera in the family Ericaceae:* Vaccinium* GaylussaciaHuckleberry may also refer to:-Plants:...
picking was introduced to the area, and the pickers frequently set the woods on fire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
to create conditions more favorable to the berry's growth, the effects of which can still be seen today. In the 1860s the Smiley brothers opened Mohonk Mountain House
Mohonk Mountain House
The Mohonk Mountain House also known as Lake Mohonk Mountain House, is a historic American resort hotel located on the Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster County, New York. Its prominent location in the town of New Paltz is just beyond the southern border of the Catskill Mountains on the western side of the...
and buying up available land to provide a natural retreat for their guests. Another Smiley built a hotel at nearby Minnewaska Lake, now the site of the state park.
The resorts provided employment for the hamlet residents, even as many sold their land to them. The carriage roads provided new arteries of transport, but also required the demolition of some older homes. In 1897 a school was built, and three years later the settlement appeared on the first U.S. Geological Survey maps of the region, under the name Minnewaska.
In the first decades of the 20th century the hamlet began to decline. Between the development of a process to synthesize tannin and the depletion of the hemlocks, the tanning industry had disappeared. The town vacated Van Leuven Road, the main local north-south route in the Trapps in 1907, no longer able to afford to maintain it. The Spanish Flu of 1918 took its toll on the Trapps, killing many of its children.
The realignment of routes 44 and 55 in 1929 to the current route accelerated this process. The highway now bypassed the center of the hamlet, hurting business there that depended on passing traffic. Many of the remaining residents sold out completely and moved. The resorts bought their properties and allowed them to reforest
Reforestation
Reforestation is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands that have been depleted, usually through deforestation....
.
In 1956 Irving van Leuven, the last resident, died. Another van Leuven house, bought by the Mohonk Mountain House in the 1920s and leased for a time in the 1960s by members of the Appalachian Mountain Club
Appalachian Mountain Club
The Appalachian Mountain Club is one of the United States' oldest outdoor groups. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Maine to Washington, D.C...
as a base for their rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
sessions on the nearby cliffs. Today, restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
and used as a museum, it is the only hamlet building still standing on Mohonk Preserve land.
The Smiley hotels at Lake Minnewaska were closed in the 1970s. Both had burned down by 1986, and after a proposal by the Marriott Corporation to redevelop the area as a private resort led to widespread opposition the state arranged for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission
Palisades Interstate Park Commission
Palisades Interstate Park and its creator, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, was formed in 1900 by governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster M. Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the destruction of the Palisades by quarry operators in the late 19th century...
to buy that property and manage it as Minnewaska State Park Preserve
Minnewaska State Park Preserve
The Minnewaska State Park Preserve is a 21,106 acre preserve located on the Shawangunk Ridge in New York on US 44/NY 55, five miles east of New York State Route 299. The park is managed by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. It is primarily used for picnicking, hiking, mountain biking,...
, putting that section of the hamlet in public ownership.
Significant contributing properties
None of the contributing properties to the district are separately listed on the National Register. Several are notable enough within the context of the district, primarily those that still survive as structures.- Elizabeth Davis House, Lyons Road. A surviving late 19th-century house intact except for replacement vinyl sidingVinyl sidingVinyl siding is plastic exterior cladding for a house, used for decoration and weatherproofing, as an alternative to traditional wood siding or other materials such as aluminum or fiber cement siding. It is an engineered product, manufactured primarily from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, resin, giving...
. - Davis Mill Site, Routes 44-55. Remains of the mill built on Peters Kill, possibly with some features added later to serve the local resort, are in the ground at a scenic waterfall just off the highway.
- Fowler Burial Ground, Old Van Leuven Road (now Trapps Hamlet Path hiking trail). The three readable markers here are the earliest in the any of the hamlet's remaining burial grounds, dating to the early and mid-19th century.
- Eli Van Leuven House, Old Van Leuven Road. Built around 1889 in the Shawangunk batten-plank style, this is the only extant building from the hamlet left on the lands of the Mohonk PreserveMohonk PreserveThe Mohonk Preserve is located in the Shawangunk Ridge, a section of the Appalachian Mountains, north of New York City in Ulster County, New York, USA. The Preserve is west of the Village of New Paltz...
. It has since been restoredBuilding restorationBuilding restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
and used as a museum of the hamlet. - Henry Van Leuven House, Clove Road. Built in the mid-19th century, this is one of the oldest Shwangunk batten-plank buildings in the district. Irving van Leuven, the last Trapps resident, was living here at the time of his death in 1956.
- Hiram van Leuven/Veres House, Clove Road. Built in 1856, this is another remaining building, currently vacant and deteriorating.
- School No. 8 Site, Clove Road. This large 18 by cellar of the 1897 school and its ca. 1850 predecessor is clearly visible just off the road. It was one of the few institutional buildings in the Trapps.
- L. Wynkoop House Ruin, Trapps Road. Another mid-19th century building in an advanced state of decay.
- Trapps Chapel Site, Trapps Road. A non-contributing house and garage sit on the lot where the only house of worship in the Trapps was built in 1881.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Ulster County, New York