Saugerties: Bright Light, Cool Town

by Anne Pyburn and photographs by David Cunningham, August 26, 2011

“Nowhere in the Empire State is there a prettier spot than Saugerties. Located in the northeastern part of Ulster County at the foot of the famous Catskill Mountains, where the gentle Esopus Creek empties itself into the lordly Hudson River, and lying on an eminence commanding a fine prospect of all the surrounding country, a more charming place can scarcely be imagined.” —The Saugerties Post, November 1898

Early on, savvy business folk recognized that the flow of the Esopus was liquid gold. Lumber and bluestone, paper and paint and brick have fed generations of Saugerties families here in what was recently proclaimed “One of America’s Ten Coolest Small Towns.” Possibilities elegantly realized are a Saugerties trademark—and it’s those possibilities that have turned into plenty of good reasons to celebrate.

Shine On Saugerties
The historic lighthouse at the mouth of the Esopus Creek in Saugerties—the oldest one on the Hudson— has been continuously shining since it was built in 1869. Open to the public, today, the Saugerties Lighthouse is a working beacon, a charming bread-and-breakfast maintained by the Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy, and the luminous inspiration for the current Shine on Saugerties outdoor public art installation presented by the Saugerties Area Chamber of Commerce and Saugerties Town/Village Economic Development Committee. Thanks to local artists, woodworker Marcus Arthur, and Native Lumber in Saugerties, dozens of uniquely designed and decorated wooden lighthouses, with operating solar lights, are illuminating the streets of the historic village business district as part of this bicentennial celebration year marking the town’s 1811 incorporation. October 1, the lighthouses go to the highest bidders at the “Shine On Saugerties” gala and benefit auction held at the Kiersted House on Main Street.