How Much Hudson Valley Trivia Do You Know?

Betcha didn’t know this about your county!

Quiz your friends with these facts and statistics from counties along the Hudson River.

Albany

If you wanted an interview with Governor Theodore Roosevelt (who served from January 1899 until December 1900), you had to catch him first. He exercised every morning by running up and down the 77 steps in front of the Capitol — newspaper reporters had to snag him at the top!

Columbia

Later claiming it was “a joke made in poor taste,” the Union Street Guest House of Hudson posted a policy charging guests $500 for any bad online reviews. The New York Post uncovered the protocol change in 2014, and more than 3,000 comments flooded into the inn’s Yelp and Facebook pages. Yikes!

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Dutchess

The city of Beacon was formed in 1813, by merging the villages of Matteawan and Fishkill Landing. The citizens of the villages chose the name in reference to the signal fires built on Mount Beacon during the Revolutionary War to warn of the imminent British troop invasion.

Greene

Cus D’Amato coached some of the most recognizable names in boxing: Mike Tyson and Floyd Patterson. In the 1970s, he opened a gym in Catskill where he trained Tyson. Even after D’Amato’s death in 1985, the gym is still up and running, continuing his legacy.

Orange

Emily Post, best known for her assessment on American manners, lived in her father’s cluster of cottages in Tuxedo Park, just 35 miles north from Manhattan. Post became known as the “resident princess,” and her famous “Etiquette” guide, published in 1922, became a best seller.

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Putnam

A valiant war heroine at just 16 years old, Sybil Ludington is a Putnam County native. Her father was an aide to George Washington during the American Revolution and when warned of an attack on Danbury, CT, Sybil volunteered to ride her horse on the Putnam roads to spread the word about the intrusion.

Rensselaer

Everyone can finish this line: “’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house…” but not many peple know that there is a local connection. Clement Moore’s holiday classic was first published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel on Dec. 23, 1823. Moore was identified as the author in 1837. Another Hudson Valley tie-in: Henry Livingston Jr. of Poughkeepsie (who died in 1828) is rumored to be the real author.

Rockland

The majestic Palisades are from the Triassic period, more than 245 to 208 million years ago! They developed slowly as molten rock cooled on the Earth’s surface.

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Ulster

Standing tall at Crown and John streets in Kingston are four stone buildings: the only intact pre-Revolutionary intersection in the country. The buildings were burned in 1777 by the invading British, but quickly restored. For the first time since their construction, three out of the four structures are under the same owner.

Westchester

Best known for his extraordinary Saturday Evening Post illustrations, Norman Rockwell is one of Westchester’s most famous residents. His paintings represented all Americans, but the people who inspired them were actually his friends and neighbors in New Rochelle.

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