National Register of Historic Places

Byrdcliffe Historic District

Woodstock, Ulster County, New York
Listed
May 6, 1979
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
79001643

About this property

The Byrdcliffe Colony, also called the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony or Byrdcliffe Historic District, was founded in 1902 near Woodstock, New York by Jane Byrd McCall and Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead and colleagues, Bolton Brown (artist) and Hervey White (writer). It is the oldest operating arts and crafts colony in America. The Arts and Crafts movement arose in the late nineteenth century in reaction to the dehumanizing monotony and standardization of industrial production. Byrdcliffe was created as an experiment in utopian living inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. The colony is still in operation today and is located on 300 acres (1.2 km2) with 35 original buildings, all designed in the Arts and Crafts style. There is a self-guided walking tour through the compound as well as a hiking path that leads to the mountain top which gives way to scenic Catskill views. Along with ongoing music, theater and art performances held in the Byrdcliffe Theater, Barn and on property lawns, The Byrdcliffe Colony hosts an Artist-In-Residence program that houses over 70 artists each summer who practice in a wide variety of fields and media. The program accepts writers, composers, and visual artists. Byrdcliffe maintains an exhibition and performance space in the heart of Woodstock, the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts, which hosts 6 or 7 exhibitions of primarily contemporary art annually.

Location

Woodstock, Ulster County, New York
42.05296, -74.13716

Categories

COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTARTCONSERVATIONEDUCATIONARCHITECTUREPERFORMING ARTS
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Bellows, George W., House
Industrial
1 mi
Church of the Holy Transfiguration of Christ-on-the-Mount
Industrial
1 mi
Woodstock Artists Association
Industrial
1.2 mi
Hasbrouck, Judge Jonathan, House
Industrial
1.4 mi
National Youth Administration Woodstock Resident Work Center
Listed
2.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Byrdcliffe Historic District listed on the National Register?

Byrdcliffe Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1979.

What type of historic resource is Byrdcliffe Historic District?

Byrdcliffe Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Byrdcliffe Historic District?

The period of significance for Byrdcliffe Historic District is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Byrdcliffe Historic District?

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