Rushmore Farm

About this property

Rushmore Farm is a historic home located at Athens in Greene County, New York. It is a 1+1⁄2-story, six-bay-wide by two-bay-deep stone dwelling surmounted by a steep gable roof. It was built in two sections during the late 18th century and early 19th century and features an overlay of Greek Revival details. Also on the property is a contributing stone smokehouse. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. Rushmore Farm is located in the town of Athens, near the eastern border of Greene County, The ninety-five acre farm is a long and narrow parcel of land generally bordered by two major north–south transportation features: US 9W on the west and the Conrail railroad tracks on the east. Both of these routes parallel the Hudson River, which is east of the tracks. The nominated property is characterized by woodland, mature trees, a pond, and a landscaped yard. Its highest elevation is along the western boundary, while the land drops off sharply to the east, toward the flats along the river. To the north/northeast of the farm are the Athens Flats; known to be a Native American area used for feeding and watering animals on the way to the Hudson River from the flint ridge located to the northwest/west of the house. A small portion of the Athens Flats is located on this property. The Rushmore property was once much larger, and the nominated ninety-five acre parcel has been defined by numerous land transactions from the late 18th century until the 1970s, when it reached its current size. Much of the original acreage outside the nomination boundary is still actively farmed. Land in the Athens Flats too wet for farming remains uncultivated. Some of the former property along US 9W has been divided off and developed with residences and commercial properties. An easement to the New York Power and Light Company (now National Grid) cuts through the northeast comer of the property. The Rushmore graveyard, a non-contiguous parcel owned by Greene County, is located south of the property along the edge of US 9W and is separated from the farm by intermediate development. The cemetery is not included in this nomination. The entrance to the property is a long gravel driveway from US 9W leading to the building complex, which is located in a small landscaped clearing. Buildings include a stone farmhouse, an early stone smokehouse, a non-historic wood-frame garage, and a small non-historic shed built on the footprint of an earlier milk house. In the fields to the southwest of the house are foundations of a silo and a barn. The latter have not been evaluated for their archeological potential. There is a large stand of locust trees east of the house. The nomination includes two contributing and two non-contributing features. The foundations have not been counted.

Location

Categories

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.

More in Greene County

Historic places, battles, and census history across Greene County.

More historic places in New York

Browse all historic places in New York.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

New York history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.