All day Saturday, David Hart, President of the Greenport Historical Society, stood outside, seemingly oblivious to the damp and cold, greeting visitors to the 1799 Toll House that he and his group are hoping to restore. Anyone who drives on 23B has passed it—a mysterious, boarded-up, old stone structure, sited close to the road. Until 1907, it was as shown here (left), the home and office to a toll collector—two cents for a horse and rider, a little more for a one-axel rig, and so on. The funds were used to maintain and eventually to pave the dirt road so farmers could get their eggs, milk, and produce more efficiently to the hundreds of ships that passed through Hudson habour daily. A day rife with history lessons and tours of beautiful buildings to benefit Historic Hudson ended at Norman Posner's Hudson Bush Farm, a Georgian house that is considered one of the finest in the Hudson Valley, with a cocktail reception conducted entirely by candlelight. It felt like 1799.
Katharine Umsted, Norman Posner, Joan Chan, David Marvin, Jeff McKay
Town of Greenport Councilman Tom Fleming and tour co-chair Mary Hallenbeck; Lauren Letellier and Albert Gnidica
Simon Usborne, Whitney Spooner and Juan Carretero; Tim Dunleavy and Alan Neumann
John Craig, Carolyn Lawrence, and David Petrovsky; Jeff McKay and Fritz Karch
Francis Polizio, Elizabeth Henry, Joe Daley, and James Male
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
