Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center is located on NY 9D in the Town of Fishkill,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. It is a 1,000+ acre (3 km²) working farm owned and operated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as an

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating disci ...

center. In 1683, settlers Gulian Verplanck and Francis Rombout bought the 85,000-acre (430 km²) tract, including the farm, from the

Wappinger people The Wappinger () were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutchess ...

for goods worth approximately $1,250. In 1708 the Great Partition of this land put the area around the farm in the Verplanck family's hands. Instead of working it themselves, they took in

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a person ( farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and managemen ...

s to keep the land worked and productive. They built the

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

tenant farmhouse near the property's main entrance in four sections between the late 17th and early 19th centuries. An 1836 subdivision of the property gave a thousand acres (4 km²), including the current farm, to descendant James DeLancy Verplanck of nearby

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

. He had a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

home, now known as the Manor House, built and moved into it in 1842. A century later, his descendants gave the farm to the state Education Department (SED) for use as a teaching farm. It was used for this purpose by

SUNY Farmingdale The State University of New York at Farmingdale (Farmingdale State College or SUNY Farmingdale) is a public college in East Farmingdale, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college was chartered in 1912 as a school of ap ...

until the late 1960s, when the college decided it no longer needed the property. In 1973 DEC took it over and converted it to its present use. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1980. Today, DEC uses the property to help visitors learn about basic

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...

issues. They can either do this on their own, by walking the property and hiking several

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...

s or by taking part in the many programs DEC offers or sponsors with other groups on the site.

References

External links

Stony Kill Foundation
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Fishkill, New York Nature centers in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York Protected areas of Dutchess County, New York Education in Dutchess County, New York