On Saturday June 17th we celebrated the dedication of a 'Legends & Lore' historical marker naming Ichabod Crane and Jesse Merwin, as part of New York State's "PATH THROUGH HISTORY program".
Ichabod Crane Historic Marker Dedication
Dedication of a 'Legends & Lore' historical marker awarded by the New York Folklore Society & William G. Pomeroy Foundation and honoring Washington Irving's "Sleepy Hollow" character 'Ichabod Crane'—who was patterned after Jesse Merwin, the original Kinderhook Schoolteacher who taught at the earlier one-room log cabin school here—was presented to the site, accompanied by actor Robert Ian Mackenzie's public reading of an excerpt from Irving's short story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", a visit from the Headless Horseman, and screening of a short half-hour film adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by documentary filmmaker Jim Ormond. The recent film features a storyteller using Irving's authentic language from the 1820 story.
Washington Irving was a friend of President Martin Van Buren and boarded at the Van Ness home in Kinderhook for about eight weeks in 1809 after the death of his fiancée. Schoolteacher, Jesse Merwin, was also a boarder at the Van Ness home, and the two twenty-something bachelors went fishing and otherwise socialized with the small colony of intellectuals in the otherwise agrarian community. The author wrote portions of A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty in Kinderhook, during which time he befriended Jesse Merwin. the Kinderhook schoolteacher. After Irving moved on, he and Merwin continued a writing correspondence for more than 30 years. Known as a "classic of American literature", Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow's greatest character was conceived right here.
Each year, hundreds of fourth graders from all over Columbia County visit the Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse and discover firsthand how arithmetic and cursive handwriting were learned in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Originally located down the road from its present location, the Schoolhouse was the second school built on the original site, and was moved to the Luykas Van Alen House property after the local school district centralized during the 1970s, when the school was restored to its 1930s appearance.
The Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse opens seasonally--all summer and fall--along with the Luykas Van Alen House. OPEN TUES/SAT/SUN: NOON-4PM
Washington Irving was a friend of President Martin Van Buren and boarded at the Van Ness home in Kinderhook for about eight weeks in 1809 after the death of his fiancée. Schoolteacher, Jesse Merwin, was also a boarder at the Van Ness home, and the two twenty-something bachelors went fishing and otherwise socialized with the small colony of intellectuals in the otherwise agrarian community. The author wrote portions of A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty in Kinderhook, during which time he befriended Jesse Merwin. the Kinderhook schoolteacher. After Irving moved on, he and Merwin continued a writing correspondence for more than 30 years. Known as a "classic of American literature", Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow's greatest character was conceived right here.
Each year, hundreds of fourth graders from all over Columbia County visit the Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse and discover firsthand how arithmetic and cursive handwriting were learned in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Originally located down the road from its present location, the Schoolhouse was the second school built on the original site, and was moved to the Luykas Van Alen House property after the local school district centralized during the 1970s, when the school was restored to its 1930s appearance.
The Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse opens seasonally--all summer and fall--along with the Luykas Van Alen House. OPEN TUES/SAT/SUN: NOON-4PM
2589 State Route 9H
Kinderhook, NY 12106
Kinderhook, NY 12106
