Kingston holds a distinction no other American city can claim: it was the first capital of New York State and the place the British decided to destroy for exactly that reason. On October 16, 1777, General John Vaughan's fleet sailed up the Hudson and burned the town to the ground. Nearly every building in the Stockade District was destroyed. Residents watched the glow from surrounding hills.
PEOPLE
Robert R. Livingston
New York Statesman, Constitution Drafter, Chancellor of New York
George Clinton
First Governor of New York, Continental Army General, Patriot Leader
General John Vaughan
British General, Hudson River Expedition Commander
John Jay
Statesman, New York Constitution Drafter, First Chief Justice
KEY EVENTS
PLACES TO VISIT
STORIES
HISTORICAL VOICE
The Night Kingston Burned
They could see it from the hills. The families who had fled when Vaughan's ships appeared on the river — carrying what they could, leaving the rest — stood on the ridges above the Rondout Creek and wa...
MODERN VOICE
Writing a State Into Being
The New York State Constitution of 1777 is sometimes treated as an afterthought — a regional document important to specialists but not to the general story of the Revolution. That framing misses what ...