Maritime Museum at the Catskill Point

Maritime Museum at the Freightmaster’s Building includes the wooden wheel of an overhead hoist used for lifting raw materials. There is also a replica Shad Shack where, during Shad season, the local men would camp out on river islands. Every night the fish buyers boat pulled in, and the fishermen paid, followed by the beer boat and a good time was had by all - especially the women who enjoyed the peace and quiet of home for the few short weeks. “This museum is one of the last pieces of the maritime infrastructure, the gateway for people to do commerce with the wider world,” says Greene County historian Jonathan Palmer.

Freightmaster’s Building and Maritime Museum at Catskill Point, open for tours May through October. Catskill Point serves as the confluent place for the Catskill Creek and Hudson River, just down river from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. At various times in its history, the Point included slaughter houses, ice houses, taverns, hotels, the Day Line docks, the wharf for a ferry between the Point and Greendale train station across the Hudson, and the eastern terminus of the Catskill Mountain Railroad.

The docked American Eagle cruise liner

Fancy meeting you here, a centuries old tradition at the Catskill Point where (left to right) town of Jewett residents Paul and Sheila Trautman reminisced with longtime friends Cay and Ron Johnson. Cay and Ron once had a place in Tannersville, now living in Florida, and were passengers aboard the American Eagle, a cruise-liner recently docked at The Point, planning the meeting ahead of time. Ron was well known for clocking the Citizens Ski Races at Hunter Mountain. The sloop was donated to the Maritime Museum by Louise Bliss from Athens.

It was a bumpy, day-long ride, but it helped get travelers from The Point to the Catskill Mountain House, a famous 19th Century tourist destination near Haines Falls and North/South Lake. Both the stagecoach line (started by his father) and the hotel were, at one time, owned by Charles Beach.