New Netherland Marketplace, 1645: Living History Event

Saturday June 10th 10:00 am to 5:00 pm & Sunday June 11th 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Thank you to everyone who joined us and everyone who participated this past weekend. Enjoy these photos from the event!

Also please enjoy these photos from the 2022 event!

Historic Huguenot Street invites you to a mid-17th century marketplace, where you’ll discover Indigenous, Black, and European representation sharing their craftsmanship and culture, and portraying life in 1645 New Netherland. Living historians portraying Dutch merchants, traders, and craftspeople will be offering demonstrations on leather and wood working, hearth cooking, tailoring, wampum making, blacksmithing, and more. The marketplace will also include displays of camp gear and furs, clothing, wooden bowls, and other items for sale.

Lenape and Delaware representatives will be returning to their ancestral homelands to portray the life of their ancestors and their economic relationship with the Europeans. Their camp will have ongoing open fire cooking, cordage making, bow shooting, flintknapping, arrow making, and hide tanning demonstrations throughout the weekend. Enrolled members of the five federally recognized communities will be present, speaking on their people and culture, as well as their communities today.

The event will take place on Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm

This event is free and open to the public, but please register if you plan to attend.

Guided Historic House Tours

Saturday tours are available at 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 12:00 PM, 2:30 PM, and 3:00 PM.
Sunday tours are available at 2:30 PM and 3:00 PM.

Tours last about an hour and guide visitors to the replica Esopus Munsee wigwam, the community’s original burying ground, into the reconstructed 1717 French stone church, and through the iconic Jean Hasbrouck House. Explore New Paltz’s multi-cultural past through our historic interpretation that covers the lives of the region’s Indigenous people, French Protestant colonists, the Africans they enslaved, and the free Black community.

Tour capacity is limited, so pre-registration is highly encouraged.

Schedule of Events

10:00 AM: Marketplace opens to the public.

(Saturday Only) Opening remarks from HHS President Liselle LaFrance & New Paltz Town Mayor Neil Bettez, and Indigenous prayer led by Theresa Johnson of the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown.

10:30 AM: Swords in the Street: Keeping the Peace in 17th century New Netherland demonstration with Ian Mumpton, Steven Woods, & Ben Russell.
When European colonists transported their lives and cultures to the Americas, they also brought their fighting traditions with them. Come learn about the martial arts of the 17th century Hudson valley with this demonstration of English and Dutch wrestling, knife-fighting, and swordplay techniques of the period used to keep the peace in the face of interpersonal colonial violence.

11:30 AM: Bells & Motley Olden Music perform music of the 17th century.
Bells & Motley Olden Music, the duo of John and Sondra Bromka, will be entertaining both days with their lively presentations of 17th century music that was played in the Netherlands. Look forward to their amazing array of historic instruments from that era, including hurdy gurdy, harp, hammered dulcimer, period fiddles, cittern, early bagpipes, and a rare 5’ tall tromba marina.

1:00 PM: Steel Your Nerves! An Introduction to 17th Century Cutlass Fighting (A hands-on workshop) with Ian Mumpton, Steven Woods, & Ben Russell.
Are you looking to protect your mercantile venture against pirates? Or are you perhaps looking to embark upon a privateering career yourself? Are you tired of rogue English soldiers wrecking your tavern, or simply looking to demonstrate your civic valor in the Burgher Guard? Whatever the case, you are going to need to know how to use your cutlass! Visitors ages 8 through adult are invited to learn the basics of 17th century cutlass fighting with this hands-on, 45 minute workshop.

Spaces are limited; register at De Zwaardvechters table. Participants under 18 must have signed parental permission to participate.

2:00 PM: Adriaen van der Donck portrayal by Rick Vanden Heuvel.
Who was Adriaen van der Donck? He was a fiery, young, well-educated man who was instrumental in helping secure the rights of citizens of early New Amsterdam. He was also important in helping understand and establish peace between the European colonists and the Natives of the region. His story helps us appreciate how New Netherland became today's New York.

3:00 PM: Bells & Motley Olden Music perform music of the 17th century.
Bells & Motley Olden Music, the duo of John and Sondra Bromka, will be entertaining both days with their lively presentations of 17th century music that was played in the Netherlands. Look forward to their amazing array of historic instruments from that era, including hurdy gurdy, harp, hammered dulcimer, period fiddles, cittern, early bagpipes, and a rare 5’ tall tromba marina.

5:00 PM Saturday/4:00 PM Sunday: Event concludes

Meet the Reenactors

Click on the image below to read each reenactor’s biography.

Visitor Policies

This event is free and open to the public. Visitor are not required to wear face covering while in attendance, nor are they required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Appropriate face covering is neither required in the Visitor Center nor while on tours of the historic structures.

This event will portray and interpret historical topics such as colonialism, slavery, racial discrimination, weaponry and martial arts in the 17th century. Parental supervision is required for children under 13. 

Please note that canine companions will be used as a part of the interpretation of Indigenous culture throughout this event. Three North American Dingos, also known as the Carolina dog, will be present and used to talk about Eastern Woodland hunting traditions and more. These dogs will be leashed at all times.

If you intend on bringing your own dog to this event, they must also remained leashed at all times. Any person who owns or controls a dog, must remove any feces left by that dog on HHS property and dispose of it in a legal manner. The person may remove the feces and carry them away with him/her for disposal. Inability to abide by these policies could result in a fine

Photography is allowed on the grounds and in the historic structures. However, no flash photography is allowed in the historic structures. Food and beverage is not allowed on tours of the historic houses. Visitors may not consume food prepared by the event’s demonstrators. Please do not touch, sit, or lean on anything in the historic houses, unless you are explicitly told you may do so. Please do not touch, sit, or lean on any of the reenactors’ props or personal items unless you are explicitly told you may do so.

Historic Huguenot Street grounds are open from dawn to dusk.

If you have any questions about the event, the historic house tours, or the site's accessibility, please feel free to email info@huguenotstreet.org

HHS Site Map and Parking

Public parking is available in the lots labeled with a "P" on the map above.

Please note: The New Paltz Regatta will also be taking place on Sunday, June 11th and has issued a road closure of Main Street in New Paltz from Plattekill Avenue to The Carmine Liberta Bridge from 12:45-1:15 pm.

If you are planning on arriving to or departing from our event around this time and taking Main Street, please plan accordingly!

It is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we in the Hudson Valley are learning, speaking, and gathering on the ancestral homelands of the Munsee Lenape people, who are indigenous to this land. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors past and present, and we at Historic Huguenot Street are committed to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all.

The Lenape people are proud of their heritage. Historic Huguenot Street continually increases its efforts to consult with these affiliated Native Nations and achieve common goals of cultural preservation through archaeological excavations, research, and educational programs. To learn more about their communities today and their preservation work in their Hudson Valley homelands, please visit these online resources:

Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians

Munsee-Delaware Nation

Delaware Tribe of Indians

Delaware Nation

Delaware Nation at Moraviantown

“New Netherland Marketplace, 1645: Living History Event” has been developed in partnership with Caesar’s Ford Theatre and Wild Hudson Valley.

Marketplace is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

This program is funded in part by a 2023 Humanities New York Action Grant with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Hudson Valley Credit Union is a Marketplace Silver Level Sponsor. HHS would like to thank Rob D. Nagel for his support of this event.

Thank you to the New Paltz Police Department and the Department of Environmental Conservation Region 3 Forest Rangers for guidance in our events’ historic weaponry and fire-safety management.