KINGSTON – The Senate House State Historic Site in Kingston has been reopened after a $2.5 million restoration and installation of two new permanent exhibits.

“This site, home to New York’s first state government, is a powerful part of our shared Revolutionary history, and this restoration work will preserve it for generations of visitors to experience,” said Acting State Parks Commissioner Kathy Moser. 

Congressman Pat Ryan (D, NY-18) said, “Nearly 250 years ago, brave patriots gathered at the Senate House in Kingston to declare their freedom from Tyranny and convened the first meeting of the New York State Senate under the newly adopted very first New York State Constitution.”

State Senator Michelle Hinchey (D, Saugerties) called the Senate House “an incredible monument to our early history, and it was here, in 1777, that the first New York State Senate met at a pivotal moment in our struggle for independence.”

The restoration was supported through a $750,000 grant from the National Park Service with the remaining $1.75 million provided by the State Parks Department.