HURLEY, N.Y. >> The National Historic Landmark District in Old Hurley dedicated the day Saturday to showing off seven 230- to 330-year-old stone houses as part of the district’s 68th annual Stone House Day tour.
Hurley attracted hundreds of visitors who arrived in cars and on tour buses.
The day featured free demonstrations of colonial crafts and street events, a 1777 militia encampment, wreath makers, corn husk dolls for children, a Sojourner Truth speech and interview, musical performances, a library book sale and antique sales.
The district’s stone houses and the Old Hurley Burial Ground – with gravestones dating from before the Revolutionary War – drew visitors from near and far. Mary and Doon Cumings of Riverdale were among those meandering among the gravestones Saturday afternoon.
Mary Cumings, a former history teacher, said she was drawn to the event because of her own Dutch heritage.
Robert and Peter Himmelman, of New Hartford, said they came to Hurley on the Landmark Society bus tour. They also found the cemetery of interest.
Robert Himmelman, who had never visited Hurley before, said the stone houses were “quite impressive.” From Hurley, the Himmelmans said their tour was headed to Kingston’s Stockade District.
At the Crispell Parsonage, 17 Main St., Esther Stickley, wife of former pastor Charles Stickley, was back giving tours of her former home on Saturday afternoon. Esther Stickley, who said she lived in the house next store to the Hurley Reformed Church for 33 years, from 1973 until 2006, was welcoming guests and explaining the home’s history.
Wearing a white embroidered Dutch hat she purchased in the Netherlands, Stickley recalled how much she enjoyed living in the old stone house. She told guests the original structure dates to 1725, the front room was added in the 1760s and the kitchen was a new addition in 1798.