Woodstock, New York

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Woodstock, New York
settlement_type = Town
nickname =
motto =

imagesize = 300px
image_caption = Town hall on NY 212


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pushpin_label_position =
pushpin_map_caption =Location within the state of New York
pushpin_mapsize =


mapsize =
map_caption =


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =

subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = New York
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Ulster
government_footnotes =
government_type =
leader_title =
leader_name =
leader_title1 =
leader_name1 =
established_title =
established_date =

unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes =

area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 175.8
area_land_km2 = 174.8
area_water_km2 = 0.9
area_total_sq_mi = 67.9
area_land_sq_mi = 67.5
area_water_sq_mi = 0.4

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 6241
population_density_km2 = 35.7
population_density_sq_mi = 92.5

timezone = Eastern (EST)
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 440
elevation_ft = 1444
latd = 42 |latm = 2 |lats = 26 |latNS = N
longd = 74 |longm = 7 |longs = 44 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 12498
area_code = 845
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 36-83052GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0979655GR|3
website =
footnotes =

Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 6,241 at the 2000 census.

The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county. Woodstock is northwest of Kingston, New York and lies within the borders of Catskill Park.

History

The first non-indigenous settler arrived around 1770. The Town of Woodstock was established in 1787. Later, Woodstock contributed some of its territory to form the Towns of Middletown (1789), Windham (1798), Shandaken (1804), and Olive (1853).

The Arts and Crafts Movement came to Woodstock around 1902, and, afterwards, Woodstock was always considered an active artist colony in the 19th and early 20th century, including playing host to numerous Hudson River School painters. Its reputation as an arts center contributed to the original Woodstock Festival's organizers planning their concert around the town. Such American painters as E. Charlton Fortune and Spencer Trask were known to use the Woodstock venue.

The Woodstock Elgin Creamery was established in 1898 at a site now located on the corner of Maple Lane and Deanies Alley.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 67.9 square miles (175.8 km²), of which, 67.5 square miles (174.8 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (0.9 km²) of it (0.53%) is water.

The north town line is the border of Greene County.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 6,241 people, 2,946 households, and 1,626 families residing in the town. The population density was 92.5 people per square mile (35.7/km²). There were 3,847 housing units at an average density of 57.0/sq mi (22.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.25% White, 1.30% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 1.57% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.56% of the population.

There were 2,946 households out of which 21.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.8% were non-families. 35.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.71.

In the town the population was spread out with 18.0% under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 38.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $49,217, and the median income for a family was $65,938. Males had a median income of $41,500 versus $33,672 for females. The per capita income for the town was $32,133. About 6.9% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.8% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

Woodstock Music and Art

The town is famous for lending its name to the Woodstock Festival, actually held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm 43 miles (76 km) away in Bethel, New York in Sullivan County.

The 1903 Byrdcliffe art colony is the nation's oldest Arts & Crafts colony. It brought the first artists to Woodstock to teach and produce furniture, metal works, ceramics, weaving and established Woodstock's first painting school. Byrdcliffe forever changed the cultural landscape of the Town of Woodstock.

In 1916, utopian philosopher and poet Hervey White built a "music chapel" in the woods. It was the Maverick Concert Series, the beginning of what is now the oldest, continuous chamber music festival in America. Composers such as Henry Cowel, John Cage, Robert Starrer and Peter Schickele created works that were premiered there. Today, this hand-built concert hall with perfect acoustics, is a multi-starred attraction on the National Register of Historic Places with world-class musicians playing there from June to September.

The town is home to the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum (WAAM), one of the oldest artists organizations. The WAAM Permanent Collection features work by important American artists associated with the region, including Milton Avery, George Bellows, Edward Leigh Chase, Frank Swift Chase, Marion Greenwood, Philip Guston, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and many others. WAAM founders were John Carlson, Frank Swift Chase, Andrew Dasburg, Carl Lindin, and Henry Lee McFee. The Art Students League of New York's summer school was in Woodstock for nearly fifteen years from 1906 until 1922, and again after the end of World War II from 1947 until 1979. [http://www.woodstockschoolofart.org/ The Woodstock School of Art] has been operating since 1980.

The Woodstock Guild, also founded by Byrdcliffe artists in 1939 is now the steward of the 350-acre Byrdcliffe Colony. It is a multicultural organization which sponsors exhibitions, classes, concerts, dance and theatre events and runs the oldest craft shop in Woodstock, the Fleur de Lis Gallery, which features over 60 artists. Byrdcliffe is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a haven for today's artists.

Famous Inhabitants

The town has long been a mecca for artists, musicians, and writers, even before the music festival made the name "Woodstock" famous. The town has a separate "Artist's Cemetery". Film and art festivals attract big names, and hundreds of musicians have come to Woodstock to record. The list below contains the names of significant artists who actually lived (or still currently live) in the town.

Musicians

*Jimi Hendrix- guitarist/singer/songwriter
*Daevid Allen - Soft Machine/Gong singer/poet
*John Ashton - producer/guitarist for The Psychedelic Furs
*The Band members: Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson - the five shared a house together, where they recorded The Basement Tapes (with Bob Dylan) and Music from Big Pink. The house, dubbed "Big Pink" is in neighboring Saugerties, though Danko,Manuel,Hudson and Helm all eventually moved to Woodstock.
*Cyro Baptista - Brazilian-born percussionist
*Richard Bell - keyboardist
*Ravi Shankar- Sitar Player, Composer
*David Bowie- songwriter, musician, fashion icon
*Paul Butterfield - blues musician
*Imani Coppola - singer/songwriter/musician (early 2000's)
*Kal David - blues musician
*Jack DeJohnette - jazz drummer
*Johnny Cash - country singer/guitarist/songwriter/composer
*Aïyb Dieng - drummer and percussionist
*Bob Dylan - singer/songwriter, in the late sixties. (He had his infamous motorcycle accident while living here in 1966.)
*Michael Esposito - lead guitarist with The Blues Magoos (Mercury Records 1960s)
*Jackson C. Frank - singer/songwriter
*John Hall - musician, co-founder of Orleans
*Bill Keith - banjo player/composer developed melodic or (Keith style) banjo picking.
*Steve Knight - keyboardist for Mountain; currently a member of the Woodstock Town Board
*Tony Levin - bassist
*Thelonious Monk - jazz musician
*Harvey Sorgen- drummer
*Fred Neil - singer/songwriter
*Van Morrison - singer/songwriter
*David "Fathead" Newman - jazz musician
*John Platania - guitarist
*Bonnie Raitt - singer/songwriter
*Tom Rapp - singer /songwriter, leader of the band Pearls Before Swine
*Matt Flynn - Drummer for the band Maroon 5
*Mick Ronson - guitarist
*Todd Rundgren - singer/songwriter
*Robert Starer - pianist & composer
*David Peel - member of The Lower East Side Band
*Keith Strickland and Kate Pierson of the B-52s
*Gary Windo - saxophonist
*Joe Giardullo - saxophonist
*Pat Metheny - Grammy award winning guitarist
*Henry Cowell - composer
*Peter Schikele - composer
*Fred Hand - guitar
*Ed Sanders- Poet/Founder of Fugs band
*Donald McDonald - drummer
*Frank Luther - bassist
*Carlos Santana - guitarist
*Donald Fagen - co-founder Steely Dan
*John Sebastian - a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful
*Jimmy Cobb - jazz drummer
*Happy Traum - folk musician
*Artie Traum - award-winning guitarist, producer and songwriter
*Eric Weissberg - banjo player, best known for the theme from the movie "Deliverance"
*Elizabeth Mitchell - is an American singer, composer, and guitarist for the New York indie band Ida
*Peter Schickele - best known for his comedy music albums featuring music he wrote as P.D.Q. Bach
*Joey Eppard - Kingston, NY born singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist - best known for his Woodstock Rock band, 3
*Billy Riker - Port Ewen, NY born guitarist, bassist and keyboard player - best known for Woodstock Rock band, 3
*Gregan Wortman - Greenville, Maine native and guitar player performed at the Tinker Street Cafe and other venues and produced his TV show 'Psycho Circus' in Woodstock during a period from May to December 1996. Gregan Wortman premiered the eclectic variety show 'Psycho Circus' in November 1995 in Portland, Maine.
*Darryl Jenifer - Bad Brains Bass

Artists

*Alexander Archipenko - sculptor
*George Ault - painter
*Milton Avery - painter
*George Bellows - painter
*James Brooks - painter
*Edward Leigh Chase - painter
*Frank Swift Chase - painter
*Andrew Michael Dasburg - painter
*Julio de Diego - painter, jeweler
*Richard Diebenkorn - painter
*Harvey Fite - sculptor
*Milton Glaser - graphic designer (creator of the ‘I Love New York’ logo)
*Mary Frank - painter
*Philip Guston - painter
*Sam Henderson - cartoonist
*Robert Henri - painter
*Eva Hesse- sculptor
*Joel Iskowitz-Master Designer United States Mint
*Yasuo Kuniyoshi - painter
*Doris Lee - painter
*Ronnie Landfield - painter
*Elliot Landy - photographer
*Georges Malkine - painter
*Vince Natale - illustrator/artist
*Lyn Ott - painter
*Anton Refregier - painter
*Eugene Speicher - painter
*Bradley Walker Tomlin - painter

Writers

*Robert Duncan - poet
*Alf Evers - historian & author
*Paul Hoffman - author & TV Host
*Barney Hoskyns - author & music journalist
*Howard Koch - screenwriter who wrote 1938 radio drama "The War of the Worlds" and won Academy Award for "Casablanca"
*Sean Lahman - historian & sportswriter
*Henry Morton Robinson - novelist
*Ed Sanders - author & publisher
*Ruth Simpson - author and lesbian/feminist activist
*Anita Miller Smith - historian, painter and herbalist
*Robert Thurman - Buddhist scholar, father of actress Uma Thurman
*Gail Godwin - author
*Heywood Hale Broun Author TV commentator
*David Robison - author
*Shalom Auslander - author
*Larry Beinhart - author of "American Hero", which was adapted for the political-parody film "Wag the Dog"
*Jeff Cohen- media critic
*Theodore Sturgeon - science fiction author

Actors

*Jennifer Connelly - actress, for several years during her childhood
*Ethan Hawke - actor
*Piper Laurie - actress
*Lee Marvin - actor
*Sylvia Miles - actress
*Uma Thurman - actress, for several years during her childhood. Still seen frequently in Woodstock, to visit her parents including Robert Thurman.
*Chevy Chase - actor

Others

*John Burroughs, naturalist
*John Dewey, educator, a founder of the philosophical school of Pragmatism.
*Albert Grossman - manager/producer and founder of Bearsville Records. His Bearsville Recording Studio has attracted hundreds of well known musicians to record in Woodstock.
*Steven Hager - chief editor, "High Times" magazine
*Phil Jackson - basketball coach and former NBA player
*Philippe Petit- famous funambulist, best known for walking a tightrope between the World Trade Center twin towers.
*Josephine McKim Chalmers - Olympic swimmer, a medal winner in the 1928 and 1932 summer Olympics and an actress, and the sister-in law of artist Philip Guston.

Local communities and landmarks

*Artists Cemetery - A cemetery for Woodstock artists and luminaries on Rock City Road.
*Ashokan Reservoir - A New York City reservoir under which lies nine lost towns. [ [http://bearsystems.com/ashokan/ashokan.htm retrieved online July 21, 2008] ]
*Bearsville - A hamlet at the junction of Routes 212 and 45, west of Woodstock village.
*Byrdcliffe - Site of the original art colony near the junction of Routes 212 and County Road 33, northwest of Woodstock village along Rock City Road.
*Cooper Lake - Kingston reservoir located south of Lake Hill and Shady.
*Daisy - A hamlet east of Woodstock village near the east town line. Currently the site of a municipal road works gravel dump/parking lot. Due southeast of Overlook Mountain, Daisy is the Woodstock hamlet with the most documented stone cairns, mounds and other possibly ancient sites within 10 minutes walking distance. Many of those are threatened by development.
*Church On The Mount (Woodstock) http://www.myspace.com/churchonthemount
*Echo Lake - A mountain lake within the Indian Head Wilderness of the Catskill Mountains.
*Meads (Woodstock) - A meadow north of Woodstock village, site of the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Tibetan Buddhist monastery and entrance to the Devil's Path.
*Montoma - A hamlet south of Woodstock near the town line with the Town of Hurley.
*Mount Tobias - A mountain in the central part of the town.
*Ohayo Mountain - A mountain to the east, between the Ashokan Reservoir and Woodstock village
*Overlook Mountain - A mountain to the northeast, on the slope of which Woodstock is situated.
* [http://www.radiowoodstock.com Radio Woodstock] - Woodstock's online community and global Internet radio channel
*Shady - A hamlet north of Byrdcliffe on Route 212.
*Willow - A hamlet in the northwest part of the town on Route 212.
*Wittenberg - A hamlet at the junction of Routes 40 and 45, southwest of Bearsville.
*Woodstock - The village of Woodstock and the principal center of local service for the town.
*Zena - A hamlet east of Woodstock village in the southeast part of the town.

ee also

*Art colony
*Byrdcliffe Colony

References

External links

* [http://www.woodstockny.org Town of Woodstock, NY]
* [http://www.bearsystems.com/ Bearsystems: A Guide to the Hudson Valley]
* [http://www.lotuswoodstock.com/ Lotus Fine Art Gallery]
* [http://www.woodstockart.org/ Woodstock Artists Association]
* [http://www.woodstockguild.org/ Woodstock Guild/Byrdcliffe Art Colony]
* [http://www.colonycafe.com/ The Colony Cafe]
* [http://www.woodstock.org/ Woodstock Library]
* [http://www.hrvh.org/collections/inst-intro.htm?inst=9 Woodstock Public Library Digital Collections]
* [http://www.ulster.net/~fleamarket/ Mower's Saturday Flea Market]
* [http://www.ulsterpublishing.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=paper&paperid=1 Woodstock Times]
* [http://www.sweetheartgallery.com/ American Art & Fine Handmade Craft Gallery, Woodstock, NY, New York, SweetHeart Gallery]
* [http://www.cpw.org/ The Center for Photography at Woodstock]
* [http://woodstockfilmfestival.com/ Woodstock Film Festival]
* [http://www.woodstockarts.com/ WoodstockArts - All the arts of Woodstock including the art of living]
* [http://www.mirabai.com/ Mirabai Books - Books, Music & Gifts for Inspiration, Transformation & Healing]