The school was built in 1830 for immigrant apprentices at the West Point Foundry, enlarged for workers' children in 1867, and incorporated into the Philipstown school system until 1891. William H. Taylor, a former foundry superintendent (pictured with his daughter), bought the building in 1914 as a residence.
The Putnam County Historical Society, founded in 1906 and now known as the Putnam History Museum, purchased the building in 1960. A 2006 renovation restored the building's 1867 design, adding new exhibition spaces (pictured on other side) and state-of-the-art facilities for the archives and collection.
An 1862 Currier & Ives lithograph (above) pictures two gentlemen viewing the foundry from an area behind the school.
The Putnam History Museum
The museum houses art, artifacts, and documents related to Putnam County, with an emphasis on the West Point Foundry, Philipstown, and the Hudson Highlands. John Ferguson Weir's 1866 painting, The Gun Foundry (detail above), is part of a permanent installation about the West Point Foundry. Changing exhibitions significantly expand knowledge of the history of the Highlands and include works from the collection and other museums and private collections. The museum maintains a research library and organizes educational programs for children and adults, and special events.
To learn more about the foundry, visit Scenic Hudson's West Point Foundry Preserve, entrance south on Chestnut Street.
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