Knox Headquarters | |
 The Ellison House at Knox's Headquarter's State Historic Site in New Windsor, NY | |
| Location | Vails Gate,NY |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Newburgh |
| Coordinates | 41°27′18″N74°03′00″W / 41.45500°N 74.05000°W /41.45500; -74.05000 |
| Built | 1755 |
| Architect | William Bull |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000901 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 9, 1972[1] |
| Designated NHL | November 28, 1972[2] |
Knox's Headquarters State Historic Site, in the town ofNew Windsor inOrange County,New York, consists of theGeorgian house of the Ellison family, built in 1754 by immigrant William Bull[3][4] ofHamptonburgh, NY, and the grounds around it. The site is located on Old Forge Hill Road, just south ofRoute 94 east ofVails Gate.
Although most closely associated withFounding FatherHenry Knox, who used it as his headquarters as theRevolutionary War drew to a close in the early 1780s, it was used as ageneral's headquarters throughout most of the war, byNathanael Greene andHoratio Gates.
The site was declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1972.[2][5] While owned by theNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation the Ellison House is administered and operated by thePalisades Interstate Park Commission, like many other state parks and historic sites in the mid and lowerHudson region.
Today, the house can be toured when the site is open. It is used to educate visitors about how 18th-century families such as the Ellisons actually lived. On holidays and special occasions staff dress inreproduction period clothing and give special events. Staff dressed as the 2nd Continental Artillery frequently demonstratecannon use on the grounds during special events, as Knox was best known for his command of Continentalartillery.
The house and its grounds were the setting and subject of the children's haunted-house novelBuried Treasure: A Tale of an Old House (1919), by the best-selling children's authorHenry Everett McNeil. The book is illustrated with McNeil's own photographs (made circa 1911 or 1912) of the various buildings and bridge at the Knox site.
TheJane Colden Plant Sanctuary along some of the trails in the nearby woods memorializes America's first femalebotanist, who also resided in the area.
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help) andAccompanying 2 photos, exterior, from 1971. (429 KiB)
Media related toKnox's Headquarters State Historic Site at Wikimedia Commons
