Thomas Cole National Historic Site


218 Spring Street, Catskill, NY 12414

518-9430-7465

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, NY, marks the birthplace of the Hudson River School of American Landscape Painting, as it was the home and studios of its founder, the artist and environmentalist Thomas Cole. Cole’s iconic landscape paintings of the Hudson River Valley and Catskill Mountain views that surround the site became emblems of American beauty and inspired this country to preserve it’s natural landscapes. The historic campus includes the 1815 Federal-style Main House, the 1839 Studio building, the reconstructed 1846 studio building designed by Cole, and gardens and grounds looking out on the Catskill Mountains. The site offers special exhibitions of historic and contemporary art; immersive digital installations that bring history to life; a collection of original art, objects, and furniture; and innovative public programs such as the Hudson River School Art Trail and the Hudson River Skywalk.

Matthew Brady, Thomas Cole, Daguerreotype, Collection Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC.

Thomas Cole was the artist and early environmentalist who founded the influential Hudson River School of American Landscape Painting. Cole lived between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars when the United States was undergoing rapid change. His iconic paintings of the Hudson River Valley and Catskill Mountain views that surround his home became emblems of American beauty and inspired the young country to preserve its natural landscapes. Cole was born in England and witnessed the rapid Industrialization of the countryside before immigrating to the US with his family in 1818. He first visited the Catskills in 1825 and the resulting paintings made him an overnight success. He also wrote extensively about the need to preserve the natural landscape. Cole moved into the Catskill home in 1836, upon marrying Maria Bartow Cole, whose family owned the property. He lived and worked there until his death in 1848.

The historic property known today as the Thomas Cole National Historic Site was also home to the artists Sarah Cole (1805–1857), Thomas’s sister, and Emily Cole (1843–1913), Thomas’s daughter. Sarah was an American artist known for her paintings and etchings. She hiked and sketched with her brother and studied with the artist Asher B. Durand. She exhibited and sold her paintings at the National Academy of Design and American Art-Union, among others. Her work was featured in the 1859 publication, Women Artists in all Ages and Countries. Emily Cole was a charter member of the New York Society of Ceramic Arts, an organization founded in 1892 with the objective to promote the appreciation of ceramic arts. Emily’s painted porcelain was exhibited in Catskill and New York City, and was acquired by many collections. A newspaper review of an exhibition calls her work “unrivaled.”

Thomas Cole (1801–1848), Hunters in a Landscape, 1824–1825, oil on canvas, 28¼ × 35½ in., Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Gift of Dr. Susan Gates Austin Warner, TC.2019.1.
Sarah Cole (1805–1857), Landscape with Church, 1846, oil on artist board, 10 1/8 × 13¼ in., Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Gift of Lynne Hill Bohnsack, TC.1999.1.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Main House, Entrance Hall, Photo Credit: Peter Aaron/ OTTO.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Installation View “MARC SWANSON: A Memorial to Ice at the Dead Deer Disco,” Storehouse Studio, 2022, Photo Credit: Peter Aaron.

The TCNHS is located on six acres in New York’s Hudson Valley. The historic campus consists of the 1815 Main House, 1839 Studio building, the reconstructed 1846 Studio building designed by Thomas Cole and now containing a museum gallery, and gardens and grounds overlooking the Catskill Mountains. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and an affiliated area of the National Park System in 1998.

Following the restoration of the Main House, the TCNHS opened to the public in 2001. The TCNHS serves approx. 20,000 visitors in person, including paid and free admission, and 64,000 users online annually. The organization operates as a forward-thinking nonprofit, embracing change and pursuing authenticity and resonance. The site develops annual special exhibitions of historic and contemporary art that travel the country to critical acclaim, such as “Women Reframe American Landscape,” and “Thomas Cole’s Studio: Memory & Inspiration,” and publishes new scholarship in books that are sold nationally. The site has developed a cutting-edge interpretation model in the artist’s historic home that uses immersive digital technology in the historic interiors to bring history to life, including audio soundscapes and floor-to-ceiling projections.

As a part of the site’s W/Hole History initiative, the organization is continuing to research and present the full history of the property during Thomas’ tenure from multiple perspectives, including Maria Bartow Cole, who married him, and a free Black woman, who was recorded as part of the household but without a name in the census.

Additional activities include guided and self-guided tours; artist and curator talks; extensive online programs; K-12 programs that use American art to teach the curriculum; the Cole Fellowship, a one-year research and professional development program launching the next generation of museum leaders; free community events; and innovative public programs such as the Hudson River School Art Trail, connecting people with the places in nature that Cole painted, and the Hudson River Skywalk, a new scenic walkway connecting the Thomas Cole Site with Frederic Church’s Olana over the Hudson River. The goal of all programs is to enable visitors to find meaning and inspiration in Thomas Cole’s life and work.

The themes that Cole explored in his art and writings—such as landscape preservation and our conception of nature as a restorative power—are both historic and timely, providing the opportunity to connect to audiences with insights that are highly relevant to their own lives.