Philipsburg Manor

Last decade, Historic Hudson Valley undertook a bold, radical, and courageous approach to reinterpreting Philipsburg Manor, in 1750 the seat of a 52,000-acre commercial and trading empire that relied on slave labor for its fortunes. One of the largest and best documented slave sites in the North, Philipsburg Manor today is the only staffed living history museum dedicated to telling the story of slavery in the Colonial north.

With generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a community-based African American Advisory Board, Historic Hudson Valley launched its new site interpretation. Today, visitors learn the story of Philipsburg Manor from the perspective of the enslaved Africans who lived and worked there. Stories of residents like Caesar, the enslaved African miller, bring to life the complex and painful issue of slavery in early America.  Click for further reading.