Between the years 1828 and 1976, the Ulster County Fairgrounds was the site of the Ulster County Poorhouse. A poorhouse was a tax-supported residential institution to which people were required to go if they could not support themselves without community assistance. Thousands of individuals, including the indigent, the destitute, the insane, the intemperate, transient farm workers, freed slaves, unemployed canal and aqueduct builders, "debauched" women, unwed mothers, the friendless, the elderly, the disabled and the sick, called this site their home.

Susan Stessin-Cohn former professor of social studies education at SUNY New Paltz is currently the Historian for the Town of New Paltz, New York. She is a recipient of the Bruce Dearstyne Award for excellence in the educational use of local government records; the New York State Archives Award for the best use of primary local documents in a curriculum in NYS; and the Pride of Ulster County Award for research on the Ulster County Poorhouse. Susan began her research on the Ulster County Poorhouse in 2000. She has created four teaching packets for the NYS Archives and the Ulster County Clerk's Office. Her most resent publication, "In Defiance, Runaways from Slavery in New York's Hudson River Valley, 1735-1831 is coauthored by Ashley Hurlburt Biagini. Susan has appeared on C-Span as well as WYNT channel 13.

Admissions: Free.

Accessibility: The library is handicap accessible, featureing a wheelchair-accessible entrance and parking.

Parking: The library parking lot is located on the corner of North Front Street and Church Street. Library visitors are welcome to park for free in our lot for as long as they are at the library.