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Dwyer House
Photograph courtesy of the City of Kingston
Dwyer House from the side
Photograph by C. Sharp |
The Robert V. Dwyer House is an example of the prosperity and population influx that the completion of the Delaware and Hudson Canal brought to Kingston. With the completion of the Delaware and Hudson Canal in 1828, the small village of Rondout began its role as the canal's Hudson River terminus. In the next few decades, Rondout prospered and grew as the village became one of the major shipment points for coal, shipbuilding, bricks, cement, and the locally quarried bluestone. In the mid-1800s, Robert J. Dwyer arrived in Kingston as one of the businessmen hoping to cash in on the wealth of the booming Rondout area. Dwyer, however, did not commit fully to the Rondout area, but also continued to operate his original business holdings in the city of New Orleans. For several years, Dwyer divided his work between the Rondout area in the spring, summer and fall, and then moving back down to the warmth of New Orleans in the winter. By the 1870s, the Dwyer family businesses had expanded into several facets of the Rondout's river-related enterprises; ship-building, towing, shipping, the sale of equipment for outfitting sailing ships, and even the sale of ice houses (a large winter industry in Rondout). Indicating his obvious prosperity, Dwyer had this house built in the 1890s. Another of Kingston's architecturally eclectic residences, this house incorporates several different design elements, including a gambrell-roofed portico, ornate Corinthian columns, and other classical details. Built on a hill overlooking the Rondout Creek and Hudson River, one can very well imagine Robert Dwyer gazing over his business holdings and the rivers that brought him his livelihood.
The Robert V. Dwyer House is located within the West Strand-Rondout Historic District at 6 Rogers Street. The property is a private residence and not open to the public.
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