East Gate in the News

HILLSDALE — State officials on Thursday submitted a request to relocate a "rare and significant" Columbia County building from New York's turnpike era 30 feet to protect it from traffic and road hazards.

The Columbia Turnpike East Tollhouse, on the north side of Route 23 in the town of Hillsdale, sits on a turnpike that was an overland route between western Massachusetts and the Hudson River that was active between 1799 and 1906. The wood-framed tollhouse was built for the toll keeper and, until 1906, was fronted by a toll gate that could be raised and lowered to restrict the movement of road traffic, according to a news release Thursday from Gov. Kathy Hochul's office.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 and the request proposes moving the building to protect it.

The New York State Board for Historic Preservation reviewed and approved the new location as similar in character to the original site. The move, spearheaded by the Friends of East Gate, would include and retain the building's original features, orientation and historic interrelationship with the road.  If approved, the tollhouse would also come under the purview of the National Park Service.

The update comes along with the board's recommendation to add 13 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Of those, the toll house was the only one in the Capital Region, though the list includes two sites in the Mid-Hudson Region: the Tioronda Estate-Craig House Historic District, a historic Gothic Revival house that sits on 69 acres in Beacon and the town of Fishkill, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Yonkers, which has been hub for the area’s Black community since the late 19th century and a regional focal point for the civil rights movement.

Such listings can assist owners in revitalizing properties, making them eligible for public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, Hochul's office said.

Once recommendations are approved by the commissioner, who serves as the state historic preservation officer, the properties are listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed and, once approved, entered on the National Register.

Friends of East Gate Receives Grant from
Preservation League of New York State

March 30, 2021

Friends of East Gate has received a 2020 Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) from the Preservation League of New York State (PLNYS). The grant is one of 26 projects PLNYS is funding throughout the state, and one of two in Columbia County.
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Historic Marker Erected

June 2018

The Friends of East Gate unveiled an historic marker at the East Gate Toll House on Route 23 in Hillsdale on May 19.
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Armchair Travel Along Old Toll Roads

March 2018

This story begins in a restaurant in Stockbridge and ends at a vacant stone building in a cement quarry section of Greenport, New York, on the outskirts of Hudson, 35 miles away. READ MORE

Columbia Turnpike History

August 2017

LIKE MODERN ROADS the Columbia Turnpike, the road now known as state Route 23 in Columbia County, was beset at times with problems, some of them caused by people. READ MORE

RJHS Announces Sneak Preview for Summer Exhibit

June 2017

The RJHS summer exhibit will explore the story of the Columbia Turnpike, and its part in demonstrating the Hudson River’s importance as an artery of inland commerce and its place in Columbia County’s history. READ MORE

All Roads Lead to the River

June 2017

Friends of East Gate has officially launched its campaign to save and reuse the historic East Gate Toll House on Route 23 in Hillsdale, NY. Read the press release in full.

NYS Board for Historic Preservation

March 2016

Governor Cuomo Announces 19 Properties Recommended to State and National Registers of Historic Places. READ MORE

Hillsdale’s Toll House Joins State and National Register of Historic Places

June 2016

Governor Cuomo Announces 19 Properties Recommended to State and National Registers of Historic Places. READ MORE

National Register of Historic Places Listing

April 2016

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. READ MORE

Hillsdale Toll House May Qualify for Historic Register

January 2015

At the January 20 meeting of the Hillsdale Town Board, town historian Peter Cipkowski reported that the current owner of a Route 23 tollhouse, a structure that dates from the 1790s, would like to donate the property to the town. READ MORE