John W. Barry

In 1800, more than 2,000 enslaved people lived in Ulster County, according to Ulster County Historian Eddie Moran, citing that year’s federal census. Moran, a New Paltz resident who studies the history of enslaved people in the region, is descended from all seven founding families of New Paltz, each of which enslaved people. New Paltz […]

The historic Woodstock building where Bob Dylan once lived upstairs is set to welcome another brand of celebrity on Friday—the stars of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.”  Mike DuBois, who owns the Tinker Street building with his wife, Kelly Sinclair, said filming will take place on Friday afternoon in the couple’s downstairs business, […]

The Woodstock Reformed Church, led by its new pastor, the Rev. Kathryn Rivera Torea, is working with Kingston’s A.M.E. Zion Church to atone for a history that included early ministers and members who were slaveholders. Representatives of the Woodstock church and Kingston’s A.M.E. Zion Church, part of a historically Black denomination, met for the first […]

Michael Berg said the decade he spent working weekly overnight shifts for Family of Woodstock’s crisis hotline, starting in the mid-1970s, was transformational. “It changed me,” said Berg, Family’s 81-year-old executive director. “I got to be really in touch with the pain and the stuff that people were going through.” For about six months, the […]

Woodstock developer Lizzie Vann said she hoped the first phase of Project Regeneration, her proposal to remake the former Woodstock Library and Lasher Funeral Home properties, could be finished in 2027, with the full project completed by 2029. Vann outlined that timeline on April 19 at a public meeting that drew about 100 people to […]

Bearsville Center in Woodstock, home to the historic Bearsville Theater, is no longer for sale, months after owner Lizzie Vann put it on the market for $7.995 million. “We have had a re-think about Bearsville and we are taking it off the market for a period while we work out what to do,” she said. […]

The ownership group behind the restaurant Silvia is preparing to open two new businesses on Mill Hill Road in Woodstock, taking over the property formerly occupied by Gemela. The larger building on the site will be called The Penny Tavern, while the smaller building will be called The Penny Cafe, according to Silvia co-owner Craig […]

Ulster County’s plans to add a bus stop for Woodstock’s new library, a mile and a half east of its former location, are in limbo as officials seek to hire more drivers to expand its network. Ulster County Area Transit’s Route Z includes stops at the corner of Route 212 and Rock City Road, within […]

Bill Murray once wanted to take a late-night swim at The Lodge in Woodstock. The actor, who was in the area while filming the 2019 movie “The Dead Don’t Die” in Fleischmanns, became a regular at the bar, hotel, and restaurant tucked behind Woodstock Elementary School. He showed up at Levon Helm Studios, dropped by […]

In October 1983, Marty Leffer was in a Lake Placid hotel, waiting for an elevator. He had two tie-dyed shirts from a bundle he hoped to sell to thousands of Deadheads, fans of the Grateful Dead, who had descended on the upstate village that had hosted the Winter Olympics about four years earlier. Nearly 8,000 […]

The Woodstock School of Art is undertaking a $700,000 rehabilitation of its historic barn, a project its executive director said will expand programming, improve public access, and lower long-term operating costs at the historic Route 212 campus. The renovation will convert the oldest building on the property from seasonal use to a year-round facility, allowing […]

With thousands of attendees, multiple stages and a sometimes frenetic pace, the Mountain Jam Festival often developed a rhythm of its own, one that built steadily over several days and rivaled the tempo of the nationally known acts that drew crowds to the Catskills over the years. Staged by Radio Woodstock (WDST 100.1 FM) owner […]

A fire that destroyed a multi-unit building on Tinker Street in Woodstock, but caused no injuries or fatalities, remains under investigation by Ulster County fire officials and state police. The fire broke out at 117 Tinker St., with the first call coming in to the Woodstock Fire Department at 9:44 p.m. Saturday. It was reported […]

Lizzie Vann’s decision to list Bearsville Center for sale is not an exit from Woodstock but rather a pivot. After listing Bearsville Center for $7.995 million last week, Vann said she is selling the landmark Woodstock complex to redirect her focus and capital toward new projects nearby, including housing, public green space and adaptive reuse […]

Bearsville Center—the historic Woodstock property that includes the Bearsville Theater, Utopia Studios Bearsville and several other businesses—is up for sale, according to the listing agent. The asking price is $7,995,000, said Thomas Collins, managing director of SVN/Deegan-Collins Commercial Realty in Kingston, which is handling the sale. The property was listed within the past few days […]

As 2008’s Mountain Jam Festival unfolded at Hunter Mountain, Radio Woodstock’s Greg Gattine remembers waiting outside Bob Weir’s hotel room as the Grateful Dead co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter returned from a workout. “There’s sweat pouring off his head, a towel around his neck,” said Gattine, 63, the radio station’s program director and morning host. […]

Mike Gordon, bass player for the band Phish, will bring his own band to the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock for a show on March 13.  Gordon’s history with Woodstock runs deep.  He has performed multiple times at the Bearsville Theater. He attended more than one Midnight Ramble at Levon Helm Studios; and sat in with […]

Bearsville Theater, the local music venue with a national reputation, kicks off the new year with a new beginning as General Manager Frank Bango steps aside to seek a rhythm to life beyond nightlife. “It’s a beautiful job and a beautiful place,” said Bango, 56, who moved to High Falls after running the Bowery Ballroom […]

The former site of the Mud Club and Early Terrible on Mill Hill Road, now home to the cafe Gemela, is on the market for $4 million, the latest potential shift for dining and drinking options in central Woodstock. “We love Woodstock—we love the hell out of this town,” said Nicolas Ballinger, who has owned […]

After 20 years, two architects and two defeated referendums, Woodstock’s new library was set to celebrate its official opening on Dec. 13, marking a new chapter in its 112-year history in a space triple the size of its predecessor on Library Lane. But the event is being postponed while contractors complete work on the entrance […]

Woodstock’s 43rd annual Holiday Open House kicks off at 4 p.m., aiming to jumpstart holiday sales with a festive and enticing atmosphere as stores festooned with holiday trimmings stay open until 8 p.m.  Visitors are invited to pop into village stores to enjoy the holiday decorations while checking gifts off their holiday shopping list. Among […]

The porch roof of 59 Tinker St., one of Woodstock’s most storied buildings and a touchstone of its musical past, came down this week after rot and water damage forced reconstruction to preserve the historic building. Anyone driving past this week may have joined in Woodstock’s collective gasp as they saw that the roof over […]

Imagine sitting at the corner of Deanies Alley and Maple Lane in Woodstock on a comfortable summer evening as music swirled in the air, the sound of a hoedown mixed with the clinking of glasses and chirping of crickets. That was the Woodstock of the 1940s and 1950s, when The Irvington was a nightlife hot […]