Changing Landscape

Changing Landscape. . , Landscapes and the human relationship to the land are dynamic and changing. The Esopus People inhabited this land for hunting and growing crops before it was taken in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Europeans, who continued to cultivate the land for wheat, orchards, and pastureland. The Hasbrouck family farmhouse and surrounding property was later used as Revolutionary War headquarters. The property became a State historic site in 1850 and later in the nineteenth century included a Victorian strolling park with curving paths for visitors. As humans live within the landscape and shape it to our purposes, the land itself becomes an artifact. , [Captions (clockwise from top)] , . Becoming a Park Cannons, benches, and paths, seen here on this postcard, were added to transform the old farm into a public park. View from Washington Headquarters, Newburgh, N.Y., historic postcard, 1900-1910. , . Reproduction cannon from Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh, N.Y. historic postcard. , . As the setting for important events in our nation's founding, the property is used as a unifying symbol and the site of patriotic celebrations. Celebration of the First Armed Forces Day, May 20, 1950. , . Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh (detail), Robert Walter Weir, 1803-1889.