Did You Know the Hudson Valley Once Starred in a Collection of U.S. Postage Stamps?

You may not be aware but the Hudson Valley has been officially on United State postage stamps and you can actually still buy the series online. In August of 2014, the United States Postal Service (USPS) unveiled the Hudson River School Stamps.

The Hudson River School is a romanticized style of painting the grew in popularity in during the 1800's. Locally, Thomas Cole and Frederic Church are well-known artists who painted in this style. The Hudson Valley is still rich with modern-day artists who continue to paint in this Hudson Valley tradition.

Kevin Cook, an artist who lives and has his studio at Huguenot Street in New Paltz, is one of the locally collected artists that still paints in this traditional style that focuses on landscapes and the dramatic light found in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley. Kevin's work along with other Hudson River School style painters can still be seen and collected at galleries in Rhinebeck, Beacon, Hudson and New Paltz.

July 1st is National U.S. Postage Stamp Day which may not phase to many of you. After all, I realize that very few of us still use postage stamps. These days we can text, email and zoom call all our invitations and letters to friends. But for those of us who still buy stamps, it is fun to hear about some of the special series that the USPS offers,

I am not a stamp collector but I do like to keep stamps around. I always get the Forever kind so I don't have to keep up with price fluctuation. It can take me over a year to use up a book of stamps.

So what places around the Hudson Valley do you think would make a good stamp series?

I am thinking

Places to Hike and Bike - images could include Mount Beacon, the R2R Trial in New Paltz, The Walkway over the Hudson.

Historical Places - This category could make a bunch of collections but to start images could be West Point, Huguenot Street and the Stockade District in Kingston.

Hudson River Light Houses - We have a few along the shores of the Hudson River including Saugerties, Kingston and Esopus.

Places on The Shawangunk Ridge - This could include Smiley's Tower, Lake Minnewaska and Sam's Point.

Hudson River Bridges - You could include all of them from the Rip Van Winkle down to the Bear Mountain Bridge.