The recreated lunette.
O’Neill said the committee was hoping for a mid-April dedication, in time for Ed Ford’s 96th birthday.
Lunette listing – which is which and what they’re about
Lunettes were not in the original Kingston City Hall (1875-1927), which burned in 1927. The reconstruction (completed in 1929) relocated the Common Council chambers to the third floor and added 23 lunettes beneath the ceiling. At that time, city historian Alfonso Clearwater headed a committee which selected subjects.
The original lunettes were as follows:
1. Wynkoop House, where George Washington and his staff were entertained in 1782.
2. Wall Street, about 1830.
3. Old Kingston Academy at Crown and John streets.
4. First Dutch Church as rebuilt after the Revolution.
5. Senate House.
6. Ulster County Courthouse.
7. Fur trading with Indians in Rondout.
8. Rachel DuMont, who warned people of the British invasion in October 1777.
9. Washington’s letter to Free Holders and Commonality after the burning of Kingston.
10. George Clinton.
11. Old seal of the village of Kingston.
12. Dutch settler of New Amsterdam.
13. World War I soldiers.
14. Spanish-American War.
15. Present seal of the city.
16. Union of the North and South, with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s words, “Let us have peace.”
17. Spirit of the Revolutionary War.
18. The Half Moon on the Hudson.
19. Francis Lovelace, colonial governor who gave Kingston its name in 1667.
20. Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch governor (1647-1664).
21. Peace with the Indians in 1660 with wampum belt.
22. State chief justice John Jay with draft of state constitution, 1777.
23. The Clermont in Rondout Harbor.
