Johnson Hall State Historic Site

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Johnson Hall State Historic Site

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They resided here with their eight children, numerous Native and European guests, and a large number of free, indentured, and enslaved servants.

Welcome to official page of Johnson Hall State Historic Site, the 1763 Georgian-style estate of Anglo-Irish immigrant Sir William Johnson and Molly Brant/ Konwatsi'tsiaienni of the Mohawks. Located in Johnstown, NY, Johnson Hall State Historic Site was the 1763 Georgian-style estate of Anglo-Irish immigrant Sir William Johnson (1715 - 1774) and Molly Brant/ Konwatsi'tsiaienni of the Mohawks (1736-1796). Their combined influence made them the most powerful family in the colonial Mohawk Valley, deeply impacting the diplomacy of the region and their wider worlds. Johnson's influence with the leadership of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee greatly influenced England's victory over France for control of colonial North America. For his service, the British Crown bestowed upon Johnson the title of Baronet, and later appointed him Superintendent of Indian Affairs, a position to which he devoted himself and held throughout his life. Differing cultures, traditions and languages combined to create a unique life for the Johnson family, with the Hall bustling with activity as home life and business life intermingled daily. Visitors included members and representatives of various Native Nations and tribes, sometimes numbering in the hundreds at Council gatherings. The home was the centerpiece of a 700-acre working estate, with elaborate formal gardens, vegetable plots, orchards, a mill, blacksmith shop, Indian trade store, barns, enslaved and tenant housing, and other support buildings. Following the death of Sir William in 1774, Molly and her children left Johnson Hall, and his eldest son John inherited both the property and title of Baronet. By 1776, the new Revolutionary government forced this Loyalist family and many of their supporters to flee to Canada under threat of imprisonment and violence. Johnson Hall was seized and looted, with most of its remaining contents subsequently sold at auction following the war. Johnson Hall remained a private residence through 1906, when it was acquired by the State of New York and opened to the public as a State Historic Site. Today, Johnson Hall continues to welcome visitors and interpret the site's colonial history through guided tours, on-site and outreach educational programs, and special events.

10/22/2026

The season turns as we look towards 2027.

2026 has been an incredible season at Johnson Hall as we have commemorated the 1776 confiscation of the Hall and rebel occupation of Johnstown. We are immeasurable grateful to the interpretive staff, volunteers, Friends of Johnson Hall members, our colleagues in the agency, guest presenters, reenactors, and especially to our community, both near and far, who have showed up in force to support the site and engage with the stories that we have worked to share this season.

While the Johnson family no longer resided here as of 1776, our commemoration of the conflict in New York is not over! Next year will be the anniversary of the Fort Stanwix campaign and the Battle of Oriskany. The bloody fighting in the valley that year involved members of the broad Johnson Hall community of all backgrounds. We will be assisting our sister sites in the region, including Herkimer Home State Historic Site, with their commemorations, and talking about the ongoing conflicts impact on this community and former members of this household.

The campaign of 1776 especially impacted Mohawk valley colonists and the Haudenosaunee, with warriors from the Six Nations taking horrific casualties on all sides of the conflict at Oriskany. Johnson Hall and our many sister-sites (such as Ganondagan State Historic Site, Fort Ontario, Herkimer Home State Historic Site, Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site, Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site and many more) are the perfect places to learn about the complex and deeply rooted relationships between colonists and Native communities, how those were built in the years before the Revolution, and how those relationships impacted the choices of individuals and communities during the war and after.

Our final event of 2026 will be our annual Holiday Open House on December 5th and 6th. Stay tuned on this page and on our website at https://parks.ny.gov/visit/historic-sites/johnson-hall-state-historic-site for updates, and we look forward to continuing our exploration of the past with you all!

Images

Top: The October sun sets in a cloudless sky behind the pines in front of Johnson Hall, casting golden light across the grass and the wooden palisade.

Bottom: The last light of the day shining on the white siding, dark windows, and deep red doors and shutters on the face of the Hall as the 2026 season ends.

10/14/2026

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰'𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 & 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈!

From 𝟔:𝟎𝟎𝐩𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝟕:𝟑𝟎𝐩𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, explore the food preparation methods that sustained, fueled, and accented colonial life in the 18th century Mohawk Valley.

Led by Johnson Hall Lead Interpreter, Mae Hailu, and culinary historian, Rachel Stewart, this program is set to be an evening filled with delicious samplings of pickled and preserved foods served alongside a discussion on the social importance of preservation and insights stemming from the experience of recreating 18th century recipes (or receipts) over an open hearth.

𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸, 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮.

This event will be held at Johnson Hall and is free/open to the public (no reservations required). For more information, head to our event listing (https://www.facebook.com/events/1458159916216637) or give us a call at 518-762-8712.

10/11/2026

A massive thank you to all who joined us for last night's "Memento Mori: Colonial Tales of the Macabre"!

It was a wonderful evening filled with frights and delights alike!

A special thank you to the fantastic Campbell Higle for their incredible storytelling and to all of our volunteers including Rachel Stewart, the Friends of Johnson Hall, and the amazing crew from Herkimer Home State Historic Site. Their contributions are what make events like this possible.

If you weren't able to make it in person, check out Visit Fulton County, NY for a livestreamed recording of the program.

Looking for more Johnson Hall? Join us this coming Thursday, October 15th from 6pm-7:30pm for our "Pickling, Preservation, and Persevering: A Talk & Tasting Event." For more information, check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1C615YuPon/

10/08/2026

New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation staff recently installed two benchmarks at Johnson Hall State Historic Site to monitor erosion near the remains of an historic trade store. Identified with NYS Parks metal medallions (similar to survey or elevation markers), the benchmarks will be used for site monitoring. Projects such as these highlight how our agency achieves historic preservation in coordination with environmental stewardship. As a reminder, the use of metal detectors is prohibited at all state historic sites in order to protect cultural resources.

10/07/2026

A big thank you culinary historian, Rachel Stewart, for coming on out and testing receipts (or recipes) in our 18th Century Test Kitchen! It was a great time getting the chance to watch the experimentation process and the practice that goes into recreating these historic recipes.

If you didn't get a chance to stop by this past weekend, fear not! Rachel will be back at Johnson Hall alongside Lead Interpreter, Mae Hailu, for our "Pickling, Preservation, & Persevering" Talk and Tasting event on Thursday, October 15th!

From 6-7:30pm, we invite you to try samples of pickled and preserved foods while Mae leads a discussion on the social importance of preparing for an 18th century winter and Rachel reflects on the work that goes into preserving food!

This is a free event, open to the public. For more information, call 518-762-8712 or check out our event page:(https://www.facebook.com/share/19TZgqGvKF/)

10/03/2026

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥! The final harvests are upon us, the leaves are changing, a chill has entered the air, and the Northern hemisphere hangs between seasons. As we enter this month of change, there is still much to see and do at Johnson Hall!

𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟒𝐭𝐡, stop by to chat with culinary historian Rachel Stewart as she practices 𝟏𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 in the West Stone House in preparation for our October 15th lecture on Preservation and Pickling (below).

𝐎𝐧 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝟕:𝟎𝟎𝐩𝐦, Johnson Hall celebrates the maudlin and macabre nature of the season with our annual "𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢" storytelling program, featuring colonial tales or terror and grim fascination with Campbell Higle. For more information, check out our events page here!

𝐎𝐧 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓𝐭𝐡, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟔:𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐨 𝟕:𝟑𝟎𝐩𝐦, join Johnson Hall Lead Interpreter, Mae Hailu for "Pickling, Preservation, and Perseverance.” Enjoy a sampling of pickled and preserved goods supplied by the Friends of Johnson Hall while Mae discusses how foods were preserved and used by people of the colonial era across the social and economic spectrum, and Rachel discusses the insights gained from recreating these historic techniques.

This a free event with funding made possible by the Argersinger Charitable Trust.

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝟓𝟏𝟖-𝟕𝟔𝟐-𝟖𝟕𝟏𝟐.

09/30/2026

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉!

The harvest is coming in, and the days grow colder. How did the colonial Mohawk valley keep foods for the winter?

Stop by Johnson Hall this weekend for an opportunity to chat with culinary historian Rachel Stewart about historical preservation methods of the period. Rachel will be preparing various food items in the West Stonehouse between 𝟏𝟎𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟒𝐩𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝟒𝐩𝐦.

On Saturday, Rachel will be joined by Ian Mumpton, Johnson Hall Interpretive Programs Assistant, who will be discussing salted meat, fresh fowl, and food options available to the enslaved at Johnson Hall.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩-𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝟓𝟏𝟖-𝟕𝟔𝟐-𝟖𝟕𝟏𝟐.

Address

139 Hall Avenue
Johnstown, NY
12095

Telephone

+15187628712

Website

https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/johnsonhall/details.aspx, http://www.friendsofjohnsonhall.org/

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