Explore Thomas Cole

A chain of mountains running through South Central New York State, northwest of New York City and west of the Hudson River, the Catskills are part of the Allegheny Plateau. Mahican and Munsee Indians first inhabited the Catskills, followed by Dutch settlers in the 1620s and 1630s. The Euro-American population grew rapidly following the Revolutionary War, and by the nineteenth century, the nearby town of Catskill had become a center of bustling trade and activity. Thomas Cole first came to the Catskills in 1825, where he was one of the first to paint the now-famous mountain scenery, permanently moving there in 1836. Cole had a clear view of the Catskill Mountain range from the porch of his home at Cedar Grove.