Brewster: Local History and the Putnam Trailway

When planning a trip to Brewster, you can choose between two distinct areas of interest: local history and the Putnam Trailway. The Southeast Museum displays artifacts from a range of contexts; the Walter Brewster House adds the history of a single building to the story of the area. The paved Trailway is a path for cycling and walking that follows a historic railroad corridor. These topics offer different approaches to planning: you can focus on local history or consider the Trailway as an activity in its own right.

Local History at the Southeast Museum

The Southeast Museum is housed in the Old Town Hall, a building constructed in Brewster in 1896. The museum displays artifacts from a range of contexts: bottles found during excavation work, minerals from the Tilly Foster Mine, and items related to the circus and railroad of Seth B. Howes. Its scope therefore ranges from finds uncovered during excavation work to objects connected with the mine, the circus, and the railroad. Visitors interested in local history told through specific objects will find several thematic perspectives. The railroad also appears in different contexts: as a subject in the museum collection and as the former corridor followed by the Trailway.

The Walter Brewster House

The Walter Brewster House offers a different perspective on Brewster’s architectural history. Walter Brewster built the house in 1850; it is in the Greek Revival style and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The builder and year identify its origins, the style describes its architecture, and its listing in the register adds another layer of historical context. For travelers interested not only in collection items but also in individual historic buildings, the house broadens the picture of Brewster with an architectural perspective.

Putnam Trailway: A Path for Cycling and Walking with Railroad History

The Putnam Trailway is 12.0 miles long and runs from Baldwin Place to Brewster Village. It is a paved path for cycling and walking; for the most part, it follows the right-of-way of the former Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad. The route’s function and history belong to different time periods: describing it as a path for cycling and walking identifies its function, while its former right-of-way explains its railroad connection. The 12.0-mile length gives the route a clear scope. Unlike the individual historical topics covered by the museum and the architectural history, the Trailway is a route with two named endpoints. If cycling or walking is part of your trip planning, you can consider it as an activity in its own right.

Getting There and Planning Your Trip

Brewster can be reached by car or via Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line. The Southeast Museum is a five-minute walk from Brewster station. This walking time indicates the museum’s proximity to the train station. For planning purposes, you can consider how to get there separately from what you want to focus on: the car or Harlem Line are ways to reach Brewster, while the museum, Walter Brewster House, and Trailway each highlight different aspects of local history and the route. When searching for a hotel in Brewster, you can start by deciding which of these interests matters most for your trip.

Discover more destinations: Cold Spring, Mahopac.

Return to the main travel guide: Putnam County.