Ulster County: Center of Gravity During the American Revolution with Philip Ryan

No county was more strategically located during the American Revolution than Ulster. Among the oldest counties in the state, during the colonial period Ulster extended south from Kingston to Newburgh and west to the current Pennsylvania border. Ulster, threatened by the Iroquois and Kingston, was raided by the British, but no sustained effort was made to occupy the county, an event that might have doomed the cause of liberty.

A lifelong public relations counselor, Phil Ryan is a 29-year resident of Stone Ridge. He is an adjunct professor in the Media and Communication Dept. at The City College of New York. Between 2003 and 2008 he served as President of the Ulster County Historical Society.