From the Vanderbilts of Hyde Park to Jay Gould’s purchase of Tarrytown’s Lyndhurst estate and the vast land holdings of E. H. Harriman in Orange County, the Hudson Valley was home to many of the Gilded Age’s most illustrious, and infamous, titans of industry. Though their empires were not always centered in New York, the glamorous estates of these nineteenth-century moguls offer glimpses into a rich era of the past that binds the nation with the Hudson Valley.

Join Hudson Valley author, historian, musician, and preservationist Alex Prizgintas as he shares the stories of “riverside moguls” from the Hudson Valley and the transformation of their estates through time. Part one of this program, titled “Rise of Steel Rails,” focuses on five figures from the growth of American railroads.

About the speaker: A graduate of Marist College with degrees in Hudson River Valley history and public administration, Alex Prizgintas has published articles in the Hudson River Valley Review, New York Archives Magazine, and Orange County Historical Society Journal on topics that include Hudson River railroad history, Orange County’s dairy farming history, and the region’s early settlers. He is the town historian for Woodbury, NY, and president of Orange County’s Woodbury Historical Society.