The Hudson Valley is built on layers–layers of stone, of labor, of community, and of stories. For generations, immigrants have helped shape this region. From the shores of the Hudson River to the rugged hills beyond, they found work in the industries that powered New York’s growth and carved out new lives in the process.

Some toiled in dusty brick yards or harvested ice from frozen rivers. Others laid rails, steered canal boats, or stitched garments in bustling factories. Whether they came from Eastern Europe, Ireland, Italy, Latin America, or elsewhere, these workers carried knowledge, resilience, and traditions that left their mark on the land and on the communities we live in today.

The construction of the Delaware & Hudson Canal in the early 19th century transformed Kingston’s Rondout area from a quiet riverside village into a booming port. Much of this transformation was made possible by immigrant labor, primarily Irish workers who arrived in large numbers during and after the Great Famine. They undertook the backbreaking work of digging the canal by hand, carving 108 miles of waterway to transport coal from Pennsylvania to the Hudson River.

Beyond construction, canal maintenance and lock-tending became steady sources of employment for immigrants and their families. Communities grew up around canal hubs like Kingston’s Rondout neighborhood, where jobs on the canal attracted people from Ireland, Germany, and Poland. These laborers laid the groundwork for industrial expansion throughout the Hudson Valley.

Once the canal brought goods to Rondout, they needed vessels to carry them down the Hudson. That’s where the boatyards came in. The waterfront was soon bustling with shipbuilding operations, and once again, immigrants were at the heart of it all. Italian, German, and Eastern European craftsmen brought their skills to the area’s shipyards.

Boatyards employed carpenters, caulkers, metalworkers, and laborers who constructed barges and tugboats critical to the Hudson’s commercial traffic. Businesses like the Cornell Steamboat Company flourished during this time, with immigrants forming the backbone of their workforce. These workers not only kept the maritime economy afloat, they shaped the character of the area’s waterfront neighborhoods, turning them into a thriving industrial hub.

The expansion of railroads in the Hudson Valley depended heavily on immigrant labor. Irish workers were among the first to lay tracks across the rugged terrain. They were followed by Italian and Eastern European immigrants who joined the growing railroad labor force in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Kingston’s Ulster & Delaware Railroad and other regional lines created year-round jobs for immigrants who worked as track layers, brakemen, switchmen, and freight handlers. These jobs were difficult and dangerous, but they offered a foothold into American life and, over time, a pathway to upward mobility.

Railroads didn’t just move people and products, they connected immigrant communities to broader economic opportunities and helped knit together the towns and industries of the Hudson Valley.

Thanks to an abundance of high-quality clay along the riverbanks, the Hudson Valley became one of the most prolific brick-producing regions in the country throughout the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Brick yards in places like Haverstraw, Roseton, and Kingston flourished–and they relied on the hands of immigrants.

Workers from Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Eastern Europe performed the grueling work of digging clay, molding bricks, and firing kilns. Brickyard labor was heavy and often dangerous. Many workers lived in company housing and endured difficult conditions, but the job offered steady pay and brought generations of immigrant families into the region.

Some workers organized strikes and labor actions to demand better treatment, showing that immigrants didn’t just participate in industry, they shaped its labor politics, too.

Before electric refrigeration, ice harvesting was essential to keeping food fresh and beverages cool. Every winter, the Hudson River and its tributaries froze thick enough to be cut into massive ice blocks and stored in insulated warehouses to be shipped to cities along the East Coast.

Irish and Scandinavian immigrants were heavily represented in this seasonal industry. Using saws, picks, and tongs, they worked in freezing temperatures to cut, lift, and transport tons of ice with horses and sleds. The work was dangerous and physically intense, yet it provided crucial winter income for many families.

River towns like Kingston and Saugerties played a central role in the Hudson Valley’s ice trade. While the industry eventually disappeared with the rise of modern refrigeration, its legacy endures in the stories of the immigrants who made their living on frozen water.

From the earliest Dutch and German settlers to 20th-century migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, immigrants have always been essential to farming in the Hudson Valley. The region’s fertile soil made it ideal for growing crops that required intensive, hands-on labor.

In the 19th century, German and Irish immigrants established family farms across Ulster, Dutchess, and Orange Counties. Italian farmers followed, many of whom started as seasonal laborers before purchasing land of their own. In more recent decades, migrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico have kept the region’s agricultural economy alive, especially in apple orchards and dairy farms.

Whether owning farms or picking fruit, immigrants have continuously sustained the Hudson Valley’s agricultural landscape, often with little recognition despite their essential role.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, textile mills in towns like Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, and Wappingers Falls offered steady work to immigrant laborers, especially women. Factories hummed with the rhythm of sewing machines and spinning looms, powered by the labor of Irish, Polish, Italian, and Jewish workers.

Immigrant women sewed shirts, uniforms, and undergarments in cramped, noisy conditions for low wages, while men tended machinery or worked in dye houses. In Kingston, small-scale garment production also took place in homes or shops, a continuation of Old World skills brought to America.

The work was hard and repetitive, but it offered economic freedom and a sense of community. Immigrant laborers organized strikes and sewing unions, asserting their place not only in the industry, but in the growing labor movement of the region.

Learn more about the Hudson Valley’s textile and garment industries by exploring our Sewing in Kingston digital exhibition!

Hidden in the hills and cliffs of the Hudson Valley is a story of immigrant labor deep in the earth. In Rosendale, the natural cement industry took off in the 19th century, supplying the material that built bridges, aqueducts, and buildings across New York and beyond.

Quarrying this "Rosendale cement" was dirty and dangerous work, primarily done by Irish, Welsh, and Italian workers. They hauled stone from pits, worked in underground kilns, and endured blasts and cave-ins. Quarrying also supported local bluestone and trap rock industries, which paved city sidewalks and railroad beds.

These immigrants helped build not only the literal infrastructure of the country, but also a tradition of skilled, generational labor passed down through communities that settled in places like High Falls, Rosendale, and Kingston.

While the Catskills and Hudson Valley were marketed as playgrounds for vacationing city dwellers, immigrants did the work that made rest and relaxation possible. In the early 20th century, the Borscht Belt and surrounding resort regions employed waves of immigrants, especially Eastern European Jews, Italians, and later Caribbean and Eastern European newcomers.

These workers cooked meals, cleaned rooms, repaired buildings, and entertained guests at hotels, boarding houses, and summer camps. Some became entrepreneurs themselves, opening small inns and restaurants that catered to specific immigrant communities.

The hospitality industry offered flexible, often seasonal employment, serving as a key stepping stone for many immigrants as they built new lives in the reigion. While the resort era has faded, the cultural and economic legacy of immigrant workers remains deeply woven into the region’s identity.

Learn more about the Borscht Belt in our Q&A with author and photographer Marisa Scheinfeld.