Woodstock Site Added to the National Register

The summer of 1969. What a great summer it was for those attending the original Woodstock. As for me, it was also a summer of rock.

I was 14 in 1969. When I mention it was a summer of rock, I mean spending the summer in the backyard of my family's new home raking up rocks. The plot of land my dad and mom purchased was basically a quarry. The construction crews left a field of rocks for us to turn into a grassy lawn.

The only way that was going to happen, was raking up rocks into several long lines (each about 3 feet wide and 50 feet long.) It took about 3 summers to rake up the rocks, shovel them into a wheelbarrow to be dumped at the edge of the property and then start all over again.

Anyway, the actual reason for this article is to recognize the 1969 Woodstock Festival just recently being added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. There will be some additions to the site according to the press release from Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, including "The colorful sign that marked the entrance to the woods during the festival will be reproduced, as will the famous, hand-painted directional signs that proclaimed the “High Way,” “Groovy Way,” and “Gentle Path” in the woods."

More changes will be made to honor the original Woodstock at Bethel Woods. I'm excited to see all these projects when completed.

via Bethel Woods Center for the Arts