Opus 40

Built in 1939. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. 12 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1892.

From the record

“Opus 40 is a large environmental sculpture in Saugerties, New York, created by sculptor Harvey Fite (1903 - 1976). It comprises a sprawling series of dry-stone ramps, pedestals and platforms covering 6.5 acres (2.6 ha) of a bluestone quarry.”
Wikipedia article Opus 40, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 209 National Register listings published here for Ulster County · listed in 2001 · category: Structure · built in 1939.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Address. Fite Rd., Saugerties, 12477
When was it listed? March 2001
Category. structure
Town. Saugerties town
When was it built? 1939
National Register reference number. 01000238 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

346 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 346 fires within 5 miles of Opus 40 between 1993 and 2020, burning about 331 acres in total. 22 started naturally. 38 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	163
Arson/incendiarism	38
Smoking	36
Debris and open burning	31
Equipment and vehicle use	23
Natural	22
Misuse of fire by a minor	12
Recreation and ceremony	9
Other causes	5
Fireworks	4
Power generation/transmission/distribution	3

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
7 September 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	NA
7 September 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	NA
7 September 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	NA
6 September 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
5 September 2015	Natural	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	NA
5 September 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
22 September 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	N/A
21 September 2017	Recreation and ceremony	2.5 acres	Fire Department of New York	N/A

Every fire recorded in Ulster County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 17 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 17 workings within 5 miles of Opus 40: 12 producers, 5 past producers. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Bloating Material, Flagstone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Mt. Marion	Bloating Material	Producer	Sedimentary
Saugerties Blue Sandstone Quarry	Flagstone	Past Producer
Mount Marion Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Mount Marion Pit and Mill	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Mount Marion Sandstone Quarries	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Mount Marion Sandstone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer	Sedimentary
Saugerties Blue Sandstone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer	Sedimentary
Sawyer Shale Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Ulster Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Duffy's Pit	Clay	Producer

Every working recorded in Ulster County

Storms near this property

29 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Saugerties, the town this property stands in, in 29 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 17 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 2 lightning, 2 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 2003	Lightning	Saugerties	$100,000	no account filed
September 1999	Flash Flood	Saugerties	$100,000	no account filed
September 1993	Tornado (F1)	Saugerties	$50,000	Severe thunderstorms developed behind a cold front as cold air funneled across eastern New York on the afternoon of September 10th. Thunderstorm winds downed trees in St. Johnsville and Halfmoon and large tree limbs in Waterford. In Hebron lightning struck a black locust tree, shattering the tree which broke windows in a nearby house. In Saugerties a small F1 tornado touched down tearing half the roof off a house and uprooting some trees.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$50,000	no account filed
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$30,000	no account filed
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$12,000	no account filed
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$10,000	no account filed
April 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$10,000	no account filed
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$8,000	no account filed
March 2024	Flood	Saugerties	$5,000	Some basement flooding was reported in the town of Saugerties.
August 2018	Flash Flood	Saugerties	$5,000	High water resulted in a vehicle becoming stranded with the motorist trapped inside. The road was closed. No injuries were reported.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$5,000	no account filed
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$5,000	no account filed
September 1993	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$5,000	no account filed
July 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	$4,000	no account filed
August 2020	Flash Flood	Saugerties	-	Market Street was closed due to flooding.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	-	Trees were downed on Lighthouse and Clermont Streets.
August 2020	Flash Flood	Saugerties	-	Bennett Avenue was closed due to flooding.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	-	A large portion of a tree was downed.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	-	A tree was downed.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	-	Trees and power lines were downed in Malden along Main Street, York Street and Fiero Street due to thunderstorm winds.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	-	Trees were downed and on wires on Washington Avenue in the village of Saugerties between Russell Street and Division Street due to thunderstorm winds.
June 2014	Flash Flood	Saugerties	-	Heavy rain from thunderstorms led to flash flooding in Saugerties. U.S. Route 9W and State Route 32 South (Partition Street) were closed, as they were impassable due to high water.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	-	Law enforcement personnel reported that trees and wires were blown down in Saugerties.
July 2005	Flash Flood	Saugerties	-	Road closures due to flooding.
May 2004	Hail	Saugerties	-	Hail observed on Rt 212 between Saugerties and Woodstock.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Saugerties	-	Trees and wires down.
July 2004	Lightning	Saugerties	-	At least one tree struck by lightning. Lightning also struck at least one power line, causing wires to burn.
May 2018	Hail	Saugerties	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ulster County

Maps showing this location

12 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1892 USGS Kaaterskill quadrangle1:62500 - 3 printings
1893 USGS Kaaterskill quadrangle1:62500
1894 USGS Kaaterskill quadrangle1:62500
1899 USGS Kaaterskill quadrangle1:62500 - 2 printings
1903 USGS Kaaterskill quadrangle1:62500 - 10 printings
1945 USGS Woodstock quadrangle1:24000 - 4 printings
1946 USGS Plattekill quadrangle1:24000
1948 USGS Binghamton quadrangle1:250000
1950 USGS Binghamton quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1958 USGS Binghamton quadrangle1:250000
1963 USGS Binghamton quadrangle1:250000
1986 USGS Pepacton Reservoir quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
National Youth Administration Woodstock Resident Work Center	3.2 miles	1992
De Meyer-Burhans-Felten Farm	3.7 miles	2020
Wynkoop House	3.9 miles	1984
Judge Jonathan Hasbrouck House	4.2 miles	2013
Main-Partition Streets Historic District	4.4 miles	1982
Oaterhoudt Stone House	4.5 miles	2001

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 01000238 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Ulster County	All 209 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.