Stockade District, Kingston, Ulster County

This fading ghost sign in the Stockade District of Kingston offers a testament to the businesses of yesteryear. It advertised the business of Standard Furniture, which operated out of the BSP building on Wall Street for many years. Standard Furniture was founded in 1901 by Abraham I. Feinberg, who started by selling home furnishings door to door. By 1907, with an established loyal following, Feinberg has opened his first store located in Albany. The Kingston store, the company’s second branch, opened in 1939. Standard Furniture was once one of the top ranking furniture organizations in the country.

The BSP (Backstage Studio Productions) building, where Standard Furniture once operated, was constructed in the late 1800s, first operating as Cohen’s Vaudeville Theater. The building “originally served as a vaudeville and movie house for Kingston residents and tourists who came up the Hudson River by ferry. The building has gone through a number of changes, but its historical features and ornaments remain largely intact, including the awe-inspiring proscenium arch which still bears the marking “RKT” (Reade’s Kingston Theatre) at its crest.” By 1918 the building was home to Keeney’s Theater, and in 1926 it was sold again to the Walter Reade movie chain, which expanded the space to 2,500 seats and renamed it the Kingston Theater. During the 1960s, Reade sold all of its theaters, with sales contracts stating that the buildings could not be used as any sort of entertainment venue for 10 years. The building became a Standard Furniture show room until the 1980's and was then abandoned until 2001. Today the BSP building serves as home to a dance venue and concert theater for a range of performers and musicians.