Over the main entrance to the Friends of Historic Kingston Museum is a gold-painted eagle that, with outspread wings, silently welcomes each visitor. Sometimes seen along the Hudson River, the bald eagle on which our eagle is based is presently endangered but said to be recovering as a species. As America's national symbol, the bald eagle has a long history in this country's decorative arts. Our own eagle is a replica of the eagle that once surmounted the pilot house of the "Pocahontas," a tugboat of the Cornell Steamboat Company.

Fred Johnston, the Kingston antique dealer, acquired the eagle from Cornell Steamboat when it went out of business. Each year, when he returned from his annual vacation, Fred announced his return by remounting the eagle (which he named "Pocahontas") above the entrance to his American antiques. Now above the entrance to the FHK Museum (Fred bequeathed the building to us), "Pocahontas" remains on display except in the winter months and during repainting.