The Orange County Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting on May 19 to officially open its new headquarters in Maybrook.

The chamber moved its headquarters from Goshen to Maybrook’s historic Blake Homestead at 924 Homestead Ave (Route 208) in November.

The John Blake House, likely the oldest house in Maybrook, dates back to the late 18th century. It was part of a larger homestead built by John Blake, a deputy sheriff of Ulster County (which at the time included the present day Town of Montgomery). He would later serve as an Orange County Sheriff when the line was redrawn and then serve 15 terms as Town of Montgomery Supervisor, according to Wikipedia.

As Maybrook grew, the Blake farm was broken up into smaller and smaller parcels, owned by others. The house would undergo renovations in the 1820s and 1840s, the latter adding a kitchen wing to the rear. When the village transformed into a railroad town in the late 19th century, the house was home to workers building the nearby connecting spur off the Erie Railroad main line later used by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The front porch was added sometime in the 20th century.

In 1984 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a well-preserved example of the kind of home built by settlers of English descent in the early years of the Federal style of American architecture.

The festivities, with light fare, music by DJ Paulie and a cash bar will take place between 5 and 8 p.m.