The Stockade National District is commonly referred to as Uptown Kingston and it is the original site of the Dutch Settlement of Wiltwyck. In 1658, Director General Peter Stuyvesant ordered the residents of Esopus and the surrounding area to move their homes to a defensible location and surround it with palisades, or a stockade. This order was made to prevent attacks from the local Native Americans. The order itself is the oldest record in the Ulster County Archives!

The stockade was expanded in 1661, 1670, and 1677. The Persen House was built in 1661 within the southern border of the first expansion. The current day Stockade District incorporates all of the area within the final stockade in 1677.