Portal:Hudson Valley/Selected article
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New York State Route 308 (NY 308) is a 6.19 miles (9.96 km) long state highway located entirely in northern Dutchess County, New York. It serves mainly as a shortcut for traffic from the two main north-south routes in the area, US 9 and its alternative route NY 9G, to get to NY 199 and the Taconic State Parkway. A portion of NY 308 is located along the Rhinebeck Village Historic District, a 1,670 acre (6.7 km²) historic district containing 272 historical structures. The highway also passes the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, several historical landmarks, and the Landsman Kill River. Modern-NY 308 was originally part of the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike which was chartered in 1802 and extended from the west line of the Town of Salisbury in the State of Connecticut to the Susquehanna River at or near the Town of Jericho (now Bainbridge). Route 308 was designated as part of the 1930 renumbering and originally extended from Milan, westward to Rhinecliff. The route was truncated to US 9 in the 1960s. The highway was also to be part of the then-new Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge until plans were changed to involve other routes, and the building site for the bridge was moved about 3 mi (4.8 km) northward.
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The Hunter Mountain Fire Tower is located on the summit of the eponymous mountain, second highest of the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. It was the first of 23 fire lookout towers built by the state in the region, and the next-to-last of the five still standing to be abandoned. Today it remains a popular attraction for hikers climbing the mountain. After it fell into disrepair in the 1990s and was recommended for removal by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which had operated the tower, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Local enthusiasts were able to raise money, matched by DEC, to restore the tower and adjacent observer's cabin to serve as a museum, with volunteers in the cab on some weekends.
Panoramic views of not only the mountains but the adjacent Hudson Valley, Massachusetts, Connecticut and sometimes southwestern Vermont are available from it. Likewise, it can be seen from many of the surrounding mountains, the village of Hunter and the upper slopes of the ski area. It is the highest fire tower still standing in the state and the second-highest in the entire Northeast.
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Mount Tremper, officially known as Tremper Mountain and originally called Timothyberg, is one of the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. It is located near the hamlet of Phoenicia, in the valley of Esopus Creek.
At 2,740 feet (840 m) in elevation, it is well below the higher peaks of the region. Its slopes were a source of two major local products during the 19th century: hemlock bark, a source of tannin, and bluestone used in construction. Later it was the site of Tremper House, one of the Catskills' earliest railroad resorts. Henry Ward Beecher and Oscar Wilde were among the guests there.
In the 20th century it was acquired by the state and became part of the Catskill Park Forest Preserve. Its location in the Esopus Valley between the northern and southern Catskills made it an ideal place for a fire lookout tower, which still stands on the mountain's summit. The Mount Tremper Fire Observation Station has been restored and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hikers often follow the old road to it from Phoenicia, also a section of the Long Path long-distance trail, to enjoy the views from the tower.
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Oakwood Cemetery is a nonsectarian rural cemetery in northeastern Troy, New York, United States. It operates under the direction of the Troy Cemetery Association, a non-profit board of directors that deals strictly with the operation of the cemetery. It was established in 1848 in response to the growing rural cemetery movement in New England and went into service in 1850. The cemetery was designed by architect John C. Sidney and underwent its greatest development in the late 19th century under superintendent John Boetcher, who incorporated rare foliage and a clear landscape design strategy. Oakwood was the fourth rural cemetery opened in New York and its governing body was the first rural cemetery association created in the state.
It features four man-made lakes, two residential structures, a chapel, a crematorium, 24 mausolea, and about 60,000 graves, and has about 29 miles (47 km) of roads. It is known for its dense foliage and rolling lawns, and has historically been used as a public park by Lansingburgh and Troy residents. Oakwood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Prominent Americans such as Uncle Sam Wilson, Russell Sage, and Emma Willard, at least fourteen members of the United States House of Representatives, and the founders of both Troy and Lansingburgh are buried at Oakwood. The cemetery has been said to be "one of New York State's most distinguished and well-preserved nineteenth-century rural cemeteries." It also offers a famous panoramic view of the Hudson River Valley that is said to be the "most concentrated and complete overview of American history anywhere in America".
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New York State Route 22 is a north–south state highway in New York paralleling the eastern edge of the state, from the outskirts of New York City to the Canadian border. At almost 341 miles (549 km) in total length, it is the longest north-south route in the state and currently the third longest overall, after NY 5 and NY 17. Many of the state's major east-west roads intersect with Route 22 just before crossing the state line into the neighboring New England states. With the exception of its southern end, in the heavily-populated Bronx and lower Westchester County, as well as in the city of Plattsburgh near the northern end, almost all of Route 22 is a two-lane rural road that passes only through small villages and hamlets. The rural landscape off the road varies from horse country and views of the large reservoirs of the New York City watershed in the northern suburbs of city, to dairy farms further upstate in the hilly Taconics and Berkshires, to the undeveloped, heavily forested Adirondack Park along the shores of Lake Champlain. An 86-mile (138 km) section from Fort Ann to Keeseville is part of the All-American Road known as the Lakes to Locks Passage.
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Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. At roughly 150 miles (240 km) north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. The city had an estimated population of 93,539 in 2008 and the population of the greater metropolitan area was estimated at 857,592 in 2009. Albany is the oldest continuously chartered city in the United States. The city was founded by the Dutch in 1614, but taken over by the English in 1664, at which time it received its current name in honor of the Duke of Albany. Albany was chartered as a city in 1686 and was one of the top ten most populous cities in the nation until 1860; it became the state capital in 1797. The city played an important role in advancements in transportation during the 19th century. Albany saw the longest tenure of any US city mayor with Erastus Corning 2nd. The city's current economy is based mainly in higher education, government, health care, and an emerging high-tech sector. Albany is a two-time winner of the All-America City Award (1991 and 2009).
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The Dutch Reformed Church is one of the most prominent architectural landmarks in Newburgh, New York. It was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis in 1835 in the Greek Revival style common in America in that time period. It is his only surviving church in that style and is considered to be his latest building still standing that largely reflects his original vision. It is located at 132 Grand Street, just north of the Newburgh Free Library. Its historical importance comes from not just over a century of use as church, but its centrality in the struggle by modern preservationists to save and restore the city's many landmark buildings. Today it is a National Historic Landmark. It was almost razed in the late 1960s, and even today is far from completely restored. The church is 50 feet (15 m) wide and high, and 100 feet (30.5 m) long. The four front Ionic order columns are 37 feet (12 m) high (the capitals have been removed for safety considerations at the moment). It sits on a bluff 250 feet (76 m) above the Hudson River, a few blocks away. The southward orientation of the columns and facade, the direction in which most shipping approached the city, was meant to echo the similar marine outreach of the Parthenon or the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion in Greece. While the church had the neighborhood of Grand Avenue and Third Street to itself at the time of its construction, today it has become rather crowded.
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The Saratoga Campaign was an attempt by Great Britain to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. The primary thrust of the campaign was made by an army of 8,000 men under the command of John Burgoyne from Quebec that moved up Lake Champlain and down the Hudson to Saratoga, New York, where the bulk of the army was forced to surrender after the climactic Battles of Saratoga in September and October.
Burgoyne's effort was unsuccessfully supported by Colonel Barry St. Leger's attempt to move on Albany, New York through the Mohawk River valley. His expedition was forced to retreat after losing Indian support in the siege of Fort Stanwix. A third supporting expedition expected by General Burgoyne never materialized (apparently due to miscommunication on that year's campaign goals) when General William Howe sent his army to take Philadelphia rather than sending a portion of it up the Hudson River from New York City. A late effort to support Burgoyne from New York was made by Sir Henry Clinton in early October, but it did not significantly affect the outcome. The American victory was an enormous morale boost to the fledgling nation, and it convinced France to enter the conflict in support of the United States, openly providing money, soldiers, and naval support, as well as a wider theater of war.
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The Esopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River that drains the east central Catskill Mountains of the U.S. state of New York. From its source at Winnisook Lake on the slopes of Slide Mountain, the Catskills' highest peak, it flows across Ulster County to the Hudson at Saugerties. Many tributaries extend its watershed into neighboring Greene County and a small portion of Delaware County. Midway along its length, it is impounded at Olive Bridge to create Ashokan Reservoir, the first of several built in the Catskills as part of New York City's water supply system. Its own flow is supplemented 13 miles (21 km) above the reservoir by the Shandaken Tunnel, which carries water from the city's Schoharie Reservoir into the creek.
The Esopus's role in the state and regional economy has led to a concentrated effort to protect and manage it, particularly on the upper stretch. The interests of the various stakeholders have not always converged, particularly where it concerns the city's management of its water needs. Turbidity created by discharges from the Shandaken Tunnel after a 1996 flood led to a successful lawsuit against the city and a state regulation; downstream of the reservoir the city has been criticized for contributing to flooding problems by releasing too much water during heavy rainstorms. Boaters and anglers have also clashed, and invasive species are beginning to enter the upper creek as well.
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The Barryville–Shohola Bridge is the latest of a series of bridges spanning the Delaware River between the communities of Shohola Township, Pennsylvania and Barryville, New York. The bridge serves both communities, with two major state legislative highways, Pennsylvania Traffic Route 434 and New York State Touring Route 55 (along with the co-designation of Sullivan County Route 11).
The area under the bridge was a ford for Native Americans, mostly the Lenni Lenapi, traveling between from the Wyoming valley and Delaware Valley and present-day Connecticut in the early 18th century; archaeologists date human habitation and use of the area to 10,900 BCE. The river at Shohola, which means "place of peace," widens perceptibly above the falls, allowing for a natural, shallow crossing. By the early 19th century, a ferry facilitated crossing the river. Due to the construction of the nearby Delaware and Hudson Canal in 1827, commerce and business boomed in the area. The current version of the bridge was opened in 2007.
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New York State Route 32 is a north–south state highway that extends for 176.73 miles (284.42 km) through the Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a surface road for its entire length, with no divided or limited-access sections. For much of its route it is closely parallel to Interstate 87 and US 9W, overlapping with the latter in several places. NY 32 begins at NY 17 near Harriman, and ends at NY 196 north of Hudson Falls. In between, the road passes through the cities of Newburgh, Kingston, Albany and Glens Falls. Outside of the cities, it offers views of the Hudson Highlands, Shawangunk Ridge, Catskill Mountains, and, during an overlap with US 4 north of Albany, the Hudson River. The roads now making up the highway were originally part of several privately-maintained turnpikes, which enhanced the growth of settlements along the corridor. Once part of the former NY 58, it has been NY 32 since 1930. It has had three suffixed spur routes, only one of which remains.
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The Central Troy Historic District is an irregularly-shaped 96-acre (39 ha) area of downtown Troy, New York, United States. It contains nearly 700 properties in a variety of architectural styles from the early 19th- to mid-20th centuries. In 1986 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), superseding five smaller historic districts that had been listed on the Register in the early 1970s. Most of the buildings, structures and objects within the district contribute to its historic character. Two of Troy's three National Historic Landmarks, the Gurley Building and Troy Savings Bank, are located within its boundaries. Nine other buildings are listed on the Register in their own right. Among the architects represented are Alexander Jackson Davis, George B. Post, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Clarke Withers. There are many buildings by regionally-significant Marcus F. Cummings. The downtown street plan was borrowed from Philadelphia, and one neighborhood, Washington Square, was influenced by London's squares of its era.
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The July 2006 Westchester County tornado was an F2 tornado that touched down in Rockland County, New York on July 12, 2006. It traveled 13 miles (21 km) into southwestern Connecticut during a 33-minute span through two states. The tornado touched down at 3:30 p.m. EDT (19:30 UTC) on the shore of the Hudson River before becoming a waterspout and traveling 3 mi (5 km) across the river. Coming ashore, the tornado entered Westchester County and struck the town of Sleepy Hollow at F1 intensity. After passing through the town, it intensified into an F2 tornado and grew to almost a quarter mile (400 m) in diameter, making it both the strongest and largest tornado in the county's history. The tornado continued through the county, causing damage to numerous structures, until it crossed into Connecticut at 4:01 p.m. EDT (20:01 UTC). Not long after entering the state, it dissipated near the town of Greenwich at 4:03 p.m. EDT (20:03 UTC). When the tornado entered Westchester County, it was the eighth known tornado to either touch down or enter the county since 1950.
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Springside was the estate of Matthew Vassar in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It is located on Academy Street just off US 9. Detailed plans for a landscape and complex of farm buildings were drawn up by the influential Andrew Jackson Downing prior to his death. The landscaping was completed and remains Downing's only surviving work, but only a few of the buildings were ever built and most have since been lost to fire and structural failure. A cottage where Vassar resided, Downing's only known surviving building, had to be dismantled and removed in the mid-1970s. Its facade is on display in the New York State Museum. Downing's landscape has survived several serious efforts to redevelop the property in the last half-century due to opposition from local preservationists. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1969, but the estate was not permanently protected for almost two decades, when a lawsuit was settled with the transfer of the land to its current owners, Springside Landscape Restoration.
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The Kingston Stockade District is an eight-block area in the western section of Kingston, New York, United States, commonly referred to as Uptown Kingston. It is the original site of the mid-17th century Dutch settlement of Wiltwyck, which was later renamed Kingston when it passed to English control.
It is the only one of three original Dutch settlements in New York surrounded by stockades where the outline of the stockade is still evident due to the raised ground. Within the area are many historic buildings from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, including the original Ulster County courthouse, the Senate House where the state of New York was established in 1777, and the Old Dutch Church designed by Minard Lafever, a National Historic Landmark. Some survived the burning of Kingston by British forces during the Revolutionary War. The intersection of Crown and John streets has Colonial-era Dutch stone houses on all four corners, the only intersection in the country where this is so.
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Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson, is an affluent suburban village in the Town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, 20 miles (32 km) north of midtown Manhattan in New York City and is served by a station stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line. To the north of Irvington is the village of Tarrytown, to the south the village of Dobbs Ferry, and to the east unincorporated parts of Greenburgh, including East Irvington. Irvington includes within its boundaries the community of Ardsley-on-Hudson, which has its own zip code and Metro-North station, but which should not be confused with the nearby village of Ardsley, New York.
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The Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery was an American Revolutionary War battle fought in the highlands of the Hudson River valley, not far from West Point, on October 6, 1777. British forces under the command of General Sir Henry Clinton captured Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery, and then dismantled the Hudson River Chain. The purpose of the attack was to create a diversion to draw American troops from the army of General Horatio Gates, whose army was opposing British General John Burgoyne's attempt to gain control of the Hudson.
The forts were garrisoned by about 600 Continental Army troops under the command of two brothers, General (and Governor of New York) George Clinton, and General James Clinton, while General Israel Putnam led additional troops at nearby Peekskill, New York. Using a series of feints, Sir Henry fooled Putnam into withdrawing most of his troops to the east, and then he landed over 2,000 troops on the west side of the Hudson to assault the two forts. After several hours of hiking through the hilly terrain, Sir Henry divided his troops to stage simultaneous assaults on the two forts. Although the approach to Fort Montgomery was contested by a company armed with a small field piece, they attacked the two forts at nearly the same time and captured them after a relatively short battle. More than half the defenders were killed, wounded, or captured. The British followed up this success with raids as far north as Kingston before being recalled to New York City. The action came too late to be of any assistance to Burgoyne, who surrendered his army on October 17. The only notable consequences of the action were the casualties suffered and the British destruction of the two forts on their departure.
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Black Rock Forest is a 3,830-acre (1,550 ha) privately owned nature preserve in the western Hudson Highlands region of the U.S. state of New York. It is in Orange County, mostly in the town of Cornwall, with the southern fringe overlapping into the neighboring town of Highlands. It is managed for educational, recreational and scientific purposes by The Black Rock Forest Consortium, a group of similarly-oriented organizations.
First established by a local resident in 1928, the forest was the property of Harvard University until 1989. The consortium has invested heavily in facilities to not only improve its research and educational missions but promote sustainability, erecting several green buildings in the middle of the forest with guest facilities, classrooms and laboratories. Its educational facilities are used by groups at every level, from the primary elementary grades to college undergraduates. Over 400 papers have been published from research done in the forest.
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Fishkill Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At 38 miles (61 km)[1] it is the longest stream in the county. It rises in the town of Union Vale and flowing generally southwest to a small estuary just south of Beacon. Part of its 193-square-mile (500 km2) watershed is in Putnam County to the south. Sprout Creek, the county's third-longest creek is its most significant tributary. and Whaley and Sylvan lakes and Beacon Reservoir, its largest, deepest and highest lakes, are among the bodies of water within it.
While the creek is not impounded for use in any local water supply, it remains a focus of regional conservation efforts as a recreational and aesthetic resource, especially since the lower Fishkill watershed has been extensively developed in the last two decades. It flows through several local parks and is a popular trout stream. Industries and mills along it helped spur the settlement of the region.
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New York State Route 311 (NY 311) is a state highway located entirely within Putnam County, New York, United States. The highway begins at New York State Route 52 in Lake Carmel, and intersects Interstate 84 shortly thereafter. It crosses NY 164 and NY 292 as it heads into the northeastern part of the county, finally curving east to reach its northern terminus at NY 22 just south of the Dutchess County line. The route passes several historical sites. Part of modern-day Route 311 was originally the Philipstown Turnpike, a road built in 1815 to overcome a lack of transportation when the Hudson River froze during the winter months. The turnpike was a large business center for the county, though it was abandoned due to insufficient tolls to maintain it. Another section was constructed in the early 1900s, from the Patterson Baptist Church near the modern-day intersection of Route 311 and Route 164 to the Village of Patterson, by a group of Italian immigrants. In the 1930 renumbering, the segment of former NY 39 east of West Patterson was renumbered to NY 311. In the late 1930s, NY 52 was realigned to its current alignment between Stormville and Lake Carmel.
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New York State Route 343 (also known as NY 343) is a state highway located entirely within central Dutchess County, in the Hudson Valley region of the U.S. state of New York. It runs east–west from the intersection of NY 82 in the village of Millbrook to the Connecticut state line in the town of Amenia, where it continues eastward briefly as Connecticut Route 343. Along the way, it has a 7.3-mile (11.7 km) concurrency with NY 22 from vicinity of the hamlet of Dover Plains to the hamlet of Amenia.
The entirety of modern Route 343 was originally the Dover branch of the Dutchess Turnpike. The turnpike, which was in operation from the early to the mid-nineteenth century, was a major transportation route at the time, connecting several local communities to Litchfield County, Connecticut, and the city of Poughkeepsie. NY 343 was designated in 1930, connecting the hamlet of Amenia to the state line, but was relocated a few years later onto the portion of New York State Route 200 from South Millbrook to the hamlet of Dover Plains. The NY 200 designation was then transferred to NY 343's original alignment.
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The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail is a 23.7-mile (38.1 km) rail trail and linear park that runs along the former Wallkill Valley Railroad rail corridor, from Gardiner through New Paltz to Rosendale. The addition of an 11.5-mile (18.5 km) section in 2009 effectively doubled the length of the trail from 12.2 miles (19.6 km) to 23.7 miles (38.1 km), extending it north from Rosendale through Ulster to Kingston.
There are several former rail bridges along the trail, notably the Rosendale trestle, a 940-foot (290 m) bridge that can be considered the "most awesome part" of the former Wallkill Valley Railroad. The trail passes by several historic sites, such as Huguenot Street in New Paltz, and the Binnewater Historic District and Snyder Estate in Rosendale. It crosses both the Wallkill River and Rondout Creek, as well as U.S. Route 44 (concurrent with State Route 55), and state routes 299 and 213. The Shawangunk Ridge is visible from clearings along the trail.
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The Hudson Valley Rail Trail is a paved 4-mile (6.4 km) east–west rail trail in the town of Lloyd in Ulster County, New York, stretching from the Poughkeepsie Bridge through the hamlet of Highland. Operated by a variety of railroads, the rail corridor formed the western portion of the Poughkeepsie Bridge Route. It eventually became part of Conrail, which discontinued rail traffic along the corridor and sold it in 1984 to a convicted felon. The land was seized by Ulster County in 1991 and converted to a trail by 1997. The trail was extended east to the Poughkeepsie Bridge in 2010. It intersects U.S. Route 9W and U.S. Route 44 (concurrent with State Route 55). To the west, the trail passes through a wetlands complex and is being extended to New Paltz, where it will border State Route 299.
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The Walden–Wallkill Rail Trail is a 3.22-mile (5.18 km) rail trail between the village of Walden in the town of Montgomery and the hamlet of Wallkill in the town of Shawangunk. Montgomery and Shawangunk are located in Orange and Ulster counties, respectively.
The trail, like the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail to the north, is part of the former Wallkill Valley Railroad's rail corridor. The land was purchased by the towns of Montgomery and Shawangunk in 1985 and converted to a public trail. The portion of the trail in Shawangunk was formally opened in 1993 and named after former town supervisor Jesse McHugh. Plans to pave the trail between Walden and Wallkill were discussed since 2001, and the route was finally paved between 2008 and 2009. The trail also includes an unofficial, unimproved section to the north of Wallkill, and is bounded by NY 52 and NY 208.
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The Rosendale trestle is a 940-foot (290 m) continuous truss bridge and former railroad trestle in Rosendale Village, a hamlet in the town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York. Originally constructed by the Wallkill Valley Railroad to continue its rail line from New Paltz to Kingston, the bridge rises 150 feet (46 m) above Rondout Creek, spanning both Route 213 and the former Delaware and Hudson Canal. Construction on the trestle began in late 1870, and continued until early 1872. When it opened to rail traffic on April 6, 1872, the Rosendale trestle was the highest span bridge in the United States.
The trestle was rebuilt in 1895 by the King Bridge Company to address public concerns regarding its stability, and it has been repeatedly reinforced throughout its existence. Concern over the sturdiness of the trestle has persisted since its opening, and was a major reason Conrail closed the Wallkill Valley rail line in 1977. After the rail line's closure, Conrail sold the bridge in 1986 for one dollar to a private businessman who tried unsuccessfully to operate the trestle as a bungee jumping platform in the 1990s. A similar attempt was made the following decade. The trestle was seized by the county in 2009 for tax nonpayment, and is being renovated as a pedestrian walkway for the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail.
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La Stazione is a restaurant and former train station in the village of New Paltz in Ulster County, New York. After a lengthy public debate over whether to place New Paltz's Wallkill Valley Railroad station to the east or west of the Wallkill River, the station was built in 1870 on the east bank, within the village. The station was robbed in 1880 by four men who were immediately arrested and brought back to the depot, where they were sent to jail by way of the railroad. The station burned down in 1907 and was rebuilt later that year. Passenger service along the line ceased in 1937, and by 1958 the station was completely closed and sold off. The building was in such a state of disrepair by the 1980s that it was almost demolished. It was renovated in 1988 and used as a real estate office. In 1999 it became an Italian restaurant, and served as the setting for a scene in a 2008 mob film. It was the first of two railroad stations constructed in the town of New Paltz, and is the only former Wallkill Valley station standing at its original location.
Portal:Hudson Valley/Selected article/27 The 1989 Northeastern United States tornado outbreak was a series of tornadoes which caused more than $130 million (1989 USD) in damage across the Northeastern United States on July 10, 1989. The storm system affected five states with severe weather, including hail up to 2+1⁄2 inches (6.4 cm) across, thunderstorm winds up to 90 mph (140 km/h; 78 kn), and 17 tornadoes. Several towns in New York and Connecticut were particularly hard-hit. Several homes were leveled in Greenville, New York and extensive damage occurred in Bantam, Connecticut. A large section of Hamden, Connecticut, including an industrial park and hundreds of homes, was completely destroyed; in some places buildings were flattened to the ground.
More than 150 people were injured by the tornado outbreak, and one person was killed by thunderstorm winds. While tornado outbreaks in this area are unusual, this storm was especially rare in that it produced six significant tornadoes, two of which were violent F4s, and featured many tornadoes with tracks of several miles.
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The Sloatsburg Metro-North station serves the residents of Sloatsburg, New York, via Port Jervis Line commuter trains to New York City via Hoboken, 35.4 miles (57.0 km) away, and Secaucus Junction. The estimated travel time to Hoboken Terminal is about 50 minutes on express trains. It is the least-developed station anywhere on the Metro-North system to receive regular daily service. It is located just south of a grade crossing and consists of short concrete platforms, and a shelter. There is limited parking available nearby.
Construction of the Sloatsburg station dates back to the 1830s, when the station was built along the Erie Railroad. The station served the line heading to Port Jervis northward, along with a stagecoach to Greenwood Lake three times a day. The station was populated by fishermen on their way to the lake, but has been the site of several accidents. These calamities include a derailed milk train in 1843 and a fatal accident between the train line and several mules and their owner in 1855. The station became part of Metro-North in 1983, when the service was created. The station was listed under a revitalization plan in 2005 to help serve its commuters.
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U.S. Route 44 in the state of New York is a major east–west thoroughfare in the Hudson Valley region of the state. Its entire 65.98-mile (106.18 km) length is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation, with the exception of the Mid-Hudson Bridge, which is maintained by the New York State Bridge Authority. The portion of the route in New York begins at an intersection with US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) near the hamlet of Kerhonkson and ends at the Connecticut state line near the village of Millerton. The road passes through rural parts of Ulster and Dutchess Counties before crossing into Litchfield County, Connecticut.
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The effects of Hurricane Isabel in New York and New England were relatively minor and primarily limited to wind damage. Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6, 2003, in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm waters it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 165 mph (266 km/h; 143 kn) on September 11. After fluctuating in intensity for four days, Isabel gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 105 mph (169 km/h; 91 kn) on September 18. It quickly weakened over land and became extratropical over western Pennsylvania the next day. Falling trees from moderate winds downed power lines across the region, causing sporadic power outages. Two people died as a result of the hurricane, both due to the rough surf from Isabel.
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The Port of Albany–Rensselaer, widely known as the Port of Albany, is a port of entry with facilities on both sides of the Hudson River in Albany and Rensselaer, New York. Private and public port facilities have existed in both cities since the 17th century; shipping increased after the Albany Basin and Erie Canal were built with public funds in 1825. The port's modern name didn't come into widespread use until 1925; the current port was constructed in 1932 under the governorship of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The port has rail connections with the Albany Port Railroad, and is near several interstates and the New York State Canal System. The port features several tourist attractions, such as the USS Slater (DE-766), the only destroyer escort still afloat in the United States.
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The United States Military Academy at West Point (also known as USMA, West Point, or Army) is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. Established in 1802, USMA is the oldest of the United States's five service academies. The military garrison at West Point was occupied in 1778 and played a key role in the Revolutionary War. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City.
The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus's neogothic buildings are constructed from gray and black granite. The campus is a popular tourist destination complete with a large visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army. It was the first American college to have class rings, and its technical curriculum was a model for later engineering schools. USMA's alumni and students are collectively referred to as "The Long Gray Line" and include two Presidents of the United States, numerous famous generals, and seventy-four Medal of Honor recipients.
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New York State Route 28 (NY 28) is a state highway extending for 281.69 miles (453.34 km) in the shape of a "C" between the Hudson Valley city of Kingston and southern Warren County in the U.S. state of New York. Along the way, it intersects several major routes, including Interstate 88 (I-88), U.S. Route 20 (US 20), and the New York State Thruway twice. The southern terminus of NY 28 is at NY 32 in Kingston and the northern terminus is US 9 in Warrensburg. In Kingston, NY 28 is co-designated as Interstate 587 from its southern terminus at NY 32 to the roundabout linking it to the Thruway (I-87).
NY 28 was originally assigned in 1924 to an alignment extending from Colliersville in the south to Utica in the north via Ilion. From Colliersville to Cooperstown, the highway followed its current routing (excluding minor realignments); north of Cooperstown, NY 28 was routed along several state highways that now have other designations. The route was extended south to Kingston and north to Warrensburg as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. At the same time, Route 28 was realigned between Cooperstown and Mohawk to follow its modern routing. Other than minor realignments in Kingston, Oneonta, and Oneida County, NY 28 has remained the same to this day.
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New York State Route 9A (NY 9A) is a state highway in the vicinity of New York City, New York, United States. Its southern terminus is at the northern end of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in New York City, where it intersects with both Interstate 478 and FDR Drive. The northern terminus of NY 9A is at U.S. Route 9 in Peekskill. It is predominantly an alternate route of US 9 between New York City and Peekskill; however, in New York City, it is a major route of its own as it runs along the West Side Highway and Henry Hudson Parkway. In Westchester County, NY 9A follows the Briarcliff–Peekskill Parkway.
The origins of NY 9A date back to the 1920s when an alternate route of then-NY 6 from Yonkers to Tarrytown was designated as New York State Route 6A. NY 6 was redesignated as US 9 in 1927; however, NY 6A was not renumbered to NY 9A until the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. NY 9A was extended south into New York City in 1934 and north to Ossining in the late 1930s. In 1933, the Briarcliff–Peekskill Parkway opened as New York State Route 404. All of NY 404 was incorporated into an extended NY 9A in the late 1940s. NY 9A was extended northward to Peekskill in 1967 following the completion of the Croton Expressway and southward to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel between 1985 and 1995.
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New York State Route 45 (NY 45) is a north–south state highway in central Rockland County, New York, United States. It spans 8.60 miles (13.84 km) from the village of Chestnut Ridge at the New Jersey – New York border, where it becomes County Route 73 in Bergen County, New Jersey, to U.S. Route 202 in the town of Haverstraw. Though an interchange does exist between NY 45 and the Palisades Interstate Parkway, the route has no access to the New York State Thruway.
NY 45 was originally designated as New York State Route 305 as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. It was renumbered to New York State Route 94 in the early 1940s before becoming NY 45 in the late 1940s.
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New York State Route 59 (NY 59) is an east–west state highway in southern Rockland County, New York, in the United States. The route extends for 14.08 miles (22.66 km) from NY 17 in Hillburn to U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) in Nyack. In Suffern, it has a concurrency with US 202 for 0.05 miles (0.08 km). NY 59 runs parallel to the New York State Thruway its entire route. The routing of NY 59 became a state highway in 1911 and was signed as NY 59 in the late 1920s.
When NY 59 was first assigned, it began at NY 17 in Suffern. A western bypass of Suffern was designated as New York State Route 339 ca. 1932; however, it became part of a realigned NY 17 in the mid-1930s. NY 339 was reassigned to NY 17's former routing between Hillburn and Suffern, but it was replaced again ca. 1937 by an extended NY 59. In the 1960s, proposals surfaced for the Spring Valley Bypass, a highway that would utilize the NY 59 corridor between NY 306 in Monsey and NY 45 in Spring Valley. The proposed highway was cancelled as a result of local opposition.
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New York State Route 146 (NY 146) is a state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. It extends for 43 miles (69 km) from Gallupville at NY 443 to near Mechanicville at US 4 and NY 32. NY 146 is a major thoroughfare in the city of Schenectady, just outside of Albany. Most of the route follows an east–west alignment; however, the middle third of the route between Guilderland and Clifton Park runs in a more north–south manner in order to serve Schenectady. At one time, NY 146 had three spur routes; only one – NY 146A – still exists.
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New York State Route 164 (NY 164) is a short state highway located entirely in the town of Patterson in northeastern Putnam County, New York, United States. It is a short, two-lane back road that does not pass through any major populated areas and serves primarily as a connector between NY 311 and NY 22. NY 164 also allows for faster passage from Interstate 84 to the Putnam Lake area via NY 311. The route was originally designated as NY 312 during the 1930s and later became part of NY 216. It was established on January 1, 1970, following the truncation of NY 216 to its current eastern terminus.
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The Red Hill Fire Observation Station consists of a fire lookout tower, cabin and pit privy located on the summit of Red Hill, a 2,990-foot (910 m) Catskill Mountain peak in Denning, New York, United States. It is the southernmost fire tower in the Catskill Park.
One of the last state towers built, in 1920, it filled a missing link in the Catskills' forest fire detection network. Except for a few brief periods of closure, observers working for the state conservation agencies manned the tower through 1990, making it the last fire tower closed in the Catskills. The abandoned tower and its views of the region remained a popular destination for local hikers, and it was slated to be torn down in accordance with state policy prohibiting nonessential structures on Forest Preserve land. Preservationists and forest historians campaigned to save and restore it and four other Catskill fire towers, and in the early 21st century they were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Red Hill's observer's cabin, included as part of the listing, is one of the oldest such buildings in New York.
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The 2009 special election for the 20th congressional district of New York was held on March 31, 2009 to fill the vacancy created in January 2009 when the district's representative, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, was appointed US senator from New York, replacing Hillary Clinton, who had been appointed Secretary of State in the Obama administration. The two major-party candidates were Democrat Scott Murphy, a private businessman, and Republican Jim Tedisco, the minority leader of the New York State Assembly. A third-party candidate, Libertarian Eric Sundwall, was initially included in the race, but later removed from the ballot.
Major issues brought up during the campaign were the candidates' positions on President Obama's stimulus plan, which Tedisco did not take a stance on until late in the race. Murphy supported it while Tedisco eventually opposed it. Tedisco portrayed Murphy's support of the plan as a potential cause of the AIG bonus scandal. Tedisco's campaign also brought up Murphy's failure to pay taxes on a company he founded in the 1990s. A frequent Murphy talking point was that Tedisco's primary residence was not in the Congressional district.
The race was so close that one early vote count had the candidates tied at 77,225 votes each. Absentee ballots decided the election; ballots were accepted until April 13. While Tedisco had been ahead in early counts, by April 10 Murphy was leading, and by April 23 Murphy had a 401-vote advantage. Tedisco conceded the race the following day, and Murphy was sworn in on April 29. Democratic electoral successes in November 2008 and Murphy's clear support of the stimulus package were credited for his success.
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The Dongan Charter is the 1686 document incorporating Albany, New York as a city. Albany's charter was issued by Governor Thomas Dongan of the Province of New York, a few months after Governor Dongan issued a similarly worded, but less detailed charter for the city of New York. The city of Albany was created three years after Albany County. The charter is the oldest existing city charter still in force in the United States and possibly in all the Western Hemisphere. In 1936 the United States Congress commemorated the charter's 250th anniversary by minting a half dollar coin.
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The New York State Thruway is a system of limited-access highways located within the state of New York in the United States. The system, known officially as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway for former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority and comprises 569 miles (916 km) of highway. The tolled mainline of the Thruway extends for 496 miles (798 km) from the New York City line at Yonkers to the Pennsylvania state line at Ripley by way of Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo. The Thruway is the fifth busiest toll road in the United States.
A tolled highway connecting the major cities of New York was first proposed as early as the 1940s. The first section of the Thruway, between Utica and Rochester, opened on June 24, 1954. The remainder of the mainline and many of its spurs connecting to highways in other states and provinces were built in the 1950s. When the Interstate Highway System was created in 1957, much of the Thruway system was included as portions of Interstate 87 (I-87), I-90, and I-95. Other segments became part of I-190 and I-287 shortly afterward. Today, the system comprises six highways: the New York – Ripley mainline, the Berkshire Connector, the Garden State Parkway Connector, the New England Thruway (I-95), the Niagara Thruway (I-190), and the Cross Westchester Expressway (I-287). The portion of I-84 in New York was part of the Thruway system from 1991 to 2010.
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The Albany Pine Bush, referred to locally as the Pine Bush, is one of the largest inland pine barrens in the world, and is centrally located in New York's Capital District within Albany and Schenectady counties, between the cities of Albany and Schenectady. The Pine Bush was formed thousands of years ago, following the drainage of Glacial Lake Albany.
The Albany Pine Bush has been a historical, cultural, and environmental asset to the Capital District and Hudson Valley regions of New York. Pioneers moving west passed through the pine barrens, which later became the site of the first passenger railroad in the United States. The Pine Bush is also home to the Karner Blue butterfly, an endangered species first identified by Vladimir Nabokov in 1944 using a type specimen from the Pine Bush.
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The December 1969 nor'easter was an intense winter nor'easter that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States between December 25 and December 28, 1969. A high-end Category 3 or low-end Category 4 on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, the storm developed over Texas by December 25 and advanced eastward. On reaching the Eastern Seaboard, it intensified and turned northeastward, accelerating toward New England. There, the worst of the storm was felt on December 26 and 27. The low peaked in severity with a minimum barometric pressure of 976 millibars (28.8 inHg) as it began pulling away from New England. The slow movement of the cyclone led to extremely heavy snowfall totals throughout the interior Northeastern United States, reaching 40 inches (100 cm) in localized areas, although an influx of warmer air turned the precipitation to rain near the coast.
Due to a number of factors, including the high water content of the snow, pre-existing snowpack, and equipment failures, the storm proved difficult to recover from in Upstate New York and Vermont. Depths exceeding 1 ft (0.30 m) were reported as far south as Washington, D.C.. Drifts up to 30 ft (9.1 m) high blocked roadways, and at least 20 deaths were blamed on the nor'easter. In the hardest-hit areas, snow removal on roadways was severely delayed, isolating some communities. Following the storm, strong winds impeded cleanup efforts, and flooding became an issue near the coast as a result of excessive rainfall and ice jams.
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Rosendale Village is a hamlet and census-designated place within the town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York, United States. It was originally settled in the late 17th century, but did not become a major population center until the 1825 discovery of Rosendale cement in the region. The development of the cement industry, and the growth of the Delaware and Hudson Canal along the Rondout Creek as a means of transporting goods through the region, caused Rosendale to develop economically. The Wallkill Valley Railroad reached the village in 1871, and constructed the Rosendale trestle over the canal and creek. In 1895, the village was almost destroyed by a fire. Throughout the 20th century, the decline of the natural cement industry caused Rosendale to suffer economically, and to lose population. By the 1970s, the village was having severe problems with its municipal utilities and its tax code, and was no longer producing cement. In 1977 it chose to disincorporate to solve its issues, and as an exercise in conceptual art. The hamlet currently hosts many street festivals; its population is roughly 1,500 people.
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Joppenbergh Mountain is a nearly 500-foot (150 m) mountain in Rosendale Village in Ulster County, New York. It was named after Rosendale's founder, Jacob Rutsen, and mined throughout the late 19th century for dolostone that was used for the manufacture of natural cement. There was a large cave-in on December 19, 1899, that destroyed mining equipment and collapsed shafts within the mountain. Though it was feared that several workers had been killed, the collapse happened during lunch, and all the miners were outside, eating. Since the collapse, the mountain has experienced shaking and periodic rockfalls.
During the late 1930s, Joppenbergh became the site of several ski jumping competitions, which continued until the early 1940s. The mountain's slope was coated with borax in July 1937 for a summer tournament. Skiing stopped until the 1960s, when a new slope was built, and competitions were held until 1971. The town leased a tract of land near the mountain in 2004 to build a municipal parking lot. Joppenbergh, the municipal parking lot, and an adjoining park were put up for sale in 2009. In March 2011, the Open Space Institute offered to purchase the entire 117-acre (47 ha) property and sell it to the town. Rosendale's town board initially agreed to the deal, but a review of the town's expenses determined that the money budgeted for the purchase had already been spent.
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The Rosendale Theatre is a three-story, 300-seat movie theater and performance venue in Rosendale Village, New York. The building was originally a casino built in 1905, and began showing films in the 1920s. By the 1930s, a stage had been installed for live vaudeville and burlesque acts. A private individual, Anthony Cacchio Sr., rented the building in 1949 and converted it into a movie theater, which he owned outright by the mid-1950s. In its early years, the Theatre showed about 300 different movies each year, making it unpopular with film distributors. Denied easy access to first run films, the Theatre turned to independent movies and art films, and eventually began exhibiting live performances. Cacchio's entire family helped him run the Theatre.
After more than 60 years of continuous operation, the Cacchio family decided to sell the Theatre. Rather than sell to real estate developers, the Cacchios preferred to transfer the property to the Rosendale Theatre Collective, a nonprofit formed for the sole purpose of buying and preserving the Theatre. The group spent months raising funds for a down payment on the building, with the bulk of its money coming from small individual donations, though a large grant was provided by PepsiCo after a successful social networking campaign for the April 2010 Pepsi Refresh Project. The Theatre Collective assumed ownership in August 2010. Since its purchase, the Theatre has had several equipment upgrades, including a move to digital cinema.
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- ^ "Fishkill Creek Information". Dutchess Watersheds. 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2010.