Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know

Did you know?

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/1

... that a coffee roasting plant has been built among the dairy farms historically located in the Coleman Station Historic District (landscape pictured) near Millerton, New York?
... that Sprout Creek, whose subwatershed covers 29,342 acres (11,874 ha) of land, is the largest tributary of the Fishkill Creek?
... that Charles Scribner II's country house in Cornwall, New York, combined a Shingle Style exterior with a Colonial Revival interior?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/2

... that the Kingston, New York, zoning code forbids new construction in the Stockade District to higher than 62 feet (19 m), the height of the base of the steeple of the Old Dutch Church (pictured)?
... that the Tobias Van Steenburgh House was one of the few buildings in Kingston, New York, not burned by British troops in 1777?
... that despite most of its interments later being moved to larger rural cemeteries, Sharp Burial Ground in Kingston, New York, still has the graves of two former U.S. Congressmen?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/3

... that Moodna Creek (pictured), a tributary of the Hudson, was originally known as "Murderers' Creek" after a family was massacred on its banks?
... that Orange County Community College in Middletown, New York, held its first classes in the Webb Horton House's garage?
... that the Kirkland Hotel in Kingston, New York, is a rare surviving example of a wood-frame urban hotel?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/4

... that Danskammer Generating Station (pictured) was among the top ten releasers of pollutants by weight in New York, releasing 560 tonnes of hazardous emissions, in 2000?
... that the main house at Brykill Farms in Gardiner, New York, was expanded in a similar style and material 200 years after the first section was built?
... that the Peekskill, New York, post office includes neoclassical arched windows in its Colonial Revival design?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/5

... that the Hart-Cluett Mansion (pictured) in Troy, New York, is the only intact example of the luxury homes commonly built in early–19th century New York City?
... that Henry Dudley uncharacteristically used brick instead of stone for St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Hoosick Falls, New York?
... that the Hoosick Falls Armory is now one of only two still operated by the New York National Guard in the Capital District?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/6

... that the original meetinghouse used by New York's Walden United Methodist Church was moved and bricked over to serve as the Sunday school wing when the current church (pictured) was built in 1893?
... that the Scotia, New York, post office was one of the last to be built in the state under Depression-era relief programs?
... that the Abraham Glen House, now the Scotia branch of the Schenectady County, New York, public library, is a rare surviving Dutch Colonial heavy timber frame house in the Capital District?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/7

... that the Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack (pictured) is the oldest institutional building in Columbia County, New York?
... that the original land deed requires that a jail cell from the original Dutchess County courthouse be preserved in the current building?
... that the Elisha Williams House is different from other Federal style houses in Hudson, New York, because Williams came to Hudson from Connecticut instead of Massachusetts?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/8

... that Old Southeast Church (pictured), north of Brewster, New York, is the oldest house of worship in Putnam County?
... that the Walter Brewster House is the only Greek Revival home with a two-story colonnade in Putnam County, New York?
... that the Great Swamp in Putnam and Dutchess County, New York is one of the largest wetlands in the state?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/9

... that archaeological excavations near the Andries DuBois House (pictured) in Wallkill, New York, found evidence that it was built half a century later than previously believed?
... that all of Beekman Park in Amenia, New York, was once the site of a freshwater lake?
... that Madeleine L'Engle ran writers' workshops and retreats every January at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/10

... that the Church of Shawangunk (pictured), in Ulster County, New York, is the oldest continuously-used building in the Reformed Church of America?
... that musicians have recorded in the Widow Jane Mine at the Snyder Estate Natural Cement Historic District in Rosendale, New York because of the acoustics?
... that B&H Photo Video in New York City employs so many Satmar Hasidim, there is daily bus service to the store from Kiryas Joel, a Satmar enclave in Orange County, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/11

... that the Delaware and Hudson Canal (pictured) was the first American business with a million-dollar market capitalization?
... that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally intervened to make sure the new post office in Ellenville, New York was built of stone instead of brick after residents complained to him via telegram?
... that the Walter Hand House, in Cornwall, New York, was built in 1870 to serve as both a farmhouse and a tourist boarding house?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/12

... that in 2009 the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail (pictured), a public walkway in upstate New York, nearly doubled in length?
... that the Rosendale trestle, once the highest span bridge in the United States, was sold in 1986 for one dollar?
... that La Stazione, a restaurant and former train station in New Paltz, New York, burned down in 1907, killing the station agent's dog?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/13

... that Balsam Lake Mountain (pictured) in the Catskills was the site of the first fire lookout tower in New York State?
... that when New Paltz's Elting Memorial Library caught a possible ghost on its security camera, the YouTube video received more views than the village has residents?
... that a helicopter once crashed on Interstate 84 in New York, stopping traffic and causing a power outage?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/14

... that the Hudson Valley Rail Trail (pictured), once owned by a felonious charlatan, is patrolled by a police officer riding a Segway?
... that after the New York Central Railroad ended service to it, the Milton Railroad Station in Milton, New York, was used by a local winery for tastings?
... that cleaning up Quassaick Creek convinced Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make environmental law his lifelong work?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/15

... that water from Tin Brook (pictured) was diverted to create the first canal in New York history?
... that the Northeastern United States was struck by a major tornado outbreak on July 10, 1989?
... that The Homestead, one of the oldest buildings in Haverstraw, New York, has been home to a state legislator and congressman, the county sheriff and the local school superintendent?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/16

... that the Shandaken Tunnel reaches its 2,215-foot (675 m) maximum depth below the surface at Deep Notch (pictured) in Lexington, New York?
... that the Dubois-Sarles Octagon in Marlboro, New York, has a recessed entrance and sidehall interior plan, both unusual in mid-19th century octagon houses?
... that serial killer Nathaniel White claimed his first murder was inspired by a scene in RoboCop 2?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/17

... that the historic district in Warwick, New York (downtown pictured) reflects the village's development from a stop on a colonial road to an early 20th-century summer resort town?
... that a New York appeals court recently ruled that Sneha Anne Philip died in the collapse of the World Trade Center even though she had been missing since the night before the attack?
... that the citizens of Carmel, New York, felt that "Shaw's Pond" was too modest a name for a local body of water, so they appointed a committee that renamed it Lake Gleneida?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/18

... that at the age of 74, Robert Sterling Yard (pictured) became a founding member and the first president of The Wilderness Society?
... that Orange County Route 9 in New York is, by itself, longer than five of the county's state highways?
... that the trees that gave Maple Lawn, a Frederick Clarke Withers–designed house in Balmville, New York, its name were later destroyed in a hurricane?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/19

... that the former Farmer's and Manufacturer's Bank (pictured) is the only commercial Greek Revival building in Poughkeepsie?
... that the village of Montgomery, New York, was originally named Ward's Bridge?
... that the Survival of the Shawangunks is a Hudson Valley triathlon which requires competitors to carry their running shoes as they swim?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/20

... that according to legend, George Washington personally stopped an angry mob from burning St. Philip's Church in the Highlands (pictured)?
... that since 2002, New York's Middletown High School has seen the district superintendent convicted of sexual abuse, had one principal resign and another suspended, had two student walkouts and was ordered to reinstate a teacher?
... that Colonel Johnston de Peyster raised the first U.S. flag over Virginia's Capitol Building since the state's secession in 1861?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/21

... that Black Rock Forest (pictured) gets its name from visible magnetite deposits in it?
... that the town of Kent, New York, dealt with an excess Canada goose population around Lake Carmel by rounding them up while they were molting and distributing the meat to the poor?
... that the Troy, New York post office has been in ten different places since it was first established in 1796?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/22

... that the Mid-Delaware Bridge (pictured) over the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New York is the uppermost four-lane bridge on the river's main stem?
... that after his Major League Baseball career, Baseball Hall of Famer Dan Brouthers once led the Hudson River League in batting average at the age of 46?
... that the Wallkill River is one of the few rivers that drains into a creek, because it is impounded just before the confluence?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/23

... that St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (pictured) in Brewster, New York, had to be rebuilt months after it was finished due to a fire?
... that among the dead interred at the Calvert Vaux-designed Hillside Cemetery in Middletown, New York, are three Civil War Medal of Honor recipients?
... that the Somers Hamlet Historic District in Westchester County, New York includes the Elephant Hotel, considered the birthplace of the American circus?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/24

... that South Beacon Mountain, the highest point in the Fishkill Creek (pictured) drainage basin, is located just above its estuary?
... that the Catskill Escarpment is the only clearly defined boundary of the Catskill Mountains?
... that it took the U.S. government seven years to design, then two additional years to build, the Hoosick Falls, New York, post office after it acquired the land?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/25

... that the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel (map at right) is a proposed underwater tunnel for rail transport of freight between central New Jersey and southern New York City, United States?
... that Stephen van Rensselaer III is considered the tenth richest American in history because of his ownership of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck during the 19th century, which he inherited at the age of five?
... that the Major Jacob Hasbrouck Jr. House in New Paltz, New York, is the last 18th-century stone house in the area still owned by the same family that built it?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/26

... that Bridge L-158 (pictured) in Goldens Bridge, New York, the only extant double-intersection Whipple truss railroad bridge in the state, was moved there from Kingston 20 years after it was built?
... that after two previous buildings burned down, the Town of Southeast, New York, built its 1896 town hall of less flammable material?
... that the Map of Rensselaerswyck shows that Kiliaen van Rensselaer originally named areas around the upper Hudson River, near Fort Orange, after the women in his life?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/27

... that marks remain on the Sloat House (pictured) in Sloatsburg, New York, from the accidental shooting death of John D. Sloat's father, who became the first burial in Old Sloatsburg Cemetery?
... that the former Checkerboard Inn in Monroe, New York, got its name because an early owner supposedly painted it in a checkerboard pattern to attract travelers?
... that the Village Diner in Red Hook was the first diner in New York to be listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/28

... that the Bull Stone House property (pictured) in New York, is home to the only surviving New World Dutch barn?
... that the construction of the Storm King Highway took 22 miles (35 km) off the drive between Newburgh and West Point, New York, two cities only 10 miles (16 km) apart?
... that the Vassar Home for Aged Men, in Poughkeepsie, New York, could not operate at full capacity until Matthew Vassar's wife died and left it the money to do so?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/29

... that as the architect of the St. Luke's Episcopal Church (pictured) in Beacon, New York, Frederick Clarke Withers designed everything down to the altar cloth?
... that the Vassar Institute in Poughkeepsie, New York, now used for a local arts center, is on the former site of a brewery?
... that John Watts de Peyster prevented the Tivoli, New York, village board from meeting in the firehouse he had built for them, because of a tax dispute?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/30

... that the Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store (pictured) in Poughkeepsie once claimed it had 2 miles (3.2 km) of counter space?
... that before restoring ferry service across the Hudson River between Newburgh and Beacon, NY Waterway had to strengthen the boat's hull so it could withstand river ice?
... that the fire tower on Hunter Mountain in the Catskills is the highest in New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/31

... that the Astor Home for Children (pictured) in Rhinebeck, New York, was one of the first psychiatric facilities for children accredited by the Joint Commission?
... that the Amrita Club is one of only two brick Colonial Revival buildings in Poughkeepsie, New York?
... that the funerary art on the gravestones at Gilead Cemetery in Carmel, New York, illustrates changes in Protestant views of the role of death in the later 18th century?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/32

... that Matthew Vassar's Springside estate (pictured), Andrew Jackson Downing's only extant work, has been a proposed site for a cemetery, high school and condominiums?
... that the historic district in the Village of Monroe includes the factory where Velveeta was first made and the oldest Masonic lodge in New York state?
... that the Red Hill fire tower was the last in the Catskills to be closed down?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/33

... that New York's Olana State Historic Site (pictured) was named "Olana" by artist Frederic Edwin Church after he read about Olana, an ancient treasury in Artaxata, Armenia, overlooking the Araxes River?
... that, in 1767, Union Street first connected Poughkeepsie, New York, to the Hudson River?
... that Sylvan Lake is the deepest in Dutchess County, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/34

... that the Dunning House (pictured) in Wawayanda, New York, has features from several different 19th-century architectural styles?
... that hikers can take a commuter train from Grand Central Terminal in New York City to two request stops near trailheads in Hudson Highlands State Park?
... that Robert Parker Parrott's last home, Plumbush, outside Cold Spring, New York, is now a bed and breakfast?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/35

... that All Saints' Chapel (pictured), now a public library in Rosendale, New York, is faced in locally-produced Rosendale cement?
... that between its 1960 closing and its current use as a museum, District School No. 14 in Pine Hill, New York, was a coat factory and a furniture repair shop?
... that the Kingston–Port Ewen Suspension Bridge opened in 1921 to complete U.S. Route 9W, was built in part by a female welder?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/36

... that Culver Randel manufactured pianos at his mill (pictured) in Florida, New York?
... that the recent ice storm in the Northeastern United States was the worst in over a decade, resulting in at least four deaths and more than a million utility customers left without power?
... that the Ulster cherry is named after Ulster County, New York, a region where sweet cherries are produced commercially?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/37

... that the hunting lodge at Bykenhulle (pictured) in East Fishkill, New York, can be entered only by turning a carved liquor bottle on the door to "pour" into a nearby shot glass, revealing a peephole?
... that Richard Upjohn's Gothic alterations to the Mandeville House, the oldest in Garrison, New York, were removed by a later owner?
... that the landmark libel case People v. Croswell was tried at the First Columbia County Courthouse in Claverack, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/38

... that Kingston City Hall (pictured) was built on the former boundary between Kingston and Rondout, New York, to unify the two villages when they merged into one city?
... that five historic districts in downtown Troy, New York were merged in 1986 to create the Central Troy Historic District?
... that St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Troy, New York, was originally built as a replica of a Church in New Haven, Connecticut?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/39

... that the farmhouse (pictured) at Lynfeld in Washington, New York, is built in a rough "C" shape, an unusual configuration for an Italianate-style building?
... that Sloat's Dam is the only remaining intact dam on the Rockland County stretch of the Ramapo River?
... that the first steeple of the Old Dutch Church in Kingston, New York, collapsed a year after it was built because slate roofing was substituted for the tin in Minard Lafever's design?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/40

... that St. James Episcopal Church in Hyde Park, New York held Sunday services for nearly 100 years in its chapel (pictured) during wintertime because it was too difficult to heat the main church building?
... that the Rushmore Memorial Library in Highland Mills, New York, takes its name from Charles E. Rushmore, the same man Mount Rushmore is named for?
... that Benedict Arnold learned about the capture of his fellow-conspirator John André while living on Sugarloaf Hill, from which he then fled?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/41

... that when he transferred his house (pictured) near Millerton, New York, to his sons, Thomas N. Wheeler required that they allow their older sister to live there for the rest of her life?
... that two of the residents of the Richard Upjohn-designed James and Mary Forsyth House in Kingston, New York, left it after being accused of financial wrongdoing?
... that the 18th-century James "Squire" Patton House in New Windsor, New York, is now a training facility for the city of Newburgh police K-9 unit?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/42

... that Oscar Wilde praised the location of a resort hotel at the foot, rather than the summit, of the Catskills' Mount Tremper (pictured) because it provided better views?
... that the South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, New York, is the only known work of architect Julius Munckowitz, despite his later career with New York City's parks?
... that William Shay, a ragman in New Hamburg, New York, built a duplex and warehouse/stable that were unusually ornamented for their time and region?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/43

... that The Birches (pictured) in Garrison, New York, was known as the Honeymoon House because both of William Osborn's sons lived there after their weddings?
... that the first three residents of the John Kane House were a man nearly hanged for treason, a Patriot turned British Loyalist, and George Washington?
... that the Tabor-Wing House in Dover Plains, New York, has an unusual amount of exterior ornamentation for a Federal style rural home?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/44

... that Jasper Cropsey may have helped design the Jacob Sloat House (pictured) in Sloatsburg, New York, which combines the Greek Revival and Picturesque architectural styles?
... that Indian Rock Schoolhouse is the only one of twelve 19th-century one-room schoolhouses remaining intact in Amenia, New York?
... that the distinctive rustic porch trim of the Fish and Fur Club in Nelsonville, New York, which earned it a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, has since been replaced?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/45

... that Old Albany Post Road (pictured) in Philipstown, New York, is one of the oldest dirt roads still in use in the United States?
... that it has been difficult to establish when the Oliver Barrett House near Millerton, New York, was built since there are no records of it until 14 years after its likely construction date?
... that the four rooms on the first floor of Hiddenhurst outside Millerton, New York, are decorated in different architectural styles?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/46

... that Ellenville Middle School (pictured) abandoned an experiment with single-sex classes after the school failed to meet No Child Left Behind Act standards?
... that 1050 AM ESPN Radio in New York City was launched by American politician Rob Astorino?
... that wood paneling from the ruins of Colden Mansion in Montgomery, New York is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/47

... that the renovation of Gardiner, New York's Town Hall (pictured) was criticized because it destroyed a historic outhouse?
... that the construction of the John T. Loughran Bridge in Kingston, New York, led to the creation of the Rondout–West Strand Historic District?
... that the Greasestock festival in New York showcases green technologies, such as vegetable-powered vehicles, solar vehicles, and organic farming exhibits?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/48

... that the unusual batten-plank structural system of frame houses in the Trapps Mountain Hamlet (remaining cellar pictured) on New York's Shawangunk Ridge suggests Lenape architectural influence?
... that as New York's General Counsel, Michael C. Finnegan ended a century-old debate over New York City's water supply when he brokered the New York City Watershed Agreement?
... that I. M. Pei's IBM Somers Office Complex has been described as a "futuristic fortress" as a result of its unique modernist architecture?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/49

... that Zion Memorial Chapel (pictured) in New Hamburg, New York, represents a late stage of Gothic Revival architecture in American churches?
... that the double balcony of Proctor's Theater in Troy, New York, made it ideal for showing motion pictures when that medium became popular in the 1920s?
... that the former General Foods Corporate Headquarters in Rye Brook, New York, have been described as an "Aztec Temple"?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/50

... that the 1835 Greek Revival Cannon Building (pictured) in Troy, New York was rebuilt with a mansard roof after several fires in the 1870s?
... that the largest derrick in New York State at the time was used to build the Broadway Theatre in Kingston?
... that the former library of Kingston, New York, has been used as the offices for the janitors at the neighboring high school?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/51

... that even though Kaaterskill High Peak (pictured) was the first Catskill High Peak to be climbed, there is no official trail to its summit?
... that the Bain Commercial Building is the only intact Second Empire–style building in Wappingers Falls, New York?
... that Stony Clove Notch, a pass in the Catskill Mountains, was once so narrow that it could only be traversed by people walking in single file?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/52

... that New York's Panther Mountain (pictured) was the site of a prehistoric meteor crash?
... that artist and hotelier Emile Brunel's studio in Boiceville, New York, is an imitation of a European farmhouse, an unusual style in the Catskills?
... that the Haverstraw King's Daughters Public Library is the oldest chartered public library in Rockland County, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/53

... that three of the 18 holes at the Powelton Club's golf course (pictured) had to be redesigned a year after they were built when the land they were on was condemned to build U.S. Route 9W?
... that the former Smith Tavern in Armonk, New York, has been a militia headquarters, stagecoach stop, post office, parsonage, farmhouse and museum in over 200 years of existence?
... that three different owners of mills at Bloomvale in Pleasant Valley, New York, defaulted on their mortgages and lost the mills to foreclosure?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/54

... that the Catskills' Esopus Creek (pictured, near Shandaken) is one of the most productive trout streams in the Northeast?
... that unlike most other Jewish communities in the Catskills, the congregants of Ulster Heights Synagogue were farmers rather than resort operators?
... that the Hoornbeek Store Complex in Napanoch, New York reflects the transition from the Federal style to Greek Revival in American architecture?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/55

... that the Gomez Mill House (pictured), near Marlboro, New York, is the oldest surviving Jewish American residence?
... that the rooflines of the newest school in the Cornwall Central School District mimic the surrounding hills in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York?
... that the Black Dirt Region of Orange County, New York contains the largest concentration of muck soil in the United States outside of the Florida Everglades?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/56

... that Lake Washington (pictured), the main reservoir for Newburgh, New York, holds enough water to supply the city for a year?
... that the main house of the Thaddeus Hait Farm is built of wood and stone, an unusual combination in a Federal style building?
... that two local Christians stopped by the dedication ceremony for Spring Glen Synagogue's Torah scrolls and presented the congregation with a Bible?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/57

... that Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport manager James G. Howes (pictured) was lampooned using signal flags to direct air traffic from atop the control tower in a Boy Scout uniform?
... that the pygmy hardwood forest on the summit of New York's Graham Mountain is unique in the Catskills?
... that the stones at Nuits in Ardsley-on-Hudson, New York are so finely cut that a penknife cannot fit between them?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/58

... that the 1977 dissolution of Rosendale Village (pictured) in Upstate New York was viewed by its mayor as a work of conceptual art?
... that Locust Grove, Samuel F. B. Morse's home near Poughkeepsie, was the first Hudson Valley estate to be designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark?
... that the Hudson River Historic District is, at 35 square miles (89 km²), the largest Registered Historic District in the contiguous United States?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/59

... that after Moses Collyer built his retirement home (pictured) in Chelsea, New York, he cowrote the definitive history of the sail era in Hudson River navigation?
... that unlike other Dutch Colonial stone houses in the Hudson Valley, the Wynkoop House has no stone with the builder's initials?
... that the Great Swamp in Putnam and Dutchess County, New York is one of the largest wetlands in the state?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/60

... that in 1944, using a type specimen from the Albany Pine Bush, Vladimir Nabokov (author of Lolita) discovered the Karner Blue butterfly (pictured)?
... that the Beaverkill Valley Inn, near Lew Beach, New York, is the only remaining fishing lodge on the upper Beaver Kill from the early days of dry-fly trout fishing in the Catskills?
... that Tarrytown's Foster Memorial AME Zion Church is the oldest continuously-used black church in Westchester County, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/61

... that Moffat Library (pictured) in Washingtonville, New York, was formally opened in 1887 but did not have any books until bookcases were bought a year later?
... that Ted Mack auditioned contestants for the Original Amateur Hour in the 400-seat theatre at Irvington, New York's village hall?
... that the abandoned O & W Railroad Station at Port Ben, New York is so well-preserved that coal remains in its bin more than 50 years after it closed?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/62

... that the Hyde Park Railroad Station (pictured) in Hyde Park, New York was a day away from demolition when it was leased to a local rail historical society?
... that after the First National Bank of Brewster, New York, closed in 1964 the Town of Southeast made the building its new town hall?
... that the Westchester Tornado of July 2006 was the strongest tornado recorded in Westchester County, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/63

... that Washington Irving's church, Christ Episcopal (pictured) in Tarrytown, New York, was one of the first in the U.S. built in the Gothic Revival style?
... that a 12-mile-long railway ride was planned to be built on Dunderberg Mountain in the 19th century, but was never completed?
... that the Orange Mill Historic District between Newburgh and Gardnertown, New York, features the only remaining 19th-century gunpowder mill complex in the state?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/64

... that Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington all visited the Yelverton Inn (pictured) in Chester, New York?
... that due to a lack of freight crossings of the Hudson River, trains must take a 280-mile (450 km) detour, the Selkirk hurdle, to cross into New York City from the south or west?
... that the Hunt Memorial Building in Ellenville, New York, has served as a public library, an appliance store, and several other things?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/65

... that the Dobbs Ferry post office (pictured) has an unusually high level of ornament compared to most Colonial Revival-style post offices in New York City?
... that one common route up New York's Balsam Mountain follows the steepest section of trail in the Catskills?
... that Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, New York, is the resting place of the progenitor of Uncle Sam, Samuel Wilson, financier Russell Sage, and educators Emma Willard and Amos Eaton?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/66

... that the war veterans' memorial (pictured) in Suffern, New York, is built on land where George Washington and Rochambeau camped with the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War?
... that future governor of Mississippi and Mexican–American War general John A. Quitman was born at the parsonage of the Old Stone Church in Rhinebeck, New York?
... that Brace Mountain, the highest peak in Dutchess County, New York, is a popular launch spot for hang gliding and paragliding due to the smooth geography of the area?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/67

... that the lobby of the Suffern, New York post office (pictured), features a relief depicting a semi-naked woman shooting a flaming arrow?
... that Slabsides, John Burroughs' historic log cabin in West Park, New York, is only open to the public two days every year?
... that in 1937, the slopes of Joppenbergh Mountain were coated with borax for a summer ski jumping competition?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/68

... that taxpayers of Palenville, New York argued so bitterly over the costs of Rowena Memorial School (pictured) that some called for it to be demolished?
... that Academy Street was part of Poughkeepsie's first planned neighborhood?
... that the first child of European descent born along the Hudson River was born on Beeren Island near Albany, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/69

... that when Canterbury Presbyterian Church (pictured) closed in 2004, its congregants were absorbed by a nearby church that had split from Canterbury twice in its 178-year history?
... that the Montgomery Worsted Mills, a Registered Historic Place in Montgomery, New York, now earn most of their money by generating hydroelectric power from the nearby Wallkill River, rather than the manufacture of textiles?
... that Poughkeepsie's Market Street Row includes one of the oldest houses in the city?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/70

... that the MasterCard International Global Headquarters building (pictured) was designed by modernist architect I. M. Pei?
... that a jury awarded an alleged robber $20,000 in 1935 for a botched 1931 burglary of the Harriman Erie Railroad station after the cops shot his leg?
... that the East End Historic District in Newburgh, New York, has the most contributing properties of any Registered Historic District in the state?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/71

... that the expansion of the New York Central Railroad isolated Main Street (houses pictured) in New Hamburg, New York while making Stone Street more accessible?
... that The Locusts, an early 19th-century house in New Paltz, New York, has no fireplaces?
... that the main house at the Dakin-Coleman Farm outside Millerton, New York, was at one point legally subdivided between two heirs?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/72

... that Abraham Lincoln's short speech at the Peekskill Freight Depot (pictured) was his only recorded public appearance in Westchester County?
... that one local architectural historian disparaged the combination of two older houses into the current Van Rensselaer Lower Manor House in Claverack, New York, as a "growth"?
... that the Garrison Union Free School in New York traces its origins back to 1793?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/73

... that the wood frame and clapboard in the apexes of the gambrel roof on the Michael Salyer Stone House (pictured) in Orangetown, New York, may reflect Huguenot building traditions?
... that the Reformed Church of Beacon has the only manual-tracker pipe organ in the Hudson Valley?
... that Daniel Chester French was never fully paid for his work on the Washington Irving Memorial in Irvington, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/74

... that the only Egyptian Revival mausoleum to feature both a pyramid and a mastaba (pictured) is found in Newburgh, New York's Old Town Cemetery?
... that the United Church of Christ in Blooming Grove, New York was a Presbyterian congregation until its pastor was tried for heresy?
... that 12,000-year-old Paleo-Indian artifacts, including a rare fluted point, have been found in a quarry near Goshen, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/75

... that U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally oversaw the design of the post office (pictured) in Poughkeepsie, New York?
... that Thompson Pond and nearby Stissing Mountain were inspiration for the New York State Environment exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History?
... that the Bevier House Museum in Marbletown, New York includes the earliest known land grant map for Ulster County?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/76

... that the Edward Salyer House (pictured), one of the few remaining wood frame Dutch Colonial houses in Rockland County, New York, is believed to be the oldest house in Pearl River?
... that novelist Amelia Barr's most successful body of work is called the "Cherry Croft novels", after the summer house where she wrote them?
... that Averill Park Central School District encompasses an area of approximately 120 square miles (310 km²)?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/77

... that New York's New Hempstead Presbyterian Church (current building, pictured) was the first established in the colony west of the Hudson River by a congregation of English descent?
... that the kitchen wing of the Lace House in Canaan, New York, deteriorated so badly during a probate fight over the house that it had to be demolished and rebuilt?
... that the Poughkeepsie Trust Company building has been described as the Hudson Valley's first modern skyscraper despite being only six stories high?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/78

... that the former Lady Washington Hose Company firehouse (pictured) in Poughkeepsie incorporates both Japanese and Gothic Revival elements in its design?
... that the First Presbyterian Church of Chester, New York, has worshipped in three different buildings, all in different locations, in its history?
... that the Esopus Wars led to the creation of the boundaries of Native American lands in 17th century New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/79

... that a local writers' group won a preservation award for renovating the Philipse Manor train station (pictured) in Sleepy Hollow, New York?
... that four days after its building was moved to a new site and rededicated, St. Peter's Church in Spencertown, New York, changed its denomination from Congregationalism to Presbyterianism?
... that the Hasbrouck House is an unusually large Romanesque Revival dwelling for a city the size of Poughkeepsie?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/80

... that one of Albany, New York's former city halls (pictured) was the location of the 1754 Albany Congress, where Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union?
... that 14 of the 16 founding congregants of New York's Peekskill Presbyterian Church were women?
... that Taking Woodstock, Elliot Tiber's memoir about the famed 1969 music festival, was the basis for the Ang Lee film of the same title?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/81

... that Albany, New York, has a life-size sculpture of its coat of arms (pictured) that was sculpted by a local political cartoonist?
... that the Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District in Poughkeepsie, New York, was expanded 15 years after its designation to include two city blocks that had been originally scheduled for demolition?
... that before the construction of North Main Street School, schoolchildren in Spring Valley, New York, were attending classes in the local fire station?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/82

... that the Pullman cars at the former Croton North station (pictured) in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, were never used in the state but are still contributing resources to its National Register listing?
... that Franklin D. Roosevelt threatened Postmaster General James Farley and Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr.'s jobs if they did not make sure a new post office was built in his hometown of Hyde Park?
... that the H. R. Stevens House in New City, New York, shows the convergence of Dutch and English building traditions?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/83

... that Chapel Hill Bible Church (pictured) was moved from midtown Manhattan to a farm in Marlborough, New York, almost 50 years after it was built?
... that hikers can take a commuter train from Grand Central Terminal in New York City to two request stops near trailheads in Hudson Highlands State Park?
... that in 2005 the Pearl River, New York, post office was officially renamed in memory of a local Marine whose remains were returned from Vietnam that year?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/84

... that in the early years of the First Baptist Church of Ossining (pictured), the oldest in the village, masters and slaves had equal status as members of the congregation?
... that a mural in the Spring Valley, New York, post office, called Waiting for the Mail, shows how mail can reach even the most isolated person?
... that both the textile mills and residence of Nathan Wild, a prominent local figure in Columbia County, New York, are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/85

... that Calvary Baptist Church (pictured), the oldest religious building in Ossining, New York, was built with marble quarried by inmates at nearby Sing Sing Prison?
... that the black locust trees planted in 1767 when Cornelius Wynkoop's house was built along Main Street in Stone Ridge, New York, are part of its historic character?
... that Reed Memorial Library is the oldest library building in Putnam County, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/86

... that the 1872 main building (pictured) at the Brandreth Pill Factory in Ossining, New York, was one of the first to have an Otis elevator installed?
... that the crown prince and princess of Denmark and Iceland helped lay the cornerstone for the post office in Rhinebeck, New York?
... that New York Assemblyman Gregory R. Ball proposed a measure offering free education for United States military veterans?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/87

... that the restoration of Lewis Mumford's house (pictured) in Amenia, New York, after his death actually made it more difficult to sell?
... that 73 Mansion St., Poughkeepsie, New York, was architecturally inconsistent with the neighboring Balding Avenue Historic District, so it was later listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places?
... that the Benner House is the sole surviving German-style vernacular home built to a one-room plan in Rhinebeck, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/88

... that New York's Hyde Park Reformed Dutch Church (pictured) secured its original building, a union church, by growing the fastest out of the several denominations that shared it?
... that although the Benjamin Ten Broeck House north of Kingston, New York, was built by Dutch settlers, the layout of one of its additions suggests its residents were Palatine Germans?
... that indoor plumbing was not installed in a former lock tender's cottage on the Delaware and Hudson Canal at High Falls, New York, until the 1960s, over a century after it was built?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/89

...that the O. H. Booth Hose Company (pictured) in Poughkeepsie was named after the fire chief who formed it after a previous company of volunteer firefighters quit because they were jealous of other companies' facilities?
... that in order to end the dispute over jurisdiction of Fort Orange, Pieter Stuyvesant created the village of Beverwijck in 1652, which eventually became the city of Albany, New York?
... that the Patroon Creek was listed in 1993 as one of the top 10 most polluted rivers in New York, and heavy metals such as depleted uranium were found in the creek in 2003?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/90

...that the Poughkeepsie YMCA building (pictured) is the only one in the city using glazed terra cotta?
... that Wood's Monument at West Point was used as a navigational aide for ships passing down the Hudson River?
... that the Terwilliger-Smith Farm in Kerhonkson, New York, has the only extant stand-alone slaughterhouse in Ulster County?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/91

...that since Thomas Jefferson designed his home, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Top Cottage (pictured) has been the only house designed by a U.S. President, although no President has stayed there overnight?
... that several fires and the construction of the Croton Aqueduct shaped the Downtown Ossining Historic District of New York?
... that the Second Baptist Church is the only Greek Revival church remaining in Poughkeepsie, New York?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/92

...that the Dutch Reformed Church (pictured), a Greek Revival building in Newburgh, New York that has been declared a National Historic Landmark, is considered the latest extant work of architect Alexander Jackson Davis that still largely reflects his original vision?
... that Albany architect Marcus T. Reynolds' 1893 thesis, Housing of the Poor in American Cities, is still cited in scholarly work today?
... that the South Woods at Montgomery Place near Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, are the oldest oak forest in the Hudson Valley?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/93

... that the U.S. Treasury Department was opposed to Georgina Klitgaard's mural (pictured) of the nearby Historic Track in the Goshen, New York post office because it considered harness racing an inappropriate subject for public art?
... that Henry Fairfield Osborn almost doubled the size of Castle Rock, his father's Garrison, New York, mansion, to accommodate his family?
... that Highland Cottage, the first concrete house in Westchester County, New York, was nicknamed "Mud House" during its construction?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/94

... that Ward's Castle (pictured), on the state line between Rye Brook, New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, is believed to be the first reinforced concrete building in the United States?
... that the Bergh-Stoutenburgh House, one of only two remaining Dutch Colonial stone houses in Hyde Park, New York, has been converted into a Japanese restaurant?
... that the Peter C. DuBois House in Beacon, New York was reused as a sanatorium for much of the 20th century?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/95

... that the golf course (pictured) around the buildings of the Garrison Grist Mill Historic District in Garrison, New York helps preserve their historic rural character?
... that Harlow Row was named for and designed by a former mayor of Poughkeepsie?
... that the Niagara Engine House building is the only one of six engine company firehouses in Poughkeepsie, New York, still standing?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/96

... that the Rosendale Theatre (pictured) once banned popcorn because the "crackling paper bags disrupted quiet scenes"?
... that when a crowd that had gathered to hear George Washington speak at the Storm-Adriance-Brinckerhoff House in East Fishkill, New York, removed their hats, he told them to put them back on since he was just an ordinary man?
... that the Aaron Copland House in Cortlandt Manor, New York, is the only U.S. National Historic Landmark connected to a classical music figure?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/97

... that New York's Tarrytown Light (pictured) was ultimately located in the Hudson River as sites on land were too expensive?
... that Cornwall Friends Meeting House is the oldest religious building in Cornwall, New York?
... that the Erie Railroad bought the Dodge-Greenleaf House in Otisville, New York for US$5 and sold it two years later for US$1?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/98

... that the land for the Captors' Monument (pictured) at Patriot's Park in Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, New York, was donated by a free African American couple?
... that undefeated Boyd Melson donates all the money he earns in boxing matches to stem cell research?
... that to save money on the construction of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Amenia Union, New York, the congregants brought building materials to the site with their own horse teams?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/99

... that the Bardavon 1870 Opera House in Poughkeepsie is the oldest continuously operating theater in New York State?
... that one of the owners of Woodlawn Farm in Slate Hill, New York used the wild teasel from his fields to card wool at his nearby hat factory?
... that the houses built by Abraham and Adolph Brower in New Hamburg, New York have matching porch columns and front doorways?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/100

... that under the Poughkeepsie plan, Catholic children attended public schools taught by nuns wearing religious habits?
... that the Jug Tavern, possibly the oldest building in Ossining, New York, may not have been a tavern at all, or if it was did not serve liquor legally?
... that industries that have shaped the Hudson, New York, historic district include whaling, antique shops and prostitution?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/101

... that the NYPD has charged four men with attempting to blow up two Bronx synagogues and shoot down military aircraft?
... that the initials of John Hathorn and his wife carved into brick on their house in Warwick, New York show the influence of Germanic building traditions?
... that the Museum at Bethel Woods is devoted mostly to the Woodstock Festival, and located on its site?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/102

... that the film version of Hello, Dolly used Garrison Landing, New York, for scenes set in 1890 Yonkers?
... that preservationists moved the Boscobel mansion 15 miles (24 km) up the Hudson River to save it?
... that Greenville Presbyterian Church was the first non-Dutch church established in New York's Catskill region?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/103

... that St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Walden, New York, was not consecrated for nine years as it took that long to pay off the construction debt?
... that the Staten Island Peace Conference of September 11, 1776, only lasted three hours?
... that in order for the village of Millbrook, New York, to accept the donation of Thorne Memorial School, it had to incorporate?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/104

... that South Liberty Street in Poughkeepsie, New York, was renamed Garfield Place after the assassination of U.S. President James A. Garfield?

Archives

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/105 Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/105

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/106 Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/106

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/107 Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/107

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/108 Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/108

Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/109 Portal:Hudson Valley/Did you know/109