Newburgh: the Cradle of American Speed Skating
Back in the days when people could count on the Hudson River freezing over nearly every year, skating on it was a popular pastime. In Newburgh, people took to it with particular zeal. As early as 1815, hometown skaters like...
Celebrating the Scenic Hudson Decision
When the 6 people who founded Scenic Hudson gathered to protect Storm King Mountain in 1963, they knew they faced an uphill battle. When it came to big industrial projects like the hydroelectric plant Con Edison proposed to build on...
New Life for Old Bridges
In the early 20th century, access to the Hudson River in upper Dutchess and southern Columbia counties was confined largely to those wealthy families whose sprawling estates lined its banks. To reach the shore, and in some cases their mansions, many...
Why the Headless Horseman Lives On
This year marks the 202nd anniversary of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which appeared in Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1820. Many literary authorities consider it our nation’s oldest ghost story. For sure, it’s a Halloween staple....
Remembering the Night Boats
It’s 5 p.m. at a Manhattan pier on the Hudson River. Your carriage is stowed below deck, and your luggage has been delivered to your stateroom. After freshening up in your private bath, you make your way to the grand...
The CCC’s Hudson Valley Legacy
Earlier this year a New York Times op-ed called for the U.S. to dust off one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, the Civilian Conservation Corps, to boost the pandemic economy by creating jobs that benefit the environment. That...
Honoring Sojourner Truth Where She Walked to Freedom
Imagine being enslaved for 29 years — beginning at the moment of your birth.Imagine being subjected to cruelty that permanently scars your body.Imagine having someone renege on his promise to let you be free. This was reality for Ulster County-born...
Remembering America’s First Woman Botanist
Driving along the distinctly suburban stretch of Route 17K in Coldenham, a hamlet in Orange County’s Town of Montgomery, it’s hard to imagine a time when this could have been “the habitation only of wolves and bears and other wild...