Located in the Town of:
Clarkstown
Haverstraw
Orangetown
Ramapo
Stony Point
thanks to theRockland OnlineDirectory
COE'S TAVERN
New City - formerly at northeast corner of Route 45 & New Hempstead Road - Operated byJohn Coe. On two occasions Continental Army troops encamped here. Maj. Tallmadge and hisdragoons halted here when taking Joshua Heft Smith and Mjr. John Andre from West Point toTappan in 1780.
DECLARK-POLHEMUS MILL
Remnants still exist on the southwest corner of Strawtown Rd & Germonds Road, WestNyack. The last witchcraft trial in New York State supposedly took place at this gristmillin 1816. Jane (Naut) Kannif, a widow of a Scottish physician, was knowledgeable about herbmedicines and was accused of practicing witchcraft. At the mill, Naut was weighed againsta large brass-bound Dutch Bible on the large flour balance. Jane outweighed the Bible, wasjudged innocent and set free. The mill operated into t-he 20th century to grind flour. Thehub of the water wheel still exists as does the dam and mill pond. There is a marker atthe site.
DUTCH GARDEN New City - Designed by Mary Mowbray Clarke in 1933-34 as memorialto county's early settlers. In 1935 it won garden of the year award from Better Homes& Gardens magazine. Master craftsman Biaglo Gugliuzzo of Garnerville created walks andlatticed walls of Haverstraw brick. Still standing is Tea House with carvings, somerepresenting aspects of Dutch-American history, others of motifs popular in 1930's -Popeye, the Baker Cocoa and Old Dutch Cleanser maids. Now a county park. Markers on site.Beautiful display of flowering bulbs in spring.
DUTCH REFORMED CEMETERY
250 Germonds Road, West Nyack - Site of First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of NewHempstead (name in reference to many who moved here from Hempstead. L.I.). built 1750-51,replaced 1871 by present Clarkstown Reformed Church, 107 Strawtown Road. Note gravestonesinscribed in Dutch and those bearing names of 40 veterans of Revolutionary War and War of1812 and of the Hill family, which produced three generations of artists and a renownedscientist. Markers on site.
ENGLISH CHURCH
(New Hempstead Presbyterian Church) 474 New Hempstead Road,east of Route 45, New City -Second oldest church in Rockland County, this church was organized in 1734 by Englishsettlers from Hempstead, L.I., who wished to have services In English rather than in Dutchas in the Reformed Church- Present structure was built in 1820's near site of originalchurch. Listed on National Register of Historic Places. Coe's Tavern was located west ofchurch.
HOOK MOUNTAIN STATE PARK Upper Nyack - Early Dutch settlers called Hook Mountain"Verdrietlg Hock" ("Tedious Point"). Said to be site of final localIndian encampment. 1825. Registered as National Natural Landmark along with adjacent NyackBeach State Park.
JACOB BLAUVELT HOUSE
20 Zukor Road. New City - On grounds of Historical Society of Rockland County. A farmhouseof Dutch colonial style built 1882. Contains an open fireplace for cooking demonstrations.The four-acre site also has a museum, herb garden and nature trail. Museum openTues.-Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Tours of Blauvelt House Sunday. 1 to 5p.m. Other times byappointment. Telephone 634-9629.
OLD STONE CHURCH
N. Broadway near Birchwood, Upper Nyack - Built 1818-1814 of native stone and hand-hewntimbers by members of Methodist Episcopal Church, this is county's oldest church building.It has been in continuous use as house of worship since 1814. Marker on building.
ROCKLAND COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Main Street, New City original seat or government was Tappan when Rockland was OrangeCounty "South or the Mountains." When fire destroyed the courthouse and"gaol" In Tappan in 1773, a more centrally located site (New City) was purchasedin 1774. The courthouse was temporarily quartered in various places, such as Coe's Tavern,until the new building was completed In 1784, delayed by the Revolution. New City becameseat of government of newly formed Rockland County in 1798, Present structure is third tobe built on the site. Historical marker at the site.
ROCKLAND LAKE
Route 9W, Rockland Lake, Congers Used by the Indians as a summer campsite, the lake wascalled Quashpeak." ice was cut here and shipped to New York City from 1831-1924. Itwas packed in sawdust and stored in large ice houses. In the 1860's, a railway was builtto carry the Ice from the lake, over the mountain and down to the docks on the HudsonRiver, Main source of water for lake is believed to be a spring. The great demand for theIce was due to the high quality of the water. Now a state park, having a nature center.
GARNERVILLE
A neighborhood within West Haverstraw - Received name from Garner family which operatedtextile printing industry on Minisceongo Creek near Railroad Avenue beginning 1838.Markers on site and on Calico Hill to the east.
HAVERSTRAW
In Dutch, "Haverstroo" means "oat straw,"possibly suggested by thewild oats that grew at the waterfront beds of natural clay in the area made Haverstraw agreat producer of bricks until WW II.
HIGH TOR Haverstraw - Highest point on South Mountain. During the Revolution, itserved as an important lookout for British activities on the Hudson. A blue-marked trail,the Long Path, may be taken 2 miles eastward from Central Highway along the crest of SouthMountain to High Tor. Halfway is Little Tor, the second highest peak on South Mountain.
LONG CLOVE
Congers - Haverstraw. near where Route 304 runs into Route 9W. At Midnight. September 21,1780, Maj. John Andre landed at this point below Rt. 9W. to confer with Maj. Gen. BenedictArnold, who gave secret information about West Point fortifications and forces to Andre.At dawn, the conspirators adjourned to Joshua Hett Smith's house in West Haverstraw tocomplete their plans. Historical marker above site on Rt. 9W. "Clove" is fromDutch for "pass."
ANDRE MONUMENT Andre Hill, south of Old Tappan Road, Tappan; 1/2 mile west ofRailroad Crossing - Marks reported site of execution of Maj. John Andre, hanged forespionage, Oct. 2,1780. In 1821, Andre's remains were exhumed, taken to England, andburied with honor in Westminster Abbey. George Washington said of Andre, "He was moreunfortunate than criminal...an accomplished man and gallant officer"
BRAUNSDOFIF PARK Pearl River, Central Avenue & S. Main Street - Named afterJulius Braunsdorf, first industrial developer of Pearl River and inventor of variousmodels of sewing machines, newspaper printing presses, carbon arc light bulbs, andelectric generators. His sewing machine factory is now the Dexter industrial complex.Braunsdorf installed first indoor lighting in the world in U.S. Capitol in Washington,D.C.
CAMP SHANKS MUSEUM AND MONUMENT The monument is located at Independence Avenue& Lowe La. off Western Highway, Tappan. The museum is located on South Greenbush Roadnear the intersection of Routes 303 and 340 and is open on weekends. - Camp Shanks("Last Stop U.S.A.") served as a major staging area for American troopembarkation and debarkation, 1943-46. During WW II over 1.3 million G.I.'s wereout-processed from Camp Shanks, to Europe and North Africa. Italian and German POW's werehoused and repatriated here. Covered 2,040 acres. After the war became Shanks Village, anemergency housing project for student veterans, until 1956.
DE WINT HOUSE
by Daniel De Clark was sold to John DeWint in 1746. This national landmark is reportedlythe oldest dwelling in Rockland County. George Washington and his staff lived here duringthe Andre Trial. Also on the grounds are 1810 Carriage House Museum, and 5 -acre arboretumwith tagged trees and shrubs. Museum and house open daily 10- 4. Call 359-1359.
JOHN GREEN HOUSE
Main Street,at Gedney, Nyack -. Built in 1817 by John Green of local sandstone, nowcovered with stucco, painted yellow. This is the oldest house standing in Nyack. Greenstarted the first lumber yard in Nyack and later opened a store. House is a privateresidence
JOHN MOORE'S MILL
Site on Sparkill Ck. below Route 9W Viaduct, Sparkill-In early 1800's John Moore. a blackAmerican, operated a saw and grist mill and from 1810-15, a caning mill. A person of manyskills. he is regarded as having made some of the finest millwheels in Rockland County.
MANSE
Kings Highway & Old Tappan Road, Tappan - Built of stone in 1729, considered to beoldest parsonage in continuous use in United Stafes. Architecture is typical Hudson ValleyDutch colonial, ornamentation on exterior being added later. Restructured 1788; frame wingadded about 1830. Marker at site.
MARIA'S ROCK
Front lawn of Lederle Laboratories, N. Middletown Road, Pearl River - An 18th- centurylegend tells of a little girt named Maria who wandered from her home in Tappan and died ofhunger and exposure. Tradition says that villagers found her bones near the massiveboulder.
NYACK COLLEGE
South Nyack - Established 1897 by Dr. A.B. Simpson as the Missionary Training Institute.Considered to be first school of its kind in North America, Simpson Hall, built 1897, isbelieved to be one of oldest wooden institutional structures and largest Victorianstructure in the Hudson Valley.
NYACK-TARRYTOWN FERRY
Foot of Main Street, Nyack - Begun 1834 by Isaac S Blauvelt on vessel named"Donkey," an anglo corruption of Dutch "donk ya," or 'thank you."Ferry remained in service until the opening of Tappan Zee Bridge in the l950's. This spotwas also the start of the Nyack Turnpike, first direct highway across Rockland County.
NYACKS
Nyack - Stone Indian relics and heaps of oyster shells found along the shore of the Hudsonindicate this was a favorite fishing spot of the natives. In 1675, the first white mansettled in Rockland County at Nyack. Three major industries once thrived here: sandstonequarrying for New York City building (ca. 1800-40), boat building - sloops, steamboats,and then pleasure craft and WW I & WW II submarine chasers (ca. l8l5-l948), and shoemanufacturing (ca. 1828-1900).
THE OLD 76 HOUSE
110 Main Street, Tappan Built in 1752 by Dutch Colonials, this historic tavern borewitness to the signing of the Orangetown Resolutions of 1774, among America's firstseparationalist documents and was the site of the imprisonment and execution of theinfamous British spy, Maj. John Andre. Exclusive historic preservation efforts retain thecharm of this operating colonial tavern. Open every day for lunch and dinner. Listed onthe National Register of Historic Places. National Landmark status, and commended by theNational Trust for Historic Preservation. Marker at site Telephone 359-5476.
PIERMONT
Formerly Tappan Landing. Tappan Slote ("Slote" is Dutch for "ditch,"referring to cut passage through marshy mouth of Sparkill Creek: "kill" is Dutchfor "creek"). Served as eastern terminus of New York & Erie Railroad,completed from here to Dunkirk, N.Y. in 1851, then the longest trunk line in U.S. Stillremaining is 4000-ft.-long pier into Hudson River once used for loading and unloadingtrains and boats. One can walk, or drive with a pass, to end of it. Tallman Mountain StatePark to the south. A backer and first president of railroad, Eleazar Lord, built a stonemansion. "The Cedars." now called "The Castle," on mountainsideoverlooking Piermont. Private residence.
ROCKLAND CEMETERY
Kings Highway, Sparkill - In 1847 Eleazar Lord, first president or New York & ErieRailroad, donated 200 acres of his property on Mt. Nebo for cemetery. He envisioned itbecoming major burial place for New York City residents. Its best-known grave (on thethird plateau) is that of John C. Fremont, The Pathfinder." California's firstgovernor and senator. Eleazar Lord's family plot is on the lower south slope.
SNEDEN'S FERRY
Palisades (Sneden's Landing, Rockland) The Sneden family operated a ferry at Sneden's'Landing along with Jeremiah Dobbs, who operated from the opposite shore (Dobbs Ferry).Begun by Dobbs in 1898. the ferry service was one of the oldest in 'the region andcontinued until 1944. In 1775. when Martha Washington drove from Mt. Vernon to Cambridge,Massachusetts to meet her husband, venerable ferry mistress Molly Sneden (1709-1810)piloted her across the Hudson River.
TAPPAN REFORMED CHURCH
Kings Highway, Tappan - Organized as Low Dutch Christian Reformed Chunch of Tappan 1694,it is oldest congregation in Rockland County. Its first structure built 1716 (worshipersmet in homes before this), was site of the trial of spy, Maj. John Andre. later condemnedto death, and of Joshua Hett Smith, tried for and acquitted of treason. Present structurebuilt in 1835. It has box pews to help keep in warmth from little footstoves brought byworshipers in winter. In cemetery are buried original settlers of county, early ministersof church, and Revolutionary War soldiers. Some stones inscribed in Dutch. Marker at site.
TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE
Nyack - Complete in 1955 across the Tappan Zee (Dutch for sea) portion of the HudsonRiver, it dramatically changed Rockland County from a rural to a suburban community as NewYorkers moved from the city to the country.
VILLAGE GREEN
Kings Highway to west of Tappan Reformed Church, Tappan - Site of first Orange Countycourthouse (until 1798 Rockland County was a part of Orange Co.). Burned down in 1773,along with the jail. Later the Andre trial was held In the Church, the only building inTappan suitable for the assembly of a military court. The green also had a whipping postand stocks, a stray cattle pound and, during the Revolution, a Liberty Pole (a flag pole).
LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE MUSEUM
50 Schoolhouse Road, east of Rt. 45. Chestnut Ridge - One-room *schoolhouse, now a museum,owned and operated by the east Ramapo Central School District. Built in 1890 and useduntil early 1970's when pre-kindergarten classes were held there. Open most Sundays 2:30p.m. Telephone 577-6099 or 354-1518.
MONSEY GLEN
West of At. 59 & 306 intersection, Monsey. An Indian encampment where numerousartifacts have been found. Some rock shelters still visible. Rockland County was inhabitedby the Munsey band of Lenape, or Delaware, Indian, of the Algonqulan linguistic stock. TheNew York & Erie Railroad was 1ater built through the glen.
THE ORCHARDS
Route 45 & South Mountain Road, Pomona - Possibly oldest fruit farm in United States,operated by the Concklin family since 1717. "Pomona" is taken from Latin wordfor fruit.
RAMAPO IRON WORKS
Route 17, base of Terse Mountain, Ramapo - Producer of cut nails, wood screws, cottoncloth, and spring steel in first hair or 19th century. Founder, Jeremiah H. Pierson, wasinfluential in building Nyack Turnpike and New York & Erie Railroad across the county.Cotton mill still standing on east side of road.
THE REFORMED CHURCH OF WEST NEW HEMPSTEAD
Brick Church Rd., New Hempstead - This historic church, known as Brick Church, wasestablished in 1774. Its church yard contains the graves of Revolutionary soldiers andsome original settlers. Listed on National Register of Historic Places. Historical markersat the site.
ROCKLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE
College Road, Suffern - Originally home or first pastors of Brick Church until parsonagefarm sold 1837 to Superintendents of the Poor for use as the Almshouse. College wasestablished in 1959. Original farmhouse is part or administration building.
SLOATSBURG
Sloatsburg, originally Pothat. Named after the Sloat family, who settled in area about1760. Jacob Sloat, a mechanical genius, opened a mill in 1815 for making cotton cloth. Hesuccessfully turned to making cotton twine exclusively after patenting process fordressing it in 1840. At peak, produced 8,000 lbs. par week. Ceased operations in 1878,Original Sloat stone house was a tavern, a regular stop on New York to Albany stage route,and' during Revolution, a headquarters for American troops stationed in the Ramapo Pass, Aprivate residence, Listed on National Register of Historic Places.
(SMITH'S CLOVE SIDMAN'S CLOVE)
From Suffern to Monroe - Main route of travel through western Hudson Highlands. Main roadwas Albany Post Road,, one of oldest in the state, which served as stagecoach line betweenAlbany and New York City and was heavily traveled in winter when the Hudson River frozeover the 20 miles of road through the Pass became Orange Turnpike (now St. 17) In 1800,tolls were collected until 1886 to maintain and improve road. N.Y. Thruway now runsthrough the Pass. South entrance in Suffern was garrisoned during the Revolution.
SUFFERN
John Suffers settled here in 1773 and built a tavern and inn on northwest corner ofWashington & Lafayette Avenues (marker on boulder at site). When the first post officein Ramapo was established hare in 1797,hamlet named New Antrim after Suffern's nativevillage in Ireland. Suffern served as first Rockland County judge, 1798-1806. Hamletrenamed Suffern in 1850. Suffern's tavern sheltered many Continental Army officers.including Can. Washington and Aaron Burr, commander of the troops guarding the RamapoPass. Torn down about 1856. On triangle at Lafayette & Washington Avenues isRevolutionary cannon and statue of WW I soldier. Marker on cannon.
SUFFERN VILLAGE MUSEUM
61 Washington Avenue, Suffern (Municipal Building)-Open September - June Sundays 2 to 4p,m. except for major holiday weekends. Houses collection on Suffern history. TravelingTrunk program is available for classroom use, 4th-7th grade. Trunk holds itemsrepresenting Rockland history from 1741-1841 Handicapped accessible. For special grouptours phone 357-3667.
Stony Point
IONA ISLAND AND MARSH
Between Jones Point & Bear Mountain - Once owned by a Dr. Grant, who cultivatedvineyards 1858-68, and developed the lona grape on the Island. Site of U.S. NavalAmmunition Depot during WW I, supplying American & British warships. Providedammunition for U.S. Navy in early stages of WW II. Marsh between island and shore now abird sanctuary and registered as a National Natural Landmark. Markers on site.
KING'S FERRY
Stony Point, site just north of Stony Point Battlefield - An important river crossing forAmerican troops and supplies during the Revolution. and link between New England and thestates to the south,- thus. the importance of capturing Stony Point from the British in1779
THE STONY POINT BATTLEFIELD
State historic site, off Route 9W, Stony Point - Occupied by the British in 1779. In asurprise midnight attack on the fortifications in July 1779, General Anthony Wayne and hisAmerican Light Infantry defeated the British. Special events held yearly. Site has museum,lighthouse built 1828 to guide ships through the narrow part of the Hudson River, andoutdoor signs telling about the battle and where the fortifications were. Park operatesApril 15 through last weekend of October. Musket and artillery demonstrations and cookingand camp life demonstrations. Riverviews. Guided and self-guided tours. No admissioncharge. Weekly hours, Wed.-Sat. 10 n.m. - 5p.m., Sun; 1-5 p.m. Closed Mon. and Tues. OpenMemorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. Telephone 788-2521.
TRAILSIDE MUSEUM
Route 9W, Bear Mountain State Park, on site of Fort Clinton - Has a nature trail, exhibitsof geology and local history (excellent one on Indians and on Dan Beard founder of BoysScouts of America), . and outdoor zoo of native animals, binds, and reptiles. Telephone786-2701.
TORNE MOUNTAIN
Harriman State Park. Ramapo - Highest peak in western Rockland County, overlooking theRamapo Pass and remnants of once-thriving Ramapo Iron Works. During Revolution, the Torneserved as a lookout for British ship movement on the Hudson. Legend tells that Gen. GeorgeWashington lost his watch on the mountain and it may still be heard ticking up there in acrevice of rock.
thanks to theRockland OnlineDirectory