COOK COLLEGE, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY INFORMATION CHARETTEDEPARTMENT OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE NOVEMBER 2004

EXPLORING THE A.T. AT BEAR MOUNTAINDaniel SgrizziAlec ShissiasNathan TunoLauren Weitz

Tyler ClarkMichael CoraggioMichael Dwyer Chuck GandyOlivier Giron

Nicholas GintherGalia Hanoch-Roe Elizabeth HendricksonPaul Johnson Sara Krouskop

Joseph LaCavaNicholas LaubSteve LeMoineZainab Miller James Morren

Vlad MoskovskiDaniel P. Nichols Andrew O’Toole James Phillips Tara Piergies

Stefanie Almodovar Alison BeeghlyJason Berks John CarluccioBenjamin Cassidy

HISTORY

Settlement by Europeans begins in the Lower Hudson Valley – Delaware Indians begin to be pushed out of their lands

Appalachian Trail Committee is formed

Raymond Torrey opens the first foot path intentionally designed as part of the Appalachian Trail in Bear Mountain State Park, NY

Benton MacKaye proposes the extensive idea of a trail along the ridge crests of the Appalachian Mountain chain

The A.T.C. is formed of a mix of volunteers consisting of Major William Welch of New York's Palisades Interstate Park, Benton MacKaye and Raymond Torrey.

Judge Arthur Perkins takes over leadership of the Appalachian Trail project from MacKaye

In August, The A.T. is fully completed as a continuous 2,100 mile footpath from Maine to Georgia Bridle Path constructed

A hurricane destroys much of the A.T. in New England and forces 120 miles of the trail to be relocated

The A.T. is made continuous again

The National Trail System Act is passed and A.T. becomes a national scenic trial under federal protection and NPS contractors are sent out to map the trial by air

Town of Doodletown begins to develop

British soldiers used corridors during the Revolutionary War to attack American forts. These trails still exist today and are called 1777 trials

The park bought up the last remaining tracts of land at Doodletown

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1927

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60

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1750

1777

1900

1950

2000

Naval magazine constructed on Iona Island

1900

Steamboat excursion service to Bear Mt. established

1925 19751850

1800

1750

1700

187518251775 2004

Palisade Interstate Park Commission Created to protect the Palisades from quarrying

Bear Mountain Inn completed

1900

1913

Bear Mountain Bridge completed1924

Mary Harriman, the widow of railroad baron E.H. Harriman donated much of the land to PIPC in 1910 to create Bear Mountain

1910

Perkins Memorial Tower on the mountain’s pinnacle completed

George W. and Linn Merck Perkins Merry-Go-Round completed

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2001

The Trailside Museum and ski jump opened1927

1933

Perkins Memorial Drive was completed, with all its twists and turns, winding from Seven Lakes Drive up the South side of Bear Mountain and down its North side to Route 6

A bridge for automobiles spanned the Popolopen Gorge

1916

1916The remains of the Revolutionary War forts, Clinton and Montgomery, were acquired as historic sites

Little Known Facts

• Two seats on the merry-go-round are handicapped accessible

• During W.W.II era, Jackie Robinson took batting practice at Bear Mountain

• Bear Mountain almost became the new site for the relocation of Sing Sing Prison. The proposal was squashed by including Harriman and the mountain as part of the PIPC.

• The merry-go-round is made up of native animals to the Hudson River Valley.

• Each main cable of Bear Mountain Bridge was twisted from 7,452 individual galvanized wires. The total length of wire used is 7,377 miles.

• The Bear Mountain Bridge was used as the prototype for the Golden Gate Bridge.

• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving was set in the Valley of the Hudson.

Bear Mountain Inn Ski Jumping River Dock

Suffern-Bear Mt. trail completed

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Resource: “Doodletown: Hiking Through History in a Vanished Hamlet on the Hudson” By Elizabeth Stalter (1996).

1600

Henry Hudson first sails up the river which will later bear his name

1609

October – Forts Montgomery and Clinton were defeated by the British, but provided enough resistance to ensure an American victory at Saratoga

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1777

Revolutionary War begins

Revolutionary War ends

1776

1783

1620s

American Forces surprise attack and overwhelm the British garrison at Stony Point. This will be the last major battle in the northern colonies during the war

1779

The First Steamboat trip up the Hudson River

1809

Completion of the Erie Canal, making the Hudson River an even more important trade route and signals the start of industrialization in the valley.

1825

The Delaware-Hudson Canal was completed connecting the Hudson Valley with Pennsylvania coal

Thomas Cole comes to the Hudson Valley which marks the beginning of the Hudson River School of Painting

1825

1828

West Point Academy opens and will train some of the most important leaders in our nation’s history

1802Wealthy businessmen begin buying huge tracts of land in the valley for estates as the need for a clean, pastoral retreat from the dirty city becomes popular

1860s

Start of citizens’17 - year legal battle against ConEd’s proposal to build a hydroelectric plant on the Hudson begins – the beginning of the environmental and preservation movement in America

1962

Dutch relinquish control of all their local settlements to the British

1664

Mining of iron ore for metals, marble and granite for building and clay for bricks begins to be an important economic activity

1800s

Haverstraw landslide kills 20 and destroys major portion of town due to clay brick production accentuating the poor environmental practices of the industrial age

1906

New York and Hudson River Railroad reaches Peekskill marks an important change to marketable goods

1849

Area population began to decline as farm fertility waned and the country expanded westward

An early sketch of the west bank of the Hudson River –from Stoney Point to Fort Montgomery

1860s

Bear Mountain State Park

Hessian Lake

Hudson River

Iona Island

Harriman State Park

­Legend

Appalachian Trail

NYC Rail Line

Perkins Memorial Drive

0 10.5Miles

Appalachian Trail: Maine to Georgia

Resource: National Park Service/U.S. Department of the Interior

Late 1600’sA ship commanded by Captain Hogans sailed up the Hudson River and gave Anthonys Nose the name it still has today

Resource: http://www.hhr.highlands.com/

Age of Discovery and European Settlement (1609 – 1776)

Development of A.T. and Bear Mountain Park (1900-1960)

The Industrialization and Expansion of the Changing Nation (1783 – 1900)

The Colonies become a Country – Revolutionary War Period (1776 – 1783)

Development and the Birth of Modern Environmentalism (1960 – Present)