Water has always played a vital role in the history of Putnam County, NY. Now, Brewster High School senior and Eagle Scout candidate Connor O’Reilly has led a service project commemorating the construction of the East Branch Reservoir in the Town of Southeast, completed more than a century ago. [Read more…] about Putnam County’s East Branch Reservoir History Collection Debuts
Croton River
Up the Hudson River: New York to Stillwater in 1783
What follows is an excerpt from the diary of Francisco de Miranda (1750-1816), who traveled through the United States between 1783 and 1784. A Venezuelan who fought in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolution and the Spanish American wars of independence, his diary was later published as The New Democracy in America: Travels of Francisco de Miranda in the United States, 1783-84 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1963). It has been transcribed by Hudson River Maritime Museum Contributing Scholar George A. Thompson and annotated by John Warren.
Tired from the toil of the trip [from Philadelphia, through New Jersey] and having formed some acquaintances in New York, I thought I would visit Boston and then return to New York, whence I would embark for England. The harshness of the winter held me suspended for some time and finally made me change the plan. The sound and the rivers remained frozen for a long time, obstructing all navigation, and the roads, although covered with snow, became impassable with the frequent thaws — neither sledge nor wheels could attempt them. [Read more…] about Up the Hudson River: New York to Stillwater in 1783
Lower Hudson Valley State Lands Management Comments Sought
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the release of the draft East of Hudson Unit Management Plan for public comment. The plan guides the future uses and management of nearly 6,700 acres of DEC-managed lower Hudson Valley state lands in the towns of Amenia, Beekman, Carmel, Cortlandt, Dover, Kent, LaGrange, Milan, Pawling, Philipstown, Pine Plains, Pleasant Valley, Putnam Valley, Stanford, and Union Vale in Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester Counties. [Read more…] about Lower Hudson Valley State Lands Management Comments Sought