Tioronda Working Group Presents
(We are committee of the Sargent Downing Gardens and Nursery. The Friends of Sargent-Downing Gardens and Nursery Fund is a component fund of the Community Foundation of Dutchess County.)
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a Walking, Driving or Biking
Tour of Beacon
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The audio tour guide is below, as well as the historical background for locations on the tour map above
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are public parking areas at Mt. Beacon, Madam Brett Park and Long Dock, as well as parking accessible all long the tour. One can start the tour at any point and return. If you are walking or biking, be aware there are hills to climb as you leave the train station, as you go on Route 9 D toward Mt. Beacon, and if you come back to 9 D, from Madam Brett Park.
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(1) Metro North Train Station. (mile 0) When one walks down the stairs in the the station, one can go to the right side of the tracks (West side)or the left ( East side) .One way to get to Main Street is to go to the left , then you walk across the parking lot to Beekman Street and go left( North). Your other option is to go right from the steps at the station. Then you go over a bridge to get to Beekman Street; and at Beekman Street, to get to Main street, go left. (If you want to go directly to the Dia Museum or to Mt. Beacon, go right and follow the return path of the trail.)
2.) Beacon Welcome Center. (Main Street and 9 D)( mile .5) the Center is open weekends and many weekdays too. There is information there on things to do and someone pleasant to talk with.
3.) Madam Brett House. (mile 1.1, but 1 block just South of Main Street on Fishkill Avenue and Van Nydeck Avenue) (50 Van Nydeck Ave). The homestead, also called "The Teller Mansion" is named for Catheryna Rombout Brett (1687–1764), the daughter of Helena Teller and Francis Rombout. Madam Brett inherited the land on which the house stands from her father, who in turn had purchased it from the Wappinger Indians. After she married British Navy lieutenant, Roger Brett, in 1703, the couple moved onto the land in the summer of 1708. The home was built in 1709, notable as the residence of the first white woman to settle in the Hudson River highlands. It was subsequently occupied by her decedents until 1954, spanning a total of seven generations.During the American Revolutionary War, the building was used for as a shelter and storage facility by the Americans. Revolutionary leaders such as George Washington, the Marquis de La Lafayette, and Baron von Steuben are said to have been guests in the house.
In 1800, Catheryna Rombout Brett's great granddaughter Alice Schenck Teller purchased the house from her widowed mother, and together with her husband Isaac Teller, remodeled it. After Isaac's death the house was renamed "Teller's Villa" and operated as a boarding house. It is called the "Teller Mansion" because so many members of the Teller family were involved in its history and it is just off Teller Avenue in Beacon, NY. See "Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley" by Harold Eberlein and Cortlandt Van Dyke Hubbard.
For more information visit http://melzingah.awardspace.com/id5.htm
Also, just North of Main Street on Fishkill Avenue is the home and birthplace of James V. Forrestal, former U.S. Secretary of Defense. (mile 1.1, but 1 block just North of Main Street on Fishkill Avenue) James Forrestal had been secretary of the Navy under President Roosevelt and Secretary of Defense under President Truman. He played a very important role in the United States history during and after World War II. Below is the link to his history in Wikipedia's report : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Forrestal
4. )Howland Cultural Center -(corner of Main and Tioronda) ( mile 1.3) formerly Howland Library.
This Cultural Center is also currently the home of the Beacon Historical Society. The Society meets monthly and you can visit their web site any time . http://beaconhistoricalsociety.org/index2.php.
You can also visit the Howland Center web site: http://www.howlandculturalcenter.org
The Howland Cultural Center Building. built 1872
A National Historic Treasure
Civil War General and shipping magnate Joseph Howland was the chief benefactor of the former Howland Library. He joined with ten other leaders of what was then the village of Mattawan and formed the library in 1872. He also commissioned his brother-in-law, Richard Morris Hunt, to design the new library. Hunt's contribution to our community was one of his earliest works.
Norwegian in architectural style, the building is 65'x 40' and has a six-gabled roof covered with Delaware slate. The outside walls are red and black Croton brick inter-laid with light Jersey brick. The foundation is of blue stone and Breakneck granite. The ceiling, from floor to dome, measures 33'9" and is supported by hand-wrought Georgia pine columns. The floors are in the three thickness, composed of English cane felt laid on hemlock boards to prevent dampness or sound. The floor's top is laid in strips of selected Georgia pine. The original collection of close to 2,200 volumes was open only to subscribers. No smoking, spitting or "indecorous conduct" were allowed according to the library’s first regulations. The fine for overdue books was set at 20 cents a day.
Generations of Beaconites fondly recall filing through these doors to reach the knowledge contained within. By the mid 1970s, it was clear the library had outgrown the building and after constructing new facilities moved in 1976.
This priceless building with its Norwegian architectural was added to the National Historical Register in 1976. The Howland Cultural Center a non-profit cultural organization along with it's membership maintains the facility and continues to use this rare architectural gem as a showcase for a myriad of community functions as well as regional, national and international cultural events drawing audiences from across the Hudson Valley and beyond.
5.) Falls and Station area- ( .2 mile beyond trail) formerly factories, a water power producing dam and the Matteawan train station were located here. The falls in the past were used for energy to power local factories..... this was and still is an easy to obtain sustainable energy. When will we again wake up and try? The Matteawan Train Depot was originally built in 1873 for the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad to Dutchess Junction..It was originally a two-story frame building, built at a cost of $3000, most paid for by the Village of Matteawan. The original lower floor was at track level, to receive freight shipments. It operated until 1933. Again , wouldn't it be energy wise to rebuild our mass transit infrastructure so we don't need to rely so much on our automobiles ? In the 1930's there was a major factory complex at East Main Street. One factory,the Round House, was the home of Horatio N. Swifts Machine Shop,the manufacturing site of America's first lawnmowers. Braedly's Dye Works later occupied that site. The Roundhouse at Beacon Falls has refurbished the old factory, and the old Mattawan train station has also been refurbished, with local stores occupying it now. There is also a short picturesque trail from the Round House to the the truly beautiful falls themselves,with some benches so you can really sit and enjoy..
Before European Americans came here, the falls was a place where Native Americans, the Wappinger tribe, went for spiritual uplift. As part of their legend, wood spirits also went there. To learn ore about the Wappinger people living here, you can go to the "The legacy of the Algonquin and Haudenosaunee People" page on this web site or visit http://www.wilkesweb.us/algonquin/nny.htm.
Corner of 9 D and Tioronda Rd. (1.6 miles) Here you can take a side tour to Madam Brett Park(E) or else go on the main tour to Mount Beacon(F) and the Settlement Camp sites,(G) and then make your return from there, or you can do both.
6.) Madam Brett Park ( 1 mile West of the main trail) ( long road down hill on Tioronda Avenue, and if you want to go to Mt. beacon, you have to go back up the road to 9 D - —Madam Brett Park hugs Fishkill Creek ( in Wappinger language called Mattawan) , which played a prominent role in Beacon's development. Along it stood a gristmill owned by the park's namesake — Catheryna Rombout Brett (1687-1764), the first European settler in the present-day city. The mill was an important gathering place for farmers and Native Americans inhabiting both shores of the Hudson River hereabouts.
Today the park provides a perfect place to explore the ecology of a vital Hudson River tributary and the tidal wetland at its mouth. Fishkill Marsh supports an extraordinary variety of wildlife. It furnishes a home for amphibians and aquatic mammals, including muskrats; serves as a hunting ground for ospreys, bald eagles and other raptors; and is a stopover for migratory birds. A boardwalk and observation platforms afford up-close discoveries of these and other creatures. A waterfall at the park's eastern end is especially impressive — and raucous — in spring or after heavy rains. For more information visit http://www.scenichudson.org
At the Fishkill creek there is an island where the leaders of the tribe met for their council meetings. That place was called Tioronda. In 1800s, Joseph Howland learned of this, and called his estate, located on the other side of the creek, the Tioronda Estate.
By the way,that creek,we call Fishkill was called "Matteawan" by the Wappingers living here. "Matteawan" means river with fish, in the Wappinger Native American, language, whereas "Fish Kill" is Dutch for the same meaning. There still are fish in the creek, but before they built all the dams, herring used to come in great numbers going up the waterfalls to spawn. Now there still are herring in the Spring, going up to the first dam, but not nearly as many. There are more than one reasons for this decrease in the herring count. One reason is that commercial fisherman , in the Atlantic Ocean, are using methods that kill many. Another reason is the depletion of their spawning grounds. But they still survive. In the Spring, the DEC sponsors a herring count to monitor them.
To learn more about the Wappinger people living here, you can go to the "The legacy of the Algonquin and Haudenosaunee People" page on this web site or visit http://www.wilkesweb.us/algonquin/nny.htm.
In the 1800s, the creek powered a profusion of hat factories (including the Tioronda Hat Works, located in the brick building adjacent to the park, which earned Beacon the nickname "New York's Hat-Making Capital." For 70 years the "Tompkins" name was synonymous with hat making in Beacon. Ralph Tompkins leased the Tioronda Hat Shop to the Merrimack Hat/Dutchess Hat Works Co. In 1939, the company hired over 200 workers, running two shifts producing ladies and men's hat bodies.
7. )Mt Beacon ( on Route 9 D, just before Hillside Avenue.) (2.2 miles) The trek up Mount Beacon is strenuous, although switchbacks along the trail furnish occasional breathers. The hike begins on a staircase following the course of the Beacon Incline Railway, in the early 20th century the world's steepest funicular and one of the Hudson Valley's prime tourist attractions. (The Beacon Incline Railway Restoration Society is working to return the ride, destroyed in a 1983 fire, to its former glory.) Observation platforms atop the stairs preview the treat awaiting those who reach the summit — sublime vistas stretching from the Hudson Highlands to the Catskills.
After a rest, you can explore the ruins of the incline railway's powerhouse or follow a short trail leading to a monument commemorating a signal fire built atop the mountain during the Revolutionary War. It was one of many beacons, spanning from the Highlands into New Jersey, intended to warn of British troop movements. (This one gave the mountain and city their names.) The adventurous can hike to Scenic Hudson's adjacent Fishkill Ridge, whose rugged trails afford long-range glimpses of the Highlands and even Manhattan's skyline. And a mile from the summit is the newly restored Mount Beacon fire tower, where on a clear day you can see from the Big Apple to Albany. For more information visit http://www.scenichudson.org
8.) University Settlement Camp area. (.5 mile beyond Mt. Beacon, an extension from the measured tour ) (A short distance South of Mt. Beacon on 9 D) Now includes offices for Clearwater ,a mini-disc golf course and gardens for Sargent Downing Gardens and Nursery. In the 1700’s, part of this area, and the building where Clearwater now resides, was owned by a Lt. Annan, who served in Revolutionary War. In the 1800’s it was owned by Joseph Howland as part of his Tioronda Estate. Henry Ward Beecher, famed abolitionist minister lived in the house that Lt. Annan had built, and refurbished it. The property, itself, was donated to the University Settlement for youth from New York City, by Joseph Howland's widow, Elisabeth Woolsey Howland, just as the University Settlement was being formed in Manhattan Howland’s mansion, just West, on route 9 D, and the rest of his estate, can still be seen. The mansion was designed by Frederick Clarke Withers, who also designed the Reformed Dutch Church. The gardens on this property were designed by Frank Sargent, who worked closely with Andrew Jackson Downing. Andrew Jackson Downing lived in Newburgh,across the river; and his ideas of horticulture were the basis for the current design of Central Park, as well as much of what became contemporary horticulture in our nation..
You can learn more about the history of the Tioronda Estate under the " Our Mission/Tioronda Estate History "page on this web site, and also also learn about our horticulture history on the"The 9/11 Tree & Our Legacy of Horticulture in the Hudson Valley " page of this web site.
University Settlement Camp:. Founded in 1886 as the first settlement house in the United States, University Settlement is still one of New York's most dynamic social service institutions, with deep roots on the Lower East Side. One hundred years ago that meant transporting immigrant children from the Lower East Side up the Hudson to University Settlement's Beacon Camp, 100 acres of fresh air and open space at the foot of Mount Beacon. Over the years the camp remained a haven for New York City children, where thousands fled urban life and experienced nature for the first time.
In 2007, when the challenge of supporting a seasonal, residential camp became untenable, University Settlement sold the property; it is now a State Park administered by the City of Beacon.
You can learn more with our discussion of th settlement camp on the "Mission/ Tioronda Estate History" page of this web site.
Watch a video of the 2010 Reunion for campers ,at the settlement camp with Pete Seeger leading singing at ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQTO9OUk0U.
Beacon Glades Mini Golf Course: is available free to everyone to use covering much of the area of the Settlement Camp . Click the link and see what is there: .http://www.beacondiscgolf.com This is a great way to appreciate this beautiful park and have fun at the same time.
Clearwater: In 1966, folk music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger, in despair over the pollution of his beloved Hudson River, announced plans to “build a boat to save the river.” At the time, the Hudson was rank with raw sewage, toxic chemicals and oil pollution; fish had disappeared over many miles of its length. Seeger believed a majestic replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries would bring people to the river, where they could experience its beauty and be moved to preserve it. Inspired by that vision, the organization began with the launch of the sloop Clearwater in 1969 —a majestic foot long replica vessel. Clearwater, America’s Environmental Flagship, was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 for its role in the environmental movement. and is among the first vessels in the U.S. to conduct science-based environmental education aboard a sailing ship, creating the template for environmental education programs around the world. More than half a million young people and hundreds of thousands of adults have experienced their first real look at an estuary’s ecosystem aboard Clearwater.
For over 40 years, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater has been at the forefront of the environmental movement as champion of the Hudson River, working to pass landmark legislation like
The organization’s strong connection to youth, environmental education, and its agenda to create the next generation of environmental leaders, are all part of building and strengthening a Green Cities Initiative for a green economy and a more inclusive and diverse environmental movement. To learn more about Clearwater visit http://www.clearwater.org/.
Sargent Downing Gardens and Nursery focuses on the areas of gardening, horticulture and civic pride. Its emphasis is an education program for our children. While serving the community at large, this program also provides the City of Beacon with trees for its parks and Main Street.
The Hudson Valley has a rich history in the early development of American landscape gardening and design. Both Beacon and Newburgh were homes of two distinguished horticulturists, Henry Winthrop Sargent and Andrew Jackson Downing, who paved the way for the art form that helped design some of the most beautiful landscapes in America, ( including Central Park). One main purpose of The Sargent Downing Gardens and Nursery is to offer an educational recreation program ,to continue the process of education and appreciation that both Sargent and Downing started in the 19th Century.. To learn more about Sargent Downing Gardens go to http://www.sdgardens.com/ .
9.) Reformed Church. ( .3 miles North of main tour) (on 9 D just a little North and uphill from Beekman Street.)The Reformed Church of Beacon, originally the Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill landing, is the oldest church in Beacon. The congregation was established in 1813 in what was then a small riverside settlement known as Fishkill Landing. ( Fishkill Landing joined Mattawan later to become what is now Beacon). A small white frame church was built on the present site. Later, it was necessary to expand the facility, so a new church designed by Frederick Clarke Withers, was built in 1859. It is one of the rare churches he designed in the Victorian Gothic style, and one of the earlier uses of that style in the United States. The church and its cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It is one of three Withers buildings in the city on the Register.
The founder of the State of Georgia, William Few, was once buried there, but when Jimmy Carter was President, he came to Beacon to bring William Few back to his home state.
Inside the church there is a red carpet,which covers the wooden floor under the sanctuary's 98 oak pews. The walls are plaster, covered to a certain level with narrow vertical wainscoting. They rise to a vaulted wooden ceiling with large trusses. In the rear, behind the altar, are the pipes of the church's manual-tracker pipe organ, the only one in the Hudson Valley.
Listen to a choir and see the beauty of the church by clicking the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF4B5dhcVf8
10.) Dia museum (3.6 miles) ( entrance off Beekman Street) -( formerly Nabisco Biscuit Printing factory. built 1929)
Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries houses Dia Art Foundation's renowned collection of art from the 1960s to the present. The museum, which occupies a former Nabisco printing factory, features installations of works by some of the most significant artists of the last half century, as well as special exhibitions, new commissions, and public and education programs.
Dia:Beacon occupies a former Nabisco (National Biscuit Company) box printing facility built in 1929 and designed by Nabisco’s staff architect Louis N. Wirshing, Jr. In The building’s most recent owner, International Paper, donated the property to Dia in 1999.
The former factory is built of brick, steel, concrete, and glass, and is considered a model of early twentieth century industrial architecture. Design elements include broad spans between supporting columns, and more than 34,000-square-feet of skylights which create an exceptional environment for viewing works of contemporary art in natural light. To learn more about Dia Beacon visit http://www.diabeacon.org
11.) Long Dock Park ( 3.8 miles) ( entrance off Long Dock Rd.) A critical 19th-century transportation link between New England and points west, Long Dock once contained a rail ferry terminal, warehouses and other buildings. More recently, it was home to an oil terminal, salt-storage facility and junkyard. All traces of its commercial and industrial past have been removed to create an exciting riverfront destination boasting a kayak pavilion and beach for launching boats, rehabilitated wetlands and meadows that attract wildlife, and the restored, historic Red Barn, now Scenic Hudson's River Center for arts and environmental-education activities.
One of the most popular attractions in the park, at Long Dock's tip, is Beacon Point Project, a shoreline installation by renowned artist George Trakas. The work projects out over the river (at high tide, water actually flows through it), making this a perfect place to fish, sunbathe and admire magnificent vistas of Newburgh Bay and the Hudson Highlands.
A visit to Beacon is not complete without having the experience of looking at the magnificent and historic Storm King Mountain from the tip of Long Dock Park.
For more information visit http://www.scenichudson.org/
12) Trail to Dennings Point State Park (3.8 miles) Accessible through Long Dock Park or the R.R Station parking lot, or by driving to the lot for it, by the Beacon Waste Facility, at the end of Dennings Point Rd.,where there is a shorter walk.. There is a plan to extend this walk to go past Dennings Point , over the railroad tracks and to BMadame Brett Park.
Dennings Point is part of the Hudson Highlands State Park. It boasts accessible walking and biking paths and rich cultural and archaeological history. At Dennings Point is the Center for Environmental Innovation and Education (CEIE). It is the first of Beacon Institute's Denning's Point facilities, a renovation of a 4,000 square foot nineteenth century building—a former brick works, where mud had been fashioned into bricks prior to baking—adapted for twenty-first century use with eco-friendly design and construction.
The CEIE is the first home to the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON) and the Institute’s educational programs, policy initiatives and technology workshops. It is also a public visitor’s center for the state park at Denning’s Point and located near the entrance to the public walking trail.
Jim Heron, retired project historian, documented the lyrical history of Denning's Point in his 2006 book, Denning's Point: A Hudson River History From 4000 BC to the 21st Century. This, and other books about the Hudson River and estuary, are available at the Institute's store and gallery at 199 Main Street in Beacon. And you can visit the Beacon Institute: http://www.thebeaconinstitute.org
(1. End back at the Metro North Station ( 3.9 miles)
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Additional places of interest:
Beacon Institute 199 Main Street
Beacon Post Office 369 Main Street a W P A Project, built 1934
Mattewan Fire House #1, 425 Main Street built 1911
Beacon Theater 445 Main Street built 1934
The Beacon Theatre was originally the Dibble Opera House, so people who came to Beacon from NYC would have a place to see and hear opera. The Dibble Hotel was across the street, where the Melzingah Hotel is now, across the street. Later, the opera house closed down , but then expanded to become a vaudeville theater and movie house in 1934. The theater was later closed but has now reopened for us all to enjoy. visit http://www.thebeacontheatre.org/now-featuring/
The building next to the Salvation Army Church on Main Street was once the home of the William T Jackson Carriage and Sleigh Manufactury from 1860 to the 1920's. The owner, Mr. Henry Jackson was ready to attend orders for harnesses,saddles, whips and vehicles such as grape wagons, business wagons, buggies and farm wagons,all of their own make.
Waterfront Park (picnicking, fishing, children’s pool in summer,)
Waterfront Pier (farmers market on Sundays, ferry to Newburgh, weekday rush hours)
Beacon Sloop Club (free sail boat rides available weekdays in the summer
visit http://www.beaconsloopclub.org for more information, and/or visit the Beacon Sloop Club page on this web site for an audio report of its history.
Chrystie House 300 South Avenue Had been the home for the Chrystie family, William Few ,and Dr. Clarence Slocum and his family. Currently it is a bed and breakfast so people from elsewhere can come and visit our town, staying at this historical place. The Chrystie families were important bankers in our nation, William Few was a signer of the Constitution, and the founder of the State of Georgia. William Few actually tried to end slavery in Georgia after the revolution,way before the civil war. Dr. Clarence Slocum was the founder of Craig House, one of the first open mental health facilities in our nation. On this web site we have a more detailed history of Chrystie House and William Few. For more information visit http://www.chrystiehouse.com/history1.html and/ or visit the "Chrystie House" page on this web site.
Hiddenbrook: Temporarily closed due to storm damage. 89 Hiddenbrook Dr . Hiddenbrooke is a nearly 100 acre open space preserve for walking and hiking located at the foot of Mt. Beacon. On this website we have a more detailed history of Hiddenbrook. Look under "more". The "Margaret Sanger/Hiddenbrook” page on this web site and/or visit http://www.cityofbeacon.org/albums/20
Groveville Hydroelectric Plant and Dam:
If you drive down Route 52, Fishkill Avenue, almost to the Northern edge of Beacon and go down Mill Street, you can go where there is a functioning hydroelectric power plant and dam. You can't actually see the dam from there , but you can view it by driving down Liberty street on the other side of the creek to its Northern end. A picture from that location is below.
At one time there were at least three hydroelectric power plants in Beacon: one at the falls by the Mattawan Train station, that powered the factories there, the second was the Groveville plant which powered the Groveville Mills, and the third one by Tioronda Island which powered the Tioronda Hat factory .We still have all those places available for water power, and if we have the will, maybe one day we can use them all again.
Chase Bank on Main Street was originally the Mattawan Bank, a bank for people who worked at the Mattawan Prison for the Criminally Insane, now the Fishkill Correctional Facility.
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There are public parking areas at Mt. Beacon, Madam Brett Park and Long Dock. You can also start the trail at any point .
If you want to learn more about Beacon History read "Historic Beacon" by Robert Murphy and Denise Van Buren. or visit the Beacon Historical Society web site http://beaconhistoricalsociety.org/index2.php
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There are public parking areas at Mt. Beacon, Madam Brett Park and Long Dock, as well as parking accessible all long the trail. One can start the trail at any point and return. You can enlarge the or diminish it to make your planning easier.
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(1) Metro North Train Station. (mile 0) When one walks down the stairs in the the station, one can go to the right side of the tracks (West side)or the left ( East side) .One way to get to Main Street is to go to the left , then you walk across the parking lot to Beekman Street and go left( North). Your other option is to go right from the steps at the station. Then you go over a bridge to get to Beekman Street; and at Beekman Street, to get to Main street, go left. (If you want to go directly to the Dia Museum or to Mt. Beacon, go right and follow the return path of the trail.)
2.) Beacon Welcome Center. (Main Street and 9 D)( mile .5) the Center is open weekends and many weekdays too. There is information there on things to do and someone pleasant to talk with.
3.) Madam Brett House. (mile 1.1, but 1 block just South of Main Street on Fishkill Avenue and Van Nydeck Avenue) (50 Van Nydeck Ave). The homestead, also called "The Teller Mansion" is named for Catheryna Rombout Brett (1687–1764), the daughter of Helena Teller and Francis Rombout. Madam Brett inherited the land on which the house stands from her father, who in turn had purchased it from the Wappinger Indians. After she married British Navy lieutenant, Roger Brett, in 1703, the couple moved onto the land in the summer of 1708. The home was built in 1709, notable as the residence of the first white woman to settle in the Hudson River highlands. It was subsequently occupied by her decedents until 1954, spanning a total of seven generations.During the American Revolutionary War, the building was used for as a shelter and storage facility by the Americans. Revolutionary leaders such as George Washington, the Marquis de La Lafayette, and Baron von Steuben are said to have been guests in the house.
In 1800, Catheryna Rombout Brett's great granddaughter Alice Schenck Teller purchased the house from her widowed mother, and together with her husband Isaac Teller, remodeled it. After Isaac's death the house was renamed "Teller's Villa" and operated as a boarding house. It is called the "Teller Mansion" because so many members of the Teller family were involved in its history and it is just off Teller Avenue in Beacon, NY. See "Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley" by Harold Eberlein and Cortlandt Van Dyke Hubbard.
For more information visit http://melzingah.awardspace.com/id5.htm
Also, just North of Main Street on Fishkill Avenue is the home and birthplace of James V. Forrestal, former U.S. Secretary of Defense. (mile 1.1, but 1 block just North of Main Street on Fishkill Avenue) James Forrestal had been secretary of the Navy under President Roosevelt and Secretary of Defense under President Truman. He played a very important role in the United States history during and after World War II. Below is the link to his history in Wikipedia's report : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Forrestal
4. )Howland Cultural Center -(corner of Main and Tioronda) ( mile 1.3) formerly Howland Library.
This Cultural Center is also currently the home of the Beacon Historical Society. The Society meets monthly and you can visit their web site any time . http://beaconhistoricalsociety.org/index2.php.
You can also visit the Howland Center web site: http://www.howlandculturalcenter.org
The Howland Cultural Center Building. built 1872
A National Historic Treasure
Civil War General and shipping magnate Joseph Howland was the chief benefactor of the former Howland Library. He joined with ten other leaders of what was then the village of Mattawan and formed the library in 1872. He also commissioned his brother-in-law, Richard Morris Hunt, to design the new library. Hunt's contribution to our community was one of his earliest works.
Norwegian in architectural style, the building is 65'x 40' and has a six-gabled roof covered with Delaware slate. The outside walls are red and black Croton brick inter-laid with light Jersey brick. The foundation is of blue stone and Breakneck granite. The ceiling, from floor to dome, measures 33'9" and is supported by hand-wrought Georgia pine columns. The floors are in the three thickness, composed of English cane felt laid on hemlock boards to prevent dampness or sound. The floor's top is laid in strips of selected Georgia pine. The original collection of close to 2,200 volumes was open only to subscribers. No smoking, spitting or "indecorous conduct" were allowed according to the library’s first regulations. The fine for overdue books was set at 20 cents a day.
Generations of Beaconites fondly recall filing through these doors to reach the knowledge contained within. By the mid 1970s, it was clear the library had outgrown the building and after constructing new facilities moved in 1976.
This priceless building with its Norwegian architectural was added to the National Historical Register in 1976. The Howland Cultural Center a non-profit cultural organization along with it's membership maintains the facility and continues to use this rare architectural gem as a showcase for a myriad of community functions as well as regional, national and international cultural events drawing audiences from across the Hudson Valley and beyond.
5.) Falls and Station area- ( .2 mile beyond trail) formerly factories, a water power producing dam and the Matteawan train station were located here. The falls in the past were used for energy to power local factories..... this was and still is an easy to obtain sustainable energy. When will we again wake up and try? The Matteawan Train Depot was originally built in 1873 for the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad to Dutchess Junction..It was originally a two-story frame building, built at a cost of $3000, most paid for by the Village of Matteawan. The original lower floor was at track level, to receive freight shipments. It operated until 1933. Again , wouldn't it be energy wise to rebuild our mass transit infrastructure so we don't need to rely so much on our automobiles ? In the 1930's there was a major factory complex at East Main Street. One factory,the Round House, was the home of Horatio N. Swifts Machine Shop,the manufacturing site of America's first lawnmowers. Braedly's Dye Works later occupied that site. The Roundhouse at Beacon Falls has refurbished the old factory, and the old Mattawan train station has also been refurbished, with local stores occupying it now. There is also a short picturesque trail from the Round House to the the truly beautiful falls themselves,with some benches so you can really sit and enjoy..
Before European Americans came here, the falls was a place where Native Americans, the Wappinger tribe, went for spiritual uplift. As part of their legend, wood spirits also went there. To learn ore about the Wappinger people living here, you can go to the "The legacy of the Algonquin and Haudenosaunee People" page on this web site or visit http://www.wilkesweb.us/algonquin/nny.htm.
Corner of 9 D and Tioronda Rd. (1.6 miles) Here you can take a side tour to Madam Brett Park(E) or else go on the main tour to Mount Beacon(F) and the Settlement Camp sites,(G) and then make your return from there, or you can do both.
6.) Madam Brett Park ( 1 mile West of the main trail) ( long road down hill on Tioronda Avenue, and if you want to go to Mt. beacon, you have to go back up the road to 9 D - —Madam Brett Park hugs Fishkill Creek ( in Wappinger language called Mattawan) , which played a prominent role in Beacon's development. Along it stood a gristmill owned by the park's namesake — Catheryna Rombout Brett (1687-1764), the first European settler in the present-day city. The mill was an important gathering place for farmers and Native Americans inhabiting both shores of the Hudson River hereabouts.
Today the park provides a perfect place to explore the ecology of a vital Hudson River tributary and the tidal wetland at its mouth. Fishkill Marsh supports an extraordinary variety of wildlife. It furnishes a home for amphibians and aquatic mammals, including muskrats; serves as a hunting ground for ospreys, bald eagles and other raptors; and is a stopover for migratory birds. A boardwalk and observation platforms afford up-close discoveries of these and other creatures. A waterfall at the park's eastern end is especially impressive — and raucous — in spring or after heavy rains. For more information visit http://www.scenichudson.org
At the Fishkill creek there is an island where the leaders of the tribe met for their council meetings. That place was called Tioronda. In 1800s, Joseph Howland learned of this, and called his estate, located on the other side of the creek, the Tioronda Estate.
By the way,that creek,we call Fishkill was called "Matteawan" by the Wappingers living here. "Matteawan" means river with fish, in the Wappinger Native American, language, whereas "Fish Kill" is Dutch for the same meaning. There still are fish in the creek, but before they built all the dams, herring used to come in great numbers going up the waterfalls to spawn. Now there still are herring in the Spring, going up to the first dam, but not nearly as many. There are more than one reasons for this decrease in the herring count. One reason is that commercial fisherman , in the Atlantic Ocean, are using methods that kill many. Another reason is the depletion of their spawning grounds. But they still survive. In the Spring, the DEC sponsors a herring count to monitor them.
To learn more about the Wappinger people living here, you can go to the "The legacy of the Algonquin and Haudenosaunee People" page on this web site or visit http://www.wilkesweb.us/algonquin/nny.htm.
In the 1800s, the creek powered a profusion of hat factories (including the Tioronda Hat Works, located in the brick building adjacent to the park, which earned Beacon the nickname "New York's Hat-Making Capital." For 70 years the "Tompkins" name was synonymous with hat making in Beacon. Ralph Tompkins leased the Tioronda Hat Shop to the Merrimack Hat/Dutchess Hat Works Co. In 1939, the company hired over 200 workers, running two shifts producing ladies and men's hat bodies.
7. )Mt Beacon ( on Route 9 D, just before Hillside Avenue.) (2.2 miles) The trek up Mount Beacon is strenuous, although switchbacks along the trail furnish occasional breathers. The hike begins on a staircase following the course of the Beacon Incline Railway, in the early 20th century the world's steepest funicular and one of the Hudson Valley's prime tourist attractions. (The Beacon Incline Railway Restoration Society is working to return the ride, destroyed in a 1983 fire, to its former glory.) Observation platforms atop the stairs preview the treat awaiting those who reach the summit — sublime vistas stretching from the Hudson Highlands to the Catskills.
After a rest, you can explore the ruins of the incline railway's powerhouse or follow a short trail leading to a monument commemorating a signal fire built atop the mountain during the Revolutionary War. It was one of many beacons, spanning from the Highlands into New Jersey, intended to warn of British troop movements. (This one gave the mountain and city their names.) The adventurous can hike to Scenic Hudson's adjacent Fishkill Ridge, whose rugged trails afford long-range glimpses of the Highlands and even Manhattan's skyline. And a mile from the summit is the newly restored Mount Beacon fire tower, where on a clear day you can see from the Big Apple to Albany. For more information visit http://www.scenichudson.org
8.) University Settlement Camp area. (.5 mile beyond Mt. Beacon, an extension from the measured tour ) (A short distance South of Mt. Beacon on 9 D) Now includes offices for Clearwater ,a mini-disc golf course and gardens for Sargent Downing Gardens and Nursery. In the 1700’s, part of this area, and the building where Clearwater now resides, was owned by a Lt. Annan, who served in Revolutionary War. In the 1800’s it was owned by Joseph Howland as part of his Tioronda Estate. Henry Ward Beecher, famed abolitionist minister lived in the house that Lt. Annan had built, and refurbished it. The property, itself, was donated to the University Settlement for youth from New York City, by Joseph Howland's widow, Elisabeth Woolsey Howland, just as the University Settlement was being formed in Manhattan Howland’s mansion, just West, on route 9 D, and the rest of his estate, can still be seen. The mansion was designed by Frederick Clarke Withers, who also designed the Reformed Dutch Church. The gardens on this property were designed by Frank Sargent, who worked closely with Andrew Jackson Downing. Andrew Jackson Downing lived in Newburgh,across the river; and his ideas of horticulture were the basis for the current design of Central Park, as well as much of what became contemporary horticulture in our nation..
You can learn more about the history of the Tioronda Estate under the " Our Mission/Tioronda Estate History "page on this web site, and also also learn about our horticulture history on the"The 9/11 Tree & Our Legacy of Horticulture in the Hudson Valley " page of this web site.
University Settlement Camp:. Founded in 1886 as the first settlement house in the United States, University Settlement is still one of New York's most dynamic social service institutions, with deep roots on the Lower East Side. One hundred years ago that meant transporting immigrant children from the Lower East Side up the Hudson to University Settlement's Beacon Camp, 100 acres of fresh air and open space at the foot of Mount Beacon. Over the years the camp remained a haven for New York City children, where thousands fled urban life and experienced nature for the first time.
In 2007, when the challenge of supporting a seasonal, residential camp became untenable, University Settlement sold the property; it is now a State Park administered by the City of Beacon.
You can learn more with our discussion of th settlement camp on the "Mission/ Tioronda Estate History" page of this web site.
Watch a video of the 2010 Reunion for campers ,at the settlement camp with Pete Seeger leading singing at ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQTO9OUk0U.
Beacon Glades Mini Golf Course: is available free to everyone to use covering much of the area of the Settlement Camp . Click the link and see what is there: .http://www.beacondiscgolf.com This is a great way to appreciate this beautiful park and have fun at the same time.
Clearwater: In 1966, folk music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger, in despair over the pollution of his beloved Hudson River, announced plans to “build a boat to save the river.” At the time, the Hudson was rank with raw sewage, toxic chemicals and oil pollution; fish had disappeared over many miles of its length. Seeger believed a majestic replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries would bring people to the river, where they could experience its beauty and be moved to preserve it. Inspired by that vision, the organization began with the launch of the sloop Clearwater in 1969 —a majestic foot long replica vessel. Clearwater, America’s Environmental Flagship, was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 for its role in the environmental movement. and is among the first vessels in the U.S. to conduct science-based environmental education aboard a sailing ship, creating the template for environmental education programs around the world. More than half a million young people and hundreds of thousands of adults have experienced their first real look at an estuary’s ecosystem aboard Clearwater.
For over 40 years, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater has been at the forefront of the environmental movement as champion of the Hudson River, working to pass landmark legislation like
The organization’s strong connection to youth, environmental education, and its agenda to create the next generation of environmental leaders, are all part of building and strengthening a Green Cities Initiative for a green economy and a more inclusive and diverse environmental movement. To learn more about Clearwater visit http://www.clearwater.org/.
Sargent Downing Gardens and Nursery focuses on the areas of gardening, horticulture and civic pride. Its emphasis is an education program for our children. While serving the community at large, this program also provides the City of Beacon with trees for its parks and Main Street.
The Hudson Valley has a rich history in the early development of American landscape gardening and design. Both Beacon and Newburgh were homes of two distinguished horticulturists, Henry Winthrop Sargent and Andrew Jackson Downing, who paved the way for the art form that helped design some of the most beautiful landscapes in America, ( including Central Park). One main purpose of The Sargent Downing Gardens and Nursery is to offer an educational recreation program ,to continue the process of education and appreciation that both Sargent and Downing started in the 19th Century.. To learn more about Sargent Downing Gardens go to http://www.sdgardens.com/ .
9.) Reformed Church. ( .3 miles North of main tour) (on 9 D just a little North and uphill from Beekman Street.)The Reformed Church of Beacon, originally the Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill landing, is the oldest church in Beacon. The congregation was established in 1813 in what was then a small riverside settlement known as Fishkill Landing. ( Fishkill Landing joined Mattawan later to become what is now Beacon). A small white frame church was built on the present site. Later, it was necessary to expand the facility, so a new church designed by Frederick Clarke Withers, was built in 1859. It is one of the rare churches he designed in the Victorian Gothic style, and one of the earlier uses of that style in the United States. The church and its cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It is one of three Withers buildings in the city on the Register.
The founder of the State of Georgia, William Few, was once buried there, but when Jimmy Carter was President, he came to Beacon to bring William Few back to his home state.
Inside the church there is a red carpet,which covers the wooden floor under the sanctuary's 98 oak pews. The walls are plaster, covered to a certain level with narrow vertical wainscoting. They rise to a vaulted wooden ceiling with large trusses. In the rear, behind the altar, are the pipes of the church's manual-tracker pipe organ, the only one in the Hudson Valley.
Listen to a choir and see the beauty of the church by clicking the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF4B5dhcVf8
10.) Dia museum (3.6 miles) ( entrance off Beekman Street) -( formerly Nabisco Biscuit Printing factory. built 1929)
Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries houses Dia Art Foundation's renowned collection of art from the 1960s to the present. The museum, which occupies a former Nabisco printing factory, features installations of works by some of the most significant artists of the last half century, as well as special exhibitions, new commissions, and public and education programs.
Dia:Beacon occupies a former Nabisco (National Biscuit Company) box printing facility built in 1929 and designed by Nabisco’s staff architect Louis N. Wirshing, Jr. In The building’s most recent owner, International Paper, donated the property to Dia in 1999.
The former factory is built of brick, steel, concrete, and glass, and is considered a model of early twentieth century industrial architecture. Design elements include broad spans between supporting columns, and more than 34,000-square-feet of skylights which create an exceptional environment for viewing works of contemporary art in natural light. To learn more about Dia Beacon visit http://www.diabeacon.org
11.) Long Dock Park ( 3.8 miles) ( entrance off Long Dock Rd.) A critical 19th-century transportation link between New England and points west, Long Dock once contained a rail ferry terminal, warehouses and other buildings. More recently, it was home to an oil terminal, salt-storage facility and junkyard. All traces of its commercial and industrial past have been removed to create an exciting riverfront destination boasting a kayak pavilion and beach for launching boats, rehabilitated wetlands and meadows that attract wildlife, and the restored, historic Red Barn, now Scenic Hudson's River Center for arts and environmental-education activities.
One of the most popular attractions in the park, at Long Dock's tip, is Beacon Point Project, a shoreline installation by renowned artist George Trakas. The work projects out over the river (at high tide, water actually flows through it), making this a perfect place to fish, sunbathe and admire magnificent vistas of Newburgh Bay and the Hudson Highlands.
A visit to Beacon is not complete without having the experience of looking at the magnificent and historic Storm King Mountain from the tip of Long Dock Park.
For more information visit http://www.scenichudson.org/
12) Trail to Dennings Point State Park (3.8 miles) Accessible through Long Dock Park or the R.R Station parking lot, or by driving to the lot for it, by the Beacon Waste Facility, at the end of Dennings Point Rd.,where there is a shorter walk.. There is a plan to extend this walk to go past Dennings Point , over the railroad tracks and to BMadame Brett Park.
Dennings Point is part of the Hudson Highlands State Park. It boasts accessible walking and biking paths and rich cultural and archaeological history. At Dennings Point is the Center for Environmental Innovation and Education (CEIE). It is the first of Beacon Institute's Denning's Point facilities, a renovation of a 4,000 square foot nineteenth century building—a former brick works, where mud had been fashioned into bricks prior to baking—adapted for twenty-first century use with eco-friendly design and construction.
The CEIE is the first home to the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON) and the Institute’s educational programs, policy initiatives and technology workshops. It is also a public visitor’s center for the state park at Denning’s Point and located near the entrance to the public walking trail.
Jim Heron, retired project historian, documented the lyrical history of Denning's Point in his 2006 book, Denning's Point: A Hudson River History From 4000 BC to the 21st Century. This, and other books about the Hudson River and estuary, are available at the Institute's store and gallery at 199 Main Street in Beacon. And you can visit the Beacon Institute: http://www.thebeaconinstitute.org
(1. End back at the Metro North Station ( 3.9 miles)
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Additional places of interest:
Beacon Institute 199 Main Street
Beacon Post Office 369 Main Street a W P A Project, built 1934
Mattewan Fire House #1, 425 Main Street built 1911
Beacon Theater 445 Main Street built 1934
The Beacon Theatre was originally the Dibble Opera House, so people who came to Beacon from NYC would have a place to see and hear opera. The Dibble Hotel was across the street, where the Melzingah Hotel is now, across the street. Later, the opera house closed down , but then expanded to become a vaudeville theater and movie house in 1934. The theater was later closed but has now reopened for us all to enjoy. visit http://www.thebeacontheatre.org/now-featuring/
The building next to the Salvation Army Church on Main Street was once the home of the William T Jackson Carriage and Sleigh Manufactury from 1860 to the 1920's. The owner, Mr. Henry Jackson was ready to attend orders for harnesses,saddles, whips and vehicles such as grape wagons, business wagons, buggies and farm wagons,all of their own make.
Waterfront Park (picnicking, fishing, children’s pool in summer,)
Waterfront Pier (farmers market on Sundays, ferry to Newburgh, weekday rush hours)
Beacon Sloop Club (free sail boat rides available weekdays in the summer
visit http://www.beaconsloopclub.org for more information, and/or visit the Beacon Sloop Club page on this web site for an audio report of its history.
Chrystie House 300 South Avenue Had been the home for the Chrystie family, William Few ,and Dr. Clarence Slocum and his family. Currently it is a bed and breakfast so people from elsewhere can come and visit our town, staying at this historical place. The Chrystie families were important bankers in our nation, William Few was a signer of the Constitution, and the founder of the State of Georgia. William Few actually tried to end slavery in Georgia after the revolution,way before the civil war. Dr. Clarence Slocum was the founder of Craig House, one of the first open mental health facilities in our nation. On this web site we have a more detailed history of Chrystie House and William Few. For more information visit http://www.chrystiehouse.com/history1.html and/ or visit the "Chrystie House" page on this web site.
Hiddenbrook: Temporarily closed due to storm damage. 89 Hiddenbrook Dr . Hiddenbrooke is a nearly 100 acre open space preserve for walking and hiking located at the foot of Mt. Beacon. On this website we have a more detailed history of Hiddenbrook. Look under "more". The "Margaret Sanger/Hiddenbrook” page on this web site and/or visit http://www.cityofbeacon.org/albums/20
Groveville Hydroelectric Plant and Dam:
If you drive down Route 52, Fishkill Avenue, almost to the Northern edge of Beacon and go down Mill Street, you can go where there is a functioning hydroelectric power plant and dam. You can't actually see the dam from there , but you can view it by driving down Liberty street on the other side of the creek to its Northern end. A picture from that location is below.
At one time there were at least three hydroelectric power plants in Beacon: one at the falls by the Mattawan Train station, that powered the factories there, the second was the Groveville plant which powered the Groveville Mills, and the third one by Tioronda Island which powered the Tioronda Hat factory .We still have all those places available for water power, and if we have the will, maybe one day we can use them all again.
Chase Bank on Main Street was originally the Mattawan Bank, a bank for people who worked at the Mattawan Prison for the Criminally Insane, now the Fishkill Correctional Facility.
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There are public parking areas at Mt. Beacon, Madam Brett Park and Long Dock. You can also start the trail at any point .
If you want to learn more about Beacon History read "Historic Beacon" by Robert Murphy and Denise Van Buren. or visit the Beacon Historical Society web site http://beaconhistoricalsociety.org/index2.php
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There are public parking areas at Mt. Beacon, Madam Brett Park and Long Dock, as well as parking accessible all long the trail. One can start the trail at any point and return. You can enlarge the or diminish it to make your planning easier.
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View of Groveville Dam from Liberty Street
Audio Tour
Everyone can access a audio tour of Beacon as well as Newburgh by dialing 845-790-8771
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The places in Beacon which have their history narrated are as follows:
code 12# for Beacon Riverfront Park,
11# for Newburgh Beacon Ferry Launch,
15# Nabisco Factory/Dia Beacon ( site "I" in our tour)
16# Welcome Center/Banks Square. ( site "B" in our tour)
17#,St James AME Zion Church 23 Academy Street,
18#, Lewis Tompkins Hose Co/ Hudson Glass 162 Main street, ,
19#, Methodist Cemetary N.Walnut and Verplanck Ave
14#, Howland Cultural Center 477 Main Street ( Site "D")
visit http://www.soundandstory.org for more information http://www.soundandstory.org
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