Grassy Point is a short peninsula extending into the Hudson River in the southeast part of the Town of Stony Point. In 1798 William Denning Sr., a wealthy New York lawyer, purchased the land. He later sold 10 acres (40,000 m2) at the south end of the property to another New York lawyer, William Smith, who built a large two-story house and named it "Rosa Villa".[1]
After the death of Denning, his property passed through the hands of Philip Verplanck, Isaac L. Pratt and Dr. Lawrence Proudfoot. In 1830 Proudfoot built the first steamboat landing at Grassy Point. Owing to the depth of water, it was the stopping place for steamers passing up and down the river. The first hotel at Grassy Point was kept by Dr. Proudfoot in a double house near the steamboat wharf. On the north side of that house was a small addition in which Proudfoot kept a small store and bar, and in which the first post office was opened.[2]
The first post office at Grassy Point was opened on July 30, 1834, with James De La Montanya as postmaster. On August 21, 1834, the name of the office was changed to North Haverstraw, and it retained this name until September l0th, 1836, when it was changed back to Grassy Point. On September 5, 1845, the office was discontinued. The post office at Grassy Point was re-established with Alfred M. Wiles as postmaster on April 14, 1871.
In June 1831, the steamboat General Jackson, owned by Jacob Vanderbilt, and plying between New York and Peekskill, blew up at Grassy Point.[3] The boat was later rebuilt and subsequently sold to David P. Mapes who used it on the Kingston-New York run.
In 1845, O. C. Gerow opened a general country store in a building a few feet west of Proudfoot's house. In 1848, James Creney opened a hotel at the Point. The first lumber yard at the Point was started by Walter Fleet, Brewster Gurnee & A. Gurnee and George H. Smith.[4] In the spring of 1845, John I. Wiles moved from Orange County to Grassy Point with his family, and opened a shop for the purpose of doing blacksmith or wheelwright work. In 1871, a foundry was built which manufactured machinery for flour and saw mills and brick making.
The number of vessels engaged in the transportation of brick from the county made marine railways and ship yards near Haverstraw a necessity. In the autumn of 1883, George L. Wicks started a yard at Grassy Point where the depth of water was favorable, and put down a marine railway.[5]
In 1889 St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church was established under the direction of Rev. Henry P. Baxter.[6] The church was built by local residents with bricks supplied by the local brickyards. It was part of a much larger community that included a general store, a foundry, two hotels, a firehouse, a school and a bakery.[7]
The brick industry was the area's main business. In the late 1800s and early 1900s brickyards extended along the Hudson River from the village of Haverstraw, (the "Brickmaking Capital of the World") to Grassy Point. In 1905 Patrick Brophy & Sons were producing building bricks at Grassy Point.[8]
Penny Bridge
Around 1875, as the brick industry boomed along the Hudson River in Stony Point and Haverstraw, town officials recognized the need for a bridge to connect Grassy Point to Stony Point and the Rockland mainland. Penny Bridge was constructed at the point where the Minisceongo and Cedar Pond Creeks meet the Hudson River.[9] In order to accommodate the barges and sloops that serviced the factories, a movable span was installed, so well balanced on its central gear that it could be turned by one man with nothing more than a wrench. When water craft needed to pass through, the entire bridge rotated perpendicular to the banks of Cedar Pond Brook over which the bridge extended. The bridge got its name from the penny charged for overland passage. Penny Bridge was demolished in 1951. A plaque commemorates its original location.[7]
Grassy Point was an important freight and passengers shipping point used by the famed Chrystenah and Emeline into the twentieth century.
↑ Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: "The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York", Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg, (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.407
Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. The county's population, as of the 2020 United States Census, is 338,329, making it the state's third-most densely populated county outside New York City. The county seat and largest city is New City. Rockland County is accessible via the New York State Thruway, which crosses the Hudson to Westchester at the Tappan Zee Bridge ten exits up from the NYC border, as well as the Palisades Parkway five exits up from the George Washington Bridge. The county's name derives from "rocky land", as the area has been aptly described, largely due to the Hudson River Palisades.
West Haverstraw is a village incorporated in 1883 in the town of Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located northwest of Haverstraw village, east of Thiells, south of the hamlet of Stony Point, and west of the Hudson River. The population was 10,165 at the 2010 census. The majority of the hamlet of Garnerville is contained in the village of West Haverstraw.
Haverstraw is a village incorporated in 1854 in the town of Haverstraw in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Congers, southeast of West Haverstraw, east of Garnerville, northeast of New City, and west of the Hudson River at its widest point. According to the 2019 U.S. Census estimate, the population was 12,045, an increase from the 2010 Census population of 11,910.
Haverstraw is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the Town of Clarkstown and the Town of Ramapo; east of Orange County; south of the Town of Stony Point; and west of the Hudson River. The town runs from the west to the east border of the county in its northern section. The population was 39,087 at the 2020 census.
Stony Point is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, east and south of Orange County, and west of the Hudson River and Westchester County. The population was 15,059 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is derived from a prominent projection into the Hudson River.
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yonkers in Westchester County, bordering New York City.
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad that ran from Weehawken, New Jersey, on the west bank of the Hudson River opposite New York City, north to Albany, New York, and then west to Buffalo. It was organized as a competitor to the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, but was soon taken over by that company.
The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland County, respectively.
Garnerville, previously known as Calicotown, is a hamlet in the town of Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of New York City; east of Mount Ivy; south of Stony Point and west of West Haverstraw. Most of the hamlet is within the West Haverstraw village, while a small portion of Garnerville defaults to the town of Haverstraw.
Haverstraw Bay, located in New York, is the widest portion of the Hudson River. The width of Haverstraw Bay is approximately 3.4 miles (5.5 km), the length approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) from river kilometer 58 at Croton Point to river kilometer 66 at Stony Point. The bay is bordered by the village of Haverstraw, in Rockland County, to the west and the village of Croton-on-Hudson, in Westchester County, to the east.
New York State Route 210 (NY 210) is a state highway in Orange County, New York, in the United States. It runs north from the New Jersey state line—where it continues south as Passaic County Route 511 (CR 511)—along the west shore of Greenwood Lake to the eponymous village of Greenwood Lake, where it ends at a junction with NY 17A. It was once much longer, as it originally extended east along NY 17A and CR 106 in Orange and Rockland counties to Stony Point when it was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. The route was truncated to its current length in 1982. Prior to becoming NY 210 in 1930, the road alongside Greenwood Lake was part of NY 55, a route connecting New Jersey to Goshen, in the 1920s.
North Rockland High School (NRHS) is public, co-educational high school located in Thiells, New York, serving 9th to 12th grade students from the northern section of Rockland County, in southern New York. The building was formerly used as an education center for the nearby Letchworth Village mental institution. In the 1970s it transitioned to a high school for the public following an expansion of the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, New York. Today, it is the only high school in the North Rockland Central School District.
County Route 106 (CR 106) is a 7.8-mile (12.6 km) east–west county route in Rockland County, New York, in the United States. It serves as an eastward continuation of Kanawauke Road, extending from the Orange County line to U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) and US 202 in Stony Point via Harriman State Park. CR 106 intersects with several county highways in Rockland County along the way. The route was only one of two in Rockland County to keep its numbering from Orange County, with the other being CR 72. CR 106 had one spur route, CR 106A, which was recently decommissioned.
Buckberg mountain is a hill above the Hudson River that played a role in American Revolutionary War strategy concerning the Hudson Highlands.
The U.S. Post Office in Haverstraw, New York, is located on Main Street in the center of the village. It serves the ZIP Code 10927, which covers the village.
The recorded history of Rockland County, New York begins on February 23, 1798, when the county was split off from Orange County, New York and formed as its own administrative division of the state of New York. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) north-northwest of New York City, and is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county seat is the hamlet of New City. The name comes from rocky land, an early description of the area given by settlers. Rockland is New York's southernmost county west of the Hudson River. It is suburban in nature, with a considerable amount of scenic designated parkland. Rockland County does not border any of the New York City boroughs, but is only 9.5 miles (15.3 km) north of Manhattan at the counties' two respective closest points
Hook Mountain State Park is a 676-acre (2.74 km2) undeveloped state park located in Rockland County, New York. The park includes a portion of the Hudson River Palisades on the western shore of the Hudson River, and is part of the Palisades Interstate Park system. Hook Mountain State Park is functionally part of a continuous complex of parks that also includes Rockland Lake State Park, Nyack Beach State Park, and Haverstraw Beach State Park.
Haverstraw Beach State Park is a 73-acre (0.30 km2) state park located in the Haverstraw, New York. The park is included within the Palisades Interstate Park system and is functionally part of a continuous complex of parks that also includes Rockland Lake State Park, Hook Mountain State Park, and Nyack Beach State Park.
Ira Munn Hedges was an American businessman and politician from New York.
Thomas Finegan was an American manufacturer and politician from New York.
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