The village's name, in earlier years known as Tappan Landing, was given by Dr. Eleazar Lord, author, educator, deacon of the First Protestant Dutch Church and first president of the Erie Railroad. It was derived by combining a local natural feature –Tallman Mountain– and the most prominent man-made feature of the village – the long Erie Railroad pier.
Sparkill Creek cuts through the north end of the Hudson Palisades, providing easy access to the fertile valley of the unnavigable upper Hackensack River. "Tappan Landing," "Tappan Slote", or "Taulman Landing," as the little port on the Hudson River was called,[3] thus became the original port for southern Orange County. The valley in the Palisades created by the creek also provided an obvious route for the Erie Railroad's first-built line (now known as the Piermont Branch), which originated at Suffern, New York, to reach eastward to the Hudson (with water connection to New York City). The railroad built a long pier into the river near the creek in 1839 as its principal terminal. The pier and the nearby mountains suggested a new name for the community, which was incorporated as a village in 1850. During World War II the pier was the ferry terminal to which troops from Camp Shanks marched in order to be transported to New York Port of Embarkation piers for transfer to overseas transports bound for the European Theater.[4] A memorial plaque notes that history at the pier.[4]
In 2024 the village government led by Bruce Tucker became embroiled in controversy around a proposed three-story residential building in downtown. Village residents vehemently objected to the modern boxy architecture as wholly inconsistent with the village's historic character and aesthetics. The legality of the village's Board of Trustees' amendment to its zoning code to facilitate the proposed development was openly challenged by the Rockland County Planning Department. Village residents also raised concerns about increased traffic, parking issues, and the site having previously served as a gas station with underground storage tanks.[5]
Village residents and neighbors flocked to social media to express their concerns, including the establishment of Preserve Piermont on Facebook and a blog entitled Unhand Piermont! which together focus not only on the unsuitability of the proposed project but allege wrongdoing by village officials.[6]
Dennis Hardy, former Mayor of Piermont from 1997 to 2001, noted "There was little public input. The village stubbed its nose at the county by ignoring the county planning office." Hardy also called the project was "totally out of character with downtown Main Street."[7]
Resignations related to this controversy included Piermont Planning Board Chair Daniel Spitzer (brother of former Governor of New YorkEliot Spitzer) and Piermont Trustee Nathan Mitchell.[8][9]
In response to a lawsuit filed by village residents, on October 11, 2024 Rockland County Supreme Court Justice Hal Greenwald declared the law which created the Piermont Central Business Multi-Use (CBM) Zoning District “null, void and jurisdictionally invalid.” The ruling was based on the failure, under Rockland County General Municipal Law, for the Village of Piermont to have referred the law creating the new zoning district to the County Planning Department for final approval.[10]
Piermont Pier Imminent Collapse
In November 2024 the concrete end of the historical Piermont Pier was closed off as it was deemed to be structurally deficient and at risk of imminent collapse. Mayor Bruce Tucker noted "We are going to need some major money here...if anyone has any money, we'd love to talk to them."[11]
Piermont Station
Piermont Train Station
The Piermont Branch was not the only Erie rail line that served the village. Piermont Railroad Station, located on Ash Street, is a Victorian Stick style structure built in 1873 which served as Piermont's stop for the former Erie RailroadNorthern Branch north–south line, which went from Nyack, New York, to Jersey City, New Jersey. Service on the Northern Branch stopped running through Piermont in 1966. The branch was abandoned in the 1970s as a result of railroad consolidation.
The exterior of the building was renovated to its original architecture and French gray, light-green and oxide-red color scheme in 2006 by the Piermont Historical Society. They replaced the roof and installed a new 9-foot (2.7m) cupola. The train station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Piermont Fire Department
Piermont Fire Department, Rockland County department 13, is an all-volunteer fire department, providing fire, EMS, and water rescue services, and is located on Main Street. Piermont is one of the few districts in Rockland County having a Dive Rescue team, providing water rescue services from the Tappan Zee Bridge to the Palisades.
Piermont hand-cranked drawbridge
The Piermont hand-cranked drawbridge, also known as the Sparkill Creek Drawbridge, was originally built in 1880 by the King Iron Bridge Company, a company from Cleveland, Ohio, that constructed more than 10,000 bridges over six decades. The hand-cranked drawbridge is used as a pedestrian walkway providing a link to Tallman Mountain State Park. This bridge is the only hand-cranked drawbridge in Rockland County and perhaps in the United States. Back in the day, fishermen on sloops heading up and down the creek got out of their vessel, cranked up the drawbridge, sailed across, got out of their vessel and cranked down the drawbridge for vehicular traffic. The whole bridge was dismantled piece by piece, sent off-site for restoration and restored to its original state after a complete forensic analysis. Allan King Sloan, the great-great-grandson of the company's founder, provided some of the information that is on the historical marker nearby and attended the dedication ceremony on August 7, 2009.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8km2), of which 0.7 square miles (1.8km2) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3km2), or 41.74%, is water.
Piermont is on the west bank of the Hudson River, south of the Tappan Zee Bridge.
As of the census[14] of 2000, there were 2,607 people, 1,189 households, and 672 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,878.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,497.7/km2). There were 1,320 housing units at an average density of 1,964.0 per square mile (758.3/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 78.75% White, 4.72% Black, 0.19% Native American, 7.79% Asian, 5.49% from other races, and 3.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.62% of the population.
There were 1,189 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were non-families. 35.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the village, the population was spread out, with 19.2% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 30.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $61,591, and the median income for a family was $89,846. Males had a median income of $50,659 versus $43,176 for females. The per capita income for the village was $43,731. About 3.0% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
Alfred Bristol, a 100-year-old World War II veteran of Piermont who served his country in a segregated Army unit, was a recipient of the Rockland County Buffalo Soldier Award. The award, presented since 1993, is named after the Black 10th Cavalry Regiment that was stationed near the railroad construction camps of the Kansas Frontier in 1867. Regiment members were nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers” by the Plains Indians, based on their exceptional and fearsome fighting reputation. They were never defeated during 23 years of service in the Indian Wars, from 1867 to 1890. Bristol enlisted in the segregated New York Army National Guard in 1931. He belonged to the “Harlem Hellfighters,” the nickname for the 369th Infantry Regiment, which was later reorganized into the 369th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion and was sent to the Pacific during World War II. It participated in the 10th Army Division's invasion and occupation of Okinawa, a Japanese stronghold, in 1945. Upon completing Officer Candidate School, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, a rarity for Blacks at the time. Bristol and his wife, Carolyn, who married in 1941, moved to Shanks Village in Orangeburg after World War II where Bristol organized meetings, dances, parades and the 25-cent “Shanks Carpool” to and from New York City. Bristol played a role in the creation of Tappan Public Library and from 1963 to 1995 served as a trustee and president of the library's board. In 1967, he organized the Art for the Mountain auction to help save Clausland Mountain from development, with the 550-acre site later becoming a county park.
Grady Anderson of Nanuet, a Vietnam-era Army veteran and the 1996 award recipient, stated “The purpose was to honor African-American unsung heroes in Rockland County who served in the military and, like their predecessors, experienced the wrath of racism, and were successful in their fields and for giving back to the community,” Anderson said.
Army veteran David Smith of Montebello, who saw combat in Vietnam and was the 1994 award recipient, thanked Bristol “for allowing me and others to climb up your back, for the path that you laid for us. So I say that with appreciation, affection and love, and I'll salute you again, sir.”
John W. Ferdon, Congressman from New York
William Gaddis, American novelist, lived in Piermont while writing his second novel, J R (1975). The house he lived in served as the setting for his third novel, Carpenter's Gothic (1985).[15]
Mimi Bryan was elected Piermont's first woman mayor in 1974.[16]
Dennis D. Sweeney (1853–1912), of Piermont, Employed as Yard Conductor in the Erie Yards, Jersey City since about 1885, Veteran in yard service; was a Yard Master of the Rail Road in 1900s, Member of Lodge 56 and Master Switchman then later Grand Master of Lodge 115 in Jersey City, New Jersey of the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association, was regarded as an industrious and sober man, had money saved in the bank, frequently attended lodge meetings, wrote numerous articles and newsletters in the Switchmen's Journal, was a delegate to the Dallas Convention as Chairman of the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association, died from a bullet in 1912 while walking in the streets of New York at the corner of Doyers and Bowery at 3:00p.m. the shots of which were intended for another person supposedly from a Chinese battle (“Pell Street” Battle”) also known as “Tong Fight” going on in the vicinity.[20]
Tourism
Shops and Galleries in Piermont, NYFirst Reformed Church - 1946
Onderdonk HouseFlywheel from old factory at Flywheel Park
Dederer Stone House or Stonehurst
Piermont Public LibraryPiermont Erie Railroad station
Eleanor Stroud Park - A pond and small surrounding park next to Sparkill Creek and under the U.S. Route 9W viaduct. The park is named after a woman who lived near the pond on Ferdon Avenue.[21] For decades she looked after the children who ice skated at the pond and served hot chocolate, coffee, hot dogs and cookies from a nearby shed. The pond is free to the public and open until 9 PM every day the green signal flag is posted.
"Last Stop USA" memorial statue that honors the soldiers that died in World War II. Piermont Pier was the area of disembarkation for soldiers heading to Europe.
This house at 264 Piermont avenue Circa 1800 in the center of the Rockland Road Bridge District and is rumored that Aaron Burr spent The night after his fatal duel with Alexander Hamilton
Swamp Church - Carteret Avenue (St Charles A. M. E. Zion Church) In 1865 the black community around the Slote attended the Swamp Church at Skunk Hollow pastored by "Reverend Billy" Thompson.
1 1870 U.S. census, population schedules, NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d., Year: 1870; Census Place: Orangetown, Rockland, New York; Roll: M593_1087; Page: 597B; #2 Thompson, W. H., Journal of the Switchmen's Union, Volume 14, Switchmen's Union of North America, January 1912, No. 1, pp. 704, 741, and 830; New Jersey, State Census, 1885, pg. 151
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. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's third-most densely populated county outside New York City after Nassau and neighboring Westchester Counties. The county seat and largest hamlet is New City. Rockland County is accessible via both the New York State Thruway, which crosses the Hudson River to Westchester via the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Tappan Zee, ten exits up from the NYC border; and the Palisades Parkway, four exits up, via 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. The county is part of the Hudson Valley region of the state.
Nyack is a village located primarily in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retains a very small western section in Clarkstown. The village had a population of 7,265 as of the 2020 census. It is a suburb of New York City lying approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of the Manhattan boundary near the west bank of the Hudson River, situated north of South Nyack, east of Central Nyack, south of Upper Nyack, and southeast of Valley Cottage.
Orangetown is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located in the southeastern part of the county. It is northwest of New York City, north of New Jersey, east of the town of Ramapo, south of the town of Clarkstown, and west of the Hudson River. The population was 48,655 at the 2020 census.
South Nyack is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Grand View-on-Hudson, northeast of Orangeburg, east of Blauvelt State Park, south of Nyack and west of the Hudson River. The hamlet is the western terminus of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Its population was 3,510 at the 2010 census. The hamlet was formerly incorporated as a village from 1878 until 2022.
Tappan is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Orangetown, New York, United States. It is located northwest of Alpine, New Jersey, north of Northvale, New Jersey and Rockleigh, New Jersey, northeast of Old Tappan, New Jersey, east/southeast of Nauraushaun and Pearl River, south of Orangeburg, southwest of Sparkill, and west of Palisades; Tappan shares a border with each. The population was 6,673, according to the 2020 census.
The Northern Branch is a railroad line that runs from Jersey City to Northvale in northeastern New Jersey, and formerly extended further into New York State. The line was constructed in 1859 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to connect the New York and Erie Railroad's Piermont Branch terminus in Piermont, New York, directly to Erie's primary terminal in Jersey City, initially Exchange Place, later Pavonia Terminal. In 1870 the line was extended to Nyack, New York, and continued to provide passenger service until 1966. After the Erie's unsuccessful merger with the Lackawanna Railroad to form the Erie-Lackawanna, ownership of the line passed into the hands of Conrail upon its formation in 1976 from a number of bankrupt railroads.
Palisades, formerly known as Sneden's Landing, is a hamlet in the Town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States.
Sparkill, formerly known as Tappan Sloat, is a suburban hamlet and census-designated place in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Palisades; east of Tappan; south of Piermont and west of the Hudson River. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 1,565. The hamlet is home to St. Thomas Aquinas College and the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill.
Suffern station is a railroad station in the village of Suffern. The station, located on Ramapo Avenue in Suffern, services trains of New Jersey Transit's Main Line and Metro-North Railroad's Port Jervis Line. Suffern station serves as the terminal for Main Line trains, as trains continue north into Hillburn Yard. The next Main Line station, located in New Jersey, is Mahwah. The next Port Jervis Line station to the north is Sloatsburg. The station consists of two low-level side platforms for trains in both directions, neither of which are handicap accessible for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
New York State Route 340 (NY 340) is a 3.10-mile (4.99 km) state highway in southeastern Rockland County, New York, in the United States. Though it is signed as an east–west route, it actually follows a north–south alignment. The southern terminus of the route is at the New Jersey state line in Palisades, where it becomes County Route 501 (CR 501). The northern terminus is at an intersection with NY 303 in Orangeburg; however, according to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), the route continued for another 0.07 miles (0.11 km) to the northwest of NY 303 until by 2017. NY 340 was assigned to part of its modern routing in the early 1930s and extended to its current length in the early 1940s.
The King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company was a late-19th-century bridge building company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded by Zenas King (1818–1892) in 1858 and subsequently managed by his sons, James A. King and Harry W. King and then his grandson, Norman C. King, until the mid-1920s. Many of the bridges built by the company were used during America's expansion west in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and some of these bridges are still standing today.
Piermont Railroad Station is a historic train station located at Piermont in Rockland County, New York. It was built about 1873 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey, later acquired by the Erie Railroad. It is a 1+1⁄2-story, light frame building above a stone foundation. It features Stick Style exterior siding and a Late Victorian interior.
Rockland Road Bridge is a historic stone and brick arch bridge located at Piermont in Rockland County, New York. It was built in 1874 and spans Sparkill Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River. The bridge is located southwest of the Sparkill Creek Drawbridge.
The Sparkill Creek Drawbridge is a historic Pratt Pony Truss drawbridge located at Piermont in Rockland County, New York. It was built in 1880 by the King Iron Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and is a single-leaf movable metal bridge. Chains can lift the bridge when an operator turns a crank, helped by counterweights. It spans Sparkill Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River.
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
Sparkill Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River in Rockland County, New York and Bergen County, New Jersey in the United States. It flows through the Sparkill Gap in the Hudson Palisades, which was created by a fault line which provided the only sea-level break in the Palisades.
Rockland Road Bridge Historic District is a national historic district located at Piermont in Rockland County, New York. The district encompasses 12 contributing buildings and 8 contributing structures in the village of Piermont. It developed between about 1785 and 1940, and includes representative examples of Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Second Empire style architecture. Located in the district are the separately listed William Ferdon House, Haddock's Hall, and the Rockland Road Bridge. Other notable buildings and structures include the Sparkill Pump House and Dam, "Protection Engine Company", and The Mine Hole.
The Old Erie Path is a 3.4 mile north-south rail trail in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. It begins at the southern edge of South Nyack at the end of the Raymond G. Esposito Trail, spanning Grand View-on-Hudson and Piermont before terminating at the junction of the Joseph B. Clarke Rail Trail in Sparkill. The trail is a dirt path, suitable for hiking and mountain biking.
The Joseph B. Clarke Rail Trail is a paved 3.8 mile north-south rail trail in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. It begins at the Blauvelt Free Library on Western Highway in the hamlet of Blauvelt, and ends at the intersection of Oak Tree Road in the hamlet of Tappan. The trail intersects the Old Erie Path at Depot Square in Sparkill.
The Erie Railroad Piermont Branch was a rail branch line that was formed from the easternmost portion of the original main line of the Erie. It ran from Suffern, New York to Piermont, New York.
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