Sterling Forest, New York

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Sterling Forest, New York
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Sterling Forest, New York
Coordinates: 41°10′N74°19′W / 41.167°N 74.317°W / 41.167; -74.317 Coordinates: 41°10′N74°19′W / 41.167°N 74.317°W / 41.167; -74.317
CountryUnited States
State New York
County Orange
Time zone UTC-5 (EST)
  Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
10979
Area code 845

Sterling Forest, New York is a hamlet in the Town of Warwick, Orange County. It is served by an active United States post office of the same name. It is situated on the eastern shore of Greenwood Lake, at the New Jersey state line. Part of the hamlet extends into West Milford Township, Passaic County, New Jersey. The hamlet grew up around the terminal station of the Montclair and Greenwood Lake Railway, later called the New York and Greenwood Lake Railway, and later the Greenwood Lake division of the Erie Railroad. The railroad reached this point around 1875, with the station located at the state line in New Jersey. The depot complex originally contained the Sterling Forest, New Jersey post office. The post office was moved to the New York side of the line in 1926, where it continues to operate. Rail service ceased in 1935.

The coming of the railroad was preceded by the construction of a large commercial ice house by the Ringwood Company around 1864. The Sterling Forest ice house was later operated by the Mountain Ice Company of Hoboken, New Jersey. It ceased operation and was eventually torn down in 1945.

At one time, the hamlet also boasted two hotels (one in New Jersey), a general store, lumber yard, two bars (in addition to those in the hotels) and a Roman Catholic church (in New Jersey). Today, the only businesses that remain are one bar/restaurant, and a marina (on the site of the depot).

In the 1930s and 1940s, Yankee great Babe Ruth often rented a cabin in the hamlet for the summer, and was known to play baseball with the local neighborhood children at a small ballfield located there.

It was the site of the first American rocket airplane flight that carried mail from the New York side of the state line to the New Jersey side on February 23, 1936.

Often confused with Sterling Forest, New York is the old Sterling Forest Gardens property and the adjacent Sterling Forest State Park, both located several miles away in the Town of Tuxedo, New York. The property is now the site of the New York Renaissance Faire, an annual Renaissance fair. Adding to the confusion, there is another fair called The Sterling Renaissance Festival which is located north of Syracuse, NY.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Montclair station</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain View station</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wanaque–Midvale station</span>

Wanaque–Midvale was a former commuter railroad station of the Erie Railroad's New York and Greenwood Lake Railway branch in Wanaque, New Jersey, United States. When built in 1873, the station served trains running from Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City to Sterling Forest on the New York–New Jersey border alongside Greenwood Lake and trains going to Ringwood on the Ringwood Branch. At the time there were two stations, one at Wanaque and one at Midvale. The next station northbound towards Sterling Forest was Boardville; heading towards Ringwood it was Erskine. The next station south was Haskell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essex Fells station</span>

Essex Fells was the terminus of the Erie Railroad's Caldwell Branch in the Essex County community of Essex Fells, New Jersey. Located at the junction of Oak Lane and Chestnut Lane in Essex Fells, the station was also a connection to the Morristown and Erie Railroad, which continued west through Roseland towards Morristown. The next station north from the Essex Fells station was Caldwell heading northward to Great Notch in Little Falls, where the line connected to the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caldwell station</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pompton–Riverdale station</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pompton Junction station</span> Former railroad station in New Jersey

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