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The Jackson House c1857 is located in Bedford Village. The corner property on Court Road was purchased by the Society in 1946 to protect the adjacent Court House. Built by George W. Jackson, the house was owned in the 1860's and 1870's by the town's livery stable proprietor, Cyrus K. Saunders, who also ran the stage to Bedford Station, now Bedford Hills. In 1998, the original building underwent extensive structural and cosmetic renovations; in 2001, the annex was restored and in 2006, the two interior spaces were reconnected. The building is currently leased to Wendy's Closet, a women's clothing store. Press blue button for more information about the Bedford Historical Society and its historic properties.
The Post Office c1838 is located in Bedford Village. An example of Greek Revival style, the Post Office was originally a harness shop. It has been the village Post Office since around 1900. It first stood next to the Library but was moved in 1930 to make room for the Fire House. It was purchased in 1972 by the Society and enlarged in 1975 so that the Post Office could remain in the village.
Press blue button for more information about the Bedford Historical Society and its historic properties.
Click to enlarge picture of "Entrance to Ward Pound Reservation".
The Trailside Nature Museum is located at 6 Reservation Road, (Junction of Routes 35 and 121 South), Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Cross River, NY 10518 in Westchester County. The Museum is owned and operated by Westchester County Parks, Recreation, and Conservation. The museum was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and is one of the oldest interpretive nature centers in the United States.
Click to enlarge pictures of "Ward Pound Ridge - Biodiversity Reserve Area" sign.
The sign reads: On February 15, 2001 The Westchester County Parks Board designated Ward Pound Ridge Reservation a Biodiversity Reserve Area for the protection of wildlife habitat.
Click to enlarge pictures of "Important Bird Area" sign.
The sign reads: Important Bird Area This site is part of a global network of places recognized for their outstanding value to bird conservation Audubon
"The museum exhibits specimen birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, minerals, American Indian artifacts, and also houses the Delaware Indian Resource Center. Nature interpretive programs are offered weekly.
"The museum hosts thousands of school children and scouts each year for a variety of educational programs including stream study, American Indian culture, maple sugaring, and badge work. Family-oriented nature programs are scheduled for the general public on nearly every weekend.
"The Trailside Nature Museum is also the home of the Delaware Indian Research Center, a vast collection of books and artifacts concerning American Indians, especially the Delaware. The Research Center is well utilized by both students and educators and has assisted several authors in researching their publications. The Research Center is open to the public by appointment.
"During the summer months, butterfly and moth hatcheries are maintained inside the museum for a close look at the miracle of metamorphosis. Be sure to go butterflying at the outside demonstration butterfly garden which attracts parades of butterflies. The brochure Butterflies of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation lists 83 species that have been seen on the grounds.
"Birds of field and forest abound throughout the year. Birds of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation contain a checklist of the 184 species recorded in the park to date.
"In addition, there is a one-half acre wildflower garden containing more than 80 different kinds of labeled wildflowers. There are several self-guided nature trails – directions and pamphlets are available in the museum."
Press blue button for hours, programs and activities, Wildflower Garden, Delaware Indian Center, Biodiversity Research, Arts in the Park, and more about the Trailside Nature Museum in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation at The Friends of the Trailside Nature Museum and Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.
Things To Do at Trailside Nature Museum Art Gallery (Located in historic Benedict Homestead) Biodiversity Research Bird Watching Birthday Parties (Educational programs offered as birthday parties for any age.) Educational Programs Fishing (Catch & Release - Artificial lures only) Hiking Trails (35 miles of hiking trails) Nature Programs Picnicking ( Self Guided Nature Trails Souvenir Shop Trailside Nature Museum Wildflower Garden
Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, a 4,315-acre park, is the largest park in Westchester County. The park is divided in area between the towns of Pound Ridge and Lewisboro. The northern one-third of the park is in Lewisboro and the remaining two-thirds of the park are in Pound Ridge.
Click to enlarge picture of "Visitor Center at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation".
As you drive into the park and up to the main entrance booth, you'll see the visitor center on your right and the Art Center a short distance ahead, on your left.
Ward Pound Ridge Park offers different landscapes and scenic views throughout its 4,315 acres. You'll find open terrain, woods, meadows of open fields sprinkled with wild flowers, fallen trees, old barns, and open space.
Click to enlarge picture of the main road in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.
The park offers different landscapes during the seasons. Whether you visit the park in spring, summer, fall, or winter, you will experience the natural landscape and beauty of Ward Pound Ridge with its wetlands, wooded areas, places to cross-country ski, and fabulous fishing spots. Park attractions also include camping sites, playgrounds for younger kids, the Trailside Nature Museum and more.
Click to enlarge picture of "Kimberly Bridge Picnic Area".
Kimberly Bridge Picnic Area is the perfect spot to go bird watching, fishing, hiking, or relax with a picnic as you enjoy the serenity of the brook.
Ward Pound Ridge is also home to the Trailside Nature Museum, that hosts weekend nature interpretive programs, and the Art in Parks program, where exhibitions of work by accomplished regional artists are held throughout the year.
Ward Pound Ridge offers hiking trails, fishing spots (catch & release), birding, nature trails, and vistas for the photographer, painter, and nature lover. Depending on where you are in the park, given the large size of Ward Pound Ridge, you can experience the park in many different ways.
With its varied terrain, landscapes and miles of wooded trails, the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation provides a variety of activities in all seasons. There are areas for picnicking, lean-to camping, fishing, cross-country skiing, and two playgrounds for younger children. The park is also home to the Trailside Nature Museum, which hosts weekend nature interpretive programs year-round.
Hiking Trails Ward Pound Ridge offers approximately 35 miles of hiking trails among meadows, woods, wetlands, and cross-country ski areas. Hiking trails are available for beginners, intermediate, or advanced hikers.
"You could easily while away a couple of days on the trails here and still not see the entire park. Its sublime scenery is a marvelous medley of hardwood forests, glacial ridges, lowland bogs, granite outcroppings and high-rising bluffs, with a couple of ravines, a river, and a far-reaching viewpoint as added attractions. The main trails are wide and very popular with family groups, while many narrower routes provide a more rugged experience. Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is the largest preserve in the Westchester County Parks system . . . It is also the most beautiful of the county's parks, where litter on the ground is as rare as candy in a dentist's office, and the camping shelters (stone lean-tos constructed by the CCC more than 60 years ago) are raked clean by park personnel. Scenery: Swamps, hemlock, laurel, and hardwood forests, impressive rock outcroppings, scenic overlook of Cross River Reservoir, and historic cave." Visit www.trails.com for more about the Ward Pound Ridge Main Loop.
Audubon Society of Westchester "Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is a mixture of streams, woodland and open fields. Bluebirds can be common here and the park offers good birding even in the middle of summer due to large list of breeding birds. They include: Cooper's and Goshawks, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-throated , Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos, Brown Creeper, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 14 species of warblers including Black-throated Green, Worm-eating and Pine Warblers." Ward Pound Ridge is also the best park to watch butterflies in New York. Visit Hudson River Audubon Society of Westchester for more about bird watching at Ward Pound Ridge.
Please remember: "Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is a Biodiversity Reserve Area. Help to take care of this unique and beautiful space by following our simple stewardship rules."
Press blue button for location of Ward Pound Ridge, map (or pick-up a map at the tool booth park office) and reservation trails and facilities, parking, restrooms, and more about Westchester County's largest park.
Croton Point Park, a 508-acre property, is located at Croton Point Avenue, Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County. Find many historical features at Croton Point, including Historic School House, Wine Cellar, Wine Cottage, and more.
"This park offers year-round events and activities and has facilities for camping, hiking and swimming. The park, rich in natural and human history, is also the site of historic wine cellars that are thought of be the oldest in New York State and the Croton Point Nature Center.
"The oldest oyster shell middens on the North Atlantic Coast uncovered by archeologists on Croton Point confirm that the peninsula was inhabited by Native Americans as early as 7,000 years ago. Croton is in fact named for the Indian sachem, Kenoten, which means "wild wind.” In the 17th century, Indians of the Kitchawank tribe on the Wappinger Confederacy occupied a large fortified village on the high flat at the neck of Croton Point, which they called Navish. This was one of the most ancient and formidable Indian fortresses south of the Hudson Highlands.
"The oldest oyster shell middens on the North Atlantic Coast uncovered by archeologists on Croton Point confirm that the peninsula was inhabited by Native Americans as early as 7,000 years ago. Croton is, in fact, named for the Indian sachem, Kenoten, which means "wild wind.” In the 17th century, Indians of the Kitchawank tribe on the Wappinger Confederacy occupied a large fortified village on the high flat at the neck of Croton Point, which they called Navish. This was one of the most ancient and formidable Indian fortresses south of the Hudson Highlands. A marsh known by the Indians as “Senasqua” separates the Point from Croton Neck, and a plaque marks the spot where a peace treaty was signed with the Kitchawank tribe.
"Cornelius Van Bursum was the first to purchase Croton Point from the Indians in 1682. A few years later William and Sara Teller were given permission to live on the point and operate an Indian trading post. In the 18th century the area came to be known as Teller’s Point. Soon after, Stephanus Van Cortlandt incorporated the property into his Cortlandt Manor. By the end of the 18th century the Tellers, who married into the Van Cortlandt family, were in full possession of Croton Point. The Van Cortlandt Manor House still stands on the Croton River east of Croton Point Park."
Croton Point Park and the Revolutionary War "Although several military actions took place here, many involving invasions by the British, the most notorious was connected with the attempted betrayal of West Point by Benedict Arnold and the capture of his British confederate, Major John Andre." Learn more about Benedict Arnold in the American Revolution.
Press blue button for more history and information about Croton Point Park
Things To Do at Croton Point Park Beach access Boat Launch Camping Fishing Food Service Hiking Trails /Walking Museum (Historic features) Nature centers & study Picnicking Playground Restrooms Swimming
Winter Activities Cross-Country Skiing Sledding
Wheelchair Accessible Accessible indicates that, to the extent practicable, this facility or activity meets the Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility standards. It is strongly recommended that you contact the facility in advance for a full description of facilities.
Caramoor Center for Music and Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, NY 10536 in the beautiful Hudson River Valley. Caramoor is a magnificent estate dedicated to the Performing Arts. Throughout the year, Caramoor offers musical experiences to be enjoyed by everyone. Programs include Great Artists in the Music Room, Caramoor Classics, Programs for Families, Cabaret, Vocal Gala, Jazz, Festivals, and more.
Caramoor's House Museum has twenty rooms that are open to the public. These rooms are filled with an extraordinary collection of paintings, sculpture, tapestries, stained glass, furniture, cloisonné, and an important jade collection.
A Bit of History Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who established the estate and built a great house as its centerpiece, filling it with treasures collected on their travels. Walter Rosen was the master planner, bringing to reality his dream of creating a place to entertain friends from around the world. Their legendary musical evenings were the seeds of today's International Music Festival that is held annually on the estate.
The Rosen's had two children, Walter and Anne. In 1944, during the Second World War, while flying for the RAF, Walter was killed returning from a raid in Germany. His absence from the house was keenly felt and it prompted his parents to act on their previously discussed plans to preserve the artistic and musical heritage of Caramoor. In 1945, the Rosens bequeathed the Caramoor estate as a center for music and art in memory of their son.
In the summer, come early, explore Caramoor's beautiful grounds, take a tour of the House Museum, enjoy a pre-concert picnic, and discover wonderful music in a relaxed setting. With its unique heritage, Caramoor remains a place where you can experience magical summer days and nights. Year round, select from the many venues and programs.
Press blue button for Music Festival, House Museum and Gardens, upcoming concerts and more about Caramoor.
Things to Do at Caramoor Birthday Parties Family Concerts Gardens & Grounds Historic Site International Music Festival Jazz Festival Museum Programs for Families Summer Music Festival
The Katonah Museum of Art celebrates the unique pleasures of the visual arts as a non-collecting facility devoted to changing exhibitions and educational programs. In a building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, the Museum originates six major exhibitions annually and offers an extensive range of activities to engage visitors of all ages. Exhibitions present the "best of art" from the past to the present, spanning the spectrum of cultures, media, historical periods, and social issues.
The many artists living in the area represent an important constituency for the Museum. A very active Katonah Museum Artists Association offers lectures, workshops, and other events of special interest to its more than 300 members. The Museum also presents tri-state juried exhibitions, selecting outstanding curators to serve as jurors.
Brief History: The Katonah Museum of Art was founded 50 years ago as The Katonah Gallery, a small volunteer-run institution dedicated to encouraging the enjoyment, appreciation, and study of the visual arts by visitors of all ages. The Gallery, initially located in a small room over the Katonah Village Library, was committed to presenting "the best of art from the past to the present" and, as a "teaching museum," to communicating the special pleasures of the visual arts to its visitors.
By the late 1980's, the need for expanded space became critical. The Museum launched $5 million capital campaign and engaged the distinguished architect, Edward Larrabee Barnes, to design its new home. In 1990, the renamed Katonah Museum of Art moved to its present site and hired its first Executive Director. The Museum's elegant new facility provided space for a more comprehensive treatment of exhibition material, a wider range of participatory art education activities, and a greater variety and frequency of public programs.
As it made this growth-driven expansion, the Katonah Museum of Art reaffirmed its commitment to its mission. It remains a non-collecting institution dedicated to the study, appreciation, and enjoyment of the visual arts. It remains committed to its innovative and challenging range of educational programs, its lively array of public programs, and its uniquely effective use of talented volunteers. Press blue button for Exhibitions, The Learning Center, Programs and Events, and more about the Katonah Museum of Art.
The Hammond Museum was designed by Natalie Hays Hammond who borrowed the basic principles and ideas of the Stroll Garden incorporating indigenous plantings with popular and rare Japanese and Chinese specimens. "As people often travel to escape routine problems and obligations, or to escape themselves, so should they find peace in an unhurried journey through a stroll garden."
"To please the eye, there are the textures of stone scrolled with the delicate designs of lichen, the patterns of tree trunks and clusters of foliage, the play of light and shadow, the varying shades of green as well as the seasonal colors of great beauty. To please the ear, there are the songs of native birds, the hum of insects the chorale of frogs and the occasional splash of carp in the lake, the crunch of pebbles underfoot, the whisper of wind through the pines. To please the sense of scent, there are dry pine needles in the sun, the fragrance of flowering shrubs, a breeze through mimosa or the pungency of loam after a night rain."
Things To Do Birding | Bird Watching Brush Painting Children's Workshops Educational Tours Restaurant Stroll Garden
The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art is located at 1701 Main Street, Peekskill, NY 10566. The Center is dedicated to the development and presentation of exhibitions and interdisciplinary programs that enrich our understanding of contemporary art, its contexts, and its relationship to social issues. HVCCA is also committed to the enrichment of Peekskill, a multicultural community that has recreated itself as a major arts destination. HVCCA operates a 12,000 square foot exhibition space and is the primary sponsor of the Peekskill Project, an annual, city-wide exhibition of site-specific artwork.
Press blue button for more about Exhibition, Arts-in-Residence, Education and Public Outreach, and Special Projects programs at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art website.
The Herrick House is home to the Peekskill Museum, located at 124 Union Ave, in the business district on the edge of the Artist's District, Peekskill NY 10566, Westchester County in the Hudson Valley. The purpose of the Peekskill Museum is to collect, preserve, study, and interpret objects and documents pertaining to Peekskill and the surrounding area.
The Herrick House is a restored Victorian building that was owned by Dwight S. Herrick, a prominent Peekskill attorney. The Peekskill Museum was presented to the Field Library by Mrs. Ida M. Adams by deed dated January 3, 1944. It is one of Peekskill's most famous Victorian houses. The house was designed by the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and Bigelow. The Herrick House is a fine example of a "well to do" Victorian home - with a spacious staircase, library, parlor and a fireplace with Dutch 'Delft' tiles depicting Biblical scenes.
The house was built between 1873 and 1877, occupied by the Herrick family until approximately 1912. Mr. Herrick's picture, presented to the Museum by Jennie Mabie in 1948, hangs on the wall in the front foyer, ready to greet visitors as Mr. Herrick would have done. The house itself was published in the best architectural journal of it's day, "The American Architect and Building News" on June 2, 1877. More recently, the house has been mentioned by Vincent Scully, a professor of Art History at Yale, in his book "The Single Story". Press blue button for more information about the Herrick House and the Peekskill Museum.
The society maintains a museum/library at 255 Westchester Ave in Pound Ridge. The building was erected in 1853 by the Presbyterian Church of Pound Ridge to serve as a lecture room. In 1921, the building was sold to the town of Pound Ridge for use as a Town Hall. The building was leased to the Historical Society in 1982.
Click to enlarge picture of "Entrance to Ward Pound Reservation".
The Trailside Nature Museum is located at 6 Reservation Road, (Junction of Routes 35 and 121 South), Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Cross River, NY 10518 in Westchester County. The Museum is owned and operated by Westchester County Parks, Recreation, and Conservation. The museum was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and is one of the oldest interpretive nature centers in the United States.
Click to enlarge pictures of "Ward Pound Ridge - Biodiversity Reserve Area" sign.
The sign reads: On February 15, 2001 The Westchester County Parks Board designated Ward Pound Ridge Reservation a Biodiversity Reserve Area for the protection of wildlife habitat.
Click to enlarge pictures of "Important Bird Area" sign.
The sign reads: Important Bird Area This site is part of a global network of places recognized for their outstanding value to bird conservation Audubon
"The museum exhibits specimen birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, minerals, American Indian artifacts, and also houses the Delaware Indian Resource Center. Nature interpretive programs are offered weekly.
"The museum hosts thousands of school children and scouts each year for a variety of educational programs including stream study, American Indian culture, maple sugaring, and badge work. Family-oriented nature programs are scheduled for the general public on nearly every weekend.
"The Trailside Nature Museum is also the home of the Delaware Indian Research Center, a vast collection of books and artifacts concerning American Indians, especially the Delaware. The Research Center is well utilized by both students and educators and has assisted several authors in researching their publications. The Research Center is open to the public by appointment.
"During the summer months, butterfly and moth hatcheries are maintained inside the museum for a close look at the miracle of metamorphosis. Be sure to go butterflying at the outside demonstration butterfly garden which attracts parades of butterflies. The brochure Butterflies of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation lists 83 species that have been seen on the grounds.
"Birds of field and forest abound throughout the year. Birds of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation contain a checklist of the 184 species recorded in the park to date.
"In addition, there is a one-half acre wildflower garden containing more than 80 different kinds of labeled wildflowers. There are several self-guided nature trails – directions and pamphlets are available in the museum."
Press blue button for hours, programs and activities, Wildflower Garden, Delaware Indian Center, Biodiversity Research, Arts in the Park, and more about the Trailside Nature Museum in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation at The Friends of the Trailside Nature Museum and Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.
Things To Do at Trailside Nature Museum Art Gallery (Located in historic Benedict Homestead) Biodiversity Research Bird Watching Birthday Parties (Educational programs offered as birthday parties for any age.) Educational Programs Fishing (Catch & Release - Artificial lures only) Hiking Trails (35 miles of hiking trails) Nature Programs Picnicking ( Self Guided Nature Trails Souvenir Shop Trailside Nature Museum Wildflower Garden
Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, a 4,315-acre park, is the largest park in Westchester County. The park is divided in area between the towns of Pound Ridge and Lewisboro. The northern one-third of the park is in Lewisboro and the remaining two-thirds of the park are in Pound Ridge.
Click to enlarge picture of "Visitor Center at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation".
As you drive into the park and up to the main entrance booth, you'll see the visitor center on your right and the Art Center a short distance ahead, on your left.
Ward Pound Ridge Park offers different landscapes and scenic views throughout its 4,315 acres. You'll find open terrain, woods, meadows of open fields sprinkled with wild flowers, fallen trees, old barns, and open space.
Click to enlarge picture of the main road in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.
The park offers different landscapes during the seasons. Whether you visit the park in spring, summer, fall, or winter, you will experience the natural landscape and beauty of Ward Pound Ridge with its wetlands, wooded areas, places to cross-country ski, and fabulous fishing spots. Park attractions also include camping sites, playgrounds for younger kids, the Trailside Nature Museum and more.
Click to enlarge picture of "Kimberly Bridge Picnic Area".
Kimberly Bridge Picnic Area is the perfect spot to go bird watching, fishing, hiking, or relax with a picnic as you enjoy the serenity of the brook.
Ward Pound Ridge is also home to the Trailside Nature Museum, that hosts weekend nature interpretive programs, and the Art in Parks program, where exhibitions of work by accomplished regional artists are held throughout the year.
Ward Pound Ridge offers hiking trails, fishing spots (catch & release), birding, nature trails, and vistas for the photographer, painter, and nature lover. Depending on where you are in the park, given the large size of Ward Pound Ridge, you can experience the park in many different ways.
With its varied terrain, landscapes and miles of wooded trails, the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation provides a variety of activities in all seasons. There are areas for picnicking, lean-to camping, fishing, cross-country skiing, and two playgrounds for younger children. The park is also home to the Trailside Nature Museum, which hosts weekend nature interpretive programs year-round.
Hiking Trails Ward Pound Ridge offers approximately 35 miles of hiking trails among meadows, woods, wetlands, and cross-country ski areas. Hiking trails are available for beginners, intermediate, or advanced hikers.
"You could easily while away a couple of days on the trails here and still not see the entire park. Its sublime scenery is a marvelous medley of hardwood forests, glacial ridges, lowland bogs, granite outcroppings and high-rising bluffs, with a couple of ravines, a river, and a far-reaching viewpoint as added attractions. The main trails are wide and very popular with family groups, while many narrower routes provide a more rugged experience. Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is the largest preserve in the Westchester County Parks system . . . It is also the most beautiful of the county's parks, where litter on the ground is as rare as candy in a dentist's office, and the camping shelters (stone lean-tos constructed by the CCC more than 60 years ago) are raked clean by park personnel. Scenery: Swamps, hemlock, laurel, and hardwood forests, impressive rock outcroppings, scenic overlook of Cross River Reservoir, and historic cave." Visit www.trails.com for more about the Ward Pound Ridge Main Loop.
Audubon Society of Westchester "Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is a mixture of streams, woodland and open fields. Bluebirds can be common here and the park offers good birding even in the middle of summer due to large list of breeding birds. They include: Cooper's and Goshawks, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-throated , Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos, Brown Creeper, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 14 species of warblers including Black-throated Green, Worm-eating and Pine Warblers." Ward Pound Ridge is also the best park to watch butterflies in New York. Visit Hudson River Audubon Society of Westchester for more about bird watching at Ward Pound Ridge.
Please remember: "Ward Pound Ridge Reservation is a Biodiversity Reserve Area. Help to take care of this unique and beautiful space by following our simple stewardship rules."
Press blue button for location of Ward Pound Ridge, map (or pick-up a map at the tool booth park office) and reservation trails and facilities, parking, restrooms, and more about Westchester County's largest park.
The Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens is located at 700 and 735 Anderson Hill Road, PepsiCo headquarters in Purchase, NY, Westchester County in the Hudson River Valley. The Sculpture Gardens and the Purchase campus of SUNY are across the street from each other.
This world acclaimed sculpture collection is beautifully situated on the immaculately tended gardens on the grounds of PepsiCo Headquarters. The garden was designed by Russell Page. The Sculpture Gardens include works by Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, Alberto Giacometti, Henry Moore, George Segal, Jean Dubuffet, Auguste Rodin and Max Ernst.
The Sculpture Gardens is a collection of 45 sculptures by some of the best-known artists of the 20th century. Capricorn, Max Ernst’s largest freestanding sculpture is among the inspiring works. The grounds themselves are 168-acres of green lawns, trees, ponds, fountains, and landscaped gardens with a topiary, well-tended hedges, flower beds and water-lily ponds. These spectacular grounds were conceived as an integration of architecture, landscape, and sculpture. "It is a landscape exhibiting superior thought and attention, a thorough knowledge of plants, a respect for what has come before, and a working effort to remain true to a vision."
Things To Do at Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens
Neuberger Museum of Art is located in SUNY Purchase, at 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY 10577. Presenting 12 changing exhibitions annually in addition to ongoing exhibitions from the permanent collections, the Neuberger Museum of Art offers visitors insights into the work of 20th century masters, and mid-career and emerging artists, as well as exposure to the Westchester County's only permanent exhibition of African art. Neuberger Museum is one of Westchester's finest cultural resources, featuring 12 changing exhibitions of modern, contemporary and African art annually. Press blue button for Exhibitions, Collection, African Art, Events and more about Neuberger Museum of Art.
The Westchester Children’s Museum will have a premier location on the Long Island Sound in the historic landmark North Bathhouse at Rye Playland, a building that evokes whimsy and sets the stage for an exceptional children’s museum experience.
"The iconic North Bathhouse provides nearly 23,000 square feet of space for temporary and permanent exhibits, classrooms, a birthday party room, performance space, restaurant/cafe, gift shop, and other amenities.
"The Westchester Children’s Museum will be a vibrant new learning center that nurtures curiosity, enhance knowledge, and ignite imagination in our children as they explore the history, arts, environment, and cultural diversity of their local and global communities.
"Imagine a light-filled, colorful, vibrant learning space filled with water play, physics, science, art, music, and nature, with places to climb, build, and examine - a place to discover who we are and where we live. The Westchester Children’s Museum will be a celebration of childhood. Exhibit areas will contain experiential laboratories, interactive art pieces, sculptural elements, hidden worlds, climbing structures, and physical connections to the outdoors. The museum’s exhibits and programs will draw from the region’s rich history, cultural diversity, flourishing ecosystems, and literary and artistic traditions."
Highly innovative, dynamic, engaging, fun and enriching
Appeal to audiences of different generations, backgrounds, emotional, physical, and learning abilities
Present visitors with the opportunity for hands-on interaction
Stimulate repeat visitation with changing exhibits, performances, and public programs
Press blue button for Westchester Museum Events and more information about The Westchester Children’s Museum.
Lasdon Park, Arboretum and Veterans Memorial, located on Route 35 in Somers, NY, Westchester County, is a magnificent 234-acre property consisting of woodlands, open grass meadow and formal gardens with flower and shrub specimens from all over the world. Lasdon is also the site of the Chinese Friendship Pavilion and four inspirational memorials and a museum honoring Westchester veterans.
The house that presently stands on this property was built in 1933 by Dr. Voislawsky after the original Van Cortlandt dwelling was destroyed by a fire. This three-story Colonial style mansion was modeled after George Washington’s Virginia home, Mount Vernon . . .
Enjoy the wonderful Midsummer Night Music Series featuring varied fare of classical, show tunes and more. Spend a magical evening under the stars and listen to the “Midsummer Night Music” concerts featuring the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra on four Saturdays this summer at Lasdon Park, Arboretum and Veterans Memorial in Somers. Each concert will feature varied and exciting musical fare to appeal to music aficionados of all kinds, so pack a picnic supper, sit back and enjoy the music.
Things To Do at Lasdon Park Arboretum Botanical Specimens Chinese Friendship Pavilion Formal Gardens Open Grass Meadow
Midsummer Night Music concerts at Lasdon Park
Gates open at 5 pm for picnicking; the music begins at 6 pm. Tickets will be sold at the gate on the evening of the performance. In case of rain, concerts will be cancelled. Call for tickets prices.
The Hudson River Museum is located at 511 Warburton Ave, Yonkers, NY 10701. The Hudson River Museum collects 19th and 20th century American art and cultural, social and historical material related to the Museum's historic Mansion and the wider Westchester County and Hudson River Valley region. Though the Museum's collecting focus has evolved over its 84-year history, the trustees and staff have always been concerned with the institution's value and relevance to the surrounding region and its residents. The majority of the collections have been donated by Museum members and other local residents.
The Museum's collections have evolved from the original holdings of the Yonkers Museum, which was founded at City Hall in 1919 and relocated to the Yonkers Museum of Arts and Science in 1924. In 1937, H. Armour Smith, an avid collector of fine art, Americana and documentary materials, became director. Smith advocated changing the Museum's name to The Hudson River Museum to acknowledge that its collections documenting the Hudson River Valley were of primary importance to the Museum's goals. In 1956, the transfer of the stuffed elephant Tip, a popular display since 1929, to the Elephant Hotel in Somers, New York, was indicative of the changes that had occurred in the Museum's perception of its mission.
By 1948, the collection had grown to include a small group of 19th and 20th century fine arts, paintings, sculptures, and graphic works, as well as Victorian furniture, decorative arts and costumes, and materials documenting local history. In 1969, the New Wing added approximately 15,000 square feet of gallery space. Whereas previously much of the museum in the Mansion had been devoted to permanent displays, the new galleries were used for changing exhibitions of art, history and science. At the same time, the Mansion's first floor was partially restored, with four furnished period rooms and two small galleries for displaying decorative and historical materials from the collection.
Today, the Museum's collections reflect its mission to provide for development, preservation, and display of 19th and 20th century American art and history. The staff regularly organizes special collection exhibits and loan exhibits in which the permanent collections can play a role. Paintings, furniture and decorative arts are also always on view in the six period rooms in Glenview Mansion and its second floor hall and Lifflander Galleries. Press blue button for more information about The Hudson River Museum.
On November 28, 1776, the same year that 56 Americans signed the Declaration of Independence, well over 200 colonial New Yorkers placed their signatures on a "Declaration of Dependence". These signers were Loyalists, citizens who remained faithful to their sovereign, George III, King of Great Britain. Prominent among the signatures was that of Frederick Philipse III, Lord of the vast Manor of Philipsburg and resident of the elegant mansion known today as Philipse Manor Hall.
Frederick Philipse III and his family lived in luxury, well supported by rents from the many tenant farms on his property. Times were changing, however, and while others rebelled against Great Britain, Frederick III defended the Crown. His Loyalist beliefs were so strong that General George Washington ordered him arrested in 1776. Philipse and his family later fled to British occupied New York City and then to England, where the last "Lord of the Manor", broken in spirit and health, died in 1786. His land and his mansion were confiscated by the New York State Legislature and sold at public auction.
In 1868, after passing through the hands of many owners, the house became Yonkers Village Hall and, in 1872, the first City Hall. By the 20th century, city growth threatened the Manor Hall’s future until it was acquired by New York State in 1908. Today, Philipse Manor Hall serves as a museum of history, art and architecture, as well as host to community organizations, meetings, educational programs and special events. Highlights of the Hall include its 18th century, high style Georgian architecture, a 1750s papier mache Rococo ceiling, and an impressive collection of presidential portraits, including the six Presidents from New York State.
Attractions Collection of Presidential Portraits Educational Services Georgian Architecture, 18th century high style Group Tours Guided Tours Interpretive Sign
The Copake Iron Works Museum is located at 8 Miles Road, next to the Copake Falls Post Office, Copake Falls, NY 12517 in Columbia County.
The small building that now houses the Copake Iron Works Museum, was formerly the Copake Iron Works machine shop. Copake Iron Works was established in 1845 and ceased operation in the 1920's. It was acquired by Taconic State Park in 1928.
Copake Iron Works Museum - established in 1845, iron remained active until 1903. The charcoal blast furnace, blowing engine house, machine shop, office and powder storage building still remain and are open to the public.
Hours of Operation The museum is only open for monthly events (usually the 3rd Tuesday of the month, September-May) and during the Summer Exhibit (July -October, Saturdays and Sundays from 2-4pm), the Museum is also open by appointment.
Taconic State Park - Copake Falls Area is located on Route 344, Copake Falls, NY 12517 in Columbia County and Dutchess County. The park is located along 16 miles of the Taconic Mountain Range, sharing a border with Massachusetts and Connecticut. Two developed areas, Copake Falls and Rudd Pond, offer an extensive trail system with terrain that varies from easy to challenging, offering spectacular views.
The extensive campground at Copake Falls has sites to accommodate campers seeking a more rustic experience, as well as those seeking a more "home like" experience. The cabin areas vary in number of cabins, location and size. The "Ironworkers" cabins are equipped with private showers and flush toilets; campers in the "Bash Bish" cabins utilize a centrally located shower facility with flush toilets. Some cabins in the Greenwich Cabin Area are wheelchair accessible and offer extra amenities such as a microwave, sofa, shower, dishwasher and cable television hookup.
There are great trails for cross country skiing and snowshoeing, as well as 5 miles of snowmobile trails. In season both deer hunting (rifle/shotgun/bow) and turkey hunting (bow only, until 12 Noon) are permitted.
Press blue button for information about campground accommodations and more things to do at Taconic State Park.
Things To Do at Taconic State Park - Copake Falls Area Beach Biking Cabins, Campsites, Cottages Dumping Stations Fishing Grills Hiking Hunting Museum & Visitors Center Pavilions Picnic Tables Playgrounds Recreation Programs Scenic Views Showers Waterfalls
Dia:Beacon Riggio Galleries is located at 3 Beekman Street in Beacon, NY 12508.
In May 2003, Dia opened Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, a museum to house its renowned but rarely seen permanent collection comprised of major works of art from the 1960s to the present. Located on the Hudson River in Beacon, New York, Dia:Beacon occupies a nearly 300,000-square-foot historic printing factory.
The Beacon museum’s expansive galleries have been specifically designed for the display of the artworks to which Dia is committed, many of which, because of their character or scale, could not be easily accommodated by more conventional museums.
Works installed at the museum range from the1978 Shadows (a single work comprising multiple canvases) by Andy Warhol; to three of Richard Serra's monumental sculptures in the Torqued Ellipses; "monuments" for V. Tatlin, a series of fluorescent light works by Dan Flavin; several mixed-media installations by Joseph Beuys and Agnes Martin’s 1999 paintings Innocent Love, among others. Each artist’s work is displayed in a dedicated gallery or galleries: in many cases these presentations were created in collaboration with the artists themselves.
The Building and Site Built in 1929 by Nabisco (National Biscuit Company), the historic steel, concrete, and glass factory building, designed by Nabisco’s staff architect Louis N. Wirshing, Jr., is a model of early-twentieth-century industrial architecture. Press blue button for visitor information and more about Dia:Beacon Riggio Galleries.
The Hyde Park Station, 34 River Road (Riverside Park), Hyde Park NY 12538, Dutchess County in the Hudson Valley. A station was built at this location around 1851, when the Hudson River Railroad was constructed from New York City to Albany. That structure was torn down and replaced by the current station in 1914. The last regularly-scheduled New York Central passenger train stopped there in 1958. Subsequently the outer two tracks of the four-track "Water Level Route" were removed, and the entrances to the tunnel passage serving the southbound platform were boarded over.
A great deal of repair work, both interior and exterior had to be done by the society . . . The interior work included rebuilding the ticket booth, refurbishing benches, waiting room, and baggage room. Wiring, plumbing and heating systems had to be rebuilt.
Inside the Station you will find displays depicting the area's railroading past, running models trains, and knowledgeable railroad enthusiasts who can answer your questions about the great "Iron Horse".
Location We are located at the foot of the hill which is formed by West Market Street and River Road that follows the south wall of the Vanderbilt’s Estate. Even though the station is inactive, a very active Hudson Division still exists. AMTRAK trains that pass the station are unique to the Empire Corridor Service. Press blue button for more about the Hyde Park Station.
The Stamford Museum & Nature Center is located at 39 Scofield Town Road at High Ridge Road, Stamford, CT in Fairfield County. Stamford Museum & Nature Center has miles of beautiful walking trails. These trails cover much of the 118-acre property, offering short hikes along Poorhouse Creek to more challenging excursions along the High Ridge Trail. A walk through any trail may afford glimpses of wood duck pairs, painted turtles sunning on rocks, or even a pileated woodpecker. Spectacular glacial erratic boulders are strewn throughout the trail system. An enthusiastic hiker will find a number of different walks to suit a particular mood or season, like finding a secluded bridge on a bird-watching morning, or discovering a cave where coyotes have slept. The trails wind through a mature forest of American beech, oaks, black birch, and other native plant species.
Playground Did you ever wonder what the world is like from an animal's point of view? Scamper through the giant hollow log into Nature's Playground and find out. This exciting new playground in the woods at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center is nestled into a rocky hillside and is part of the Overbrook Natural Science Complex. Kids (or adults) can scale a spider's web to a tree house with a lookout, then wind their way down a tubular slide or zoom down the otter slide.
They can jump on a bouncing bug, try to walk across a moving bridge or climb into a hawk's nest to survey their territory. Wiggle like a worm across two huge maple leaves, and crawl through an ant's nest. Dig for fossils in the huge sand pit. They also can become the captain and crew of the boat that's anchored here.
Nature Trails Our trails connect with the 88 acre-Bartlett Arboretum on the north end of the Museum's property.
New England Working Farm Explore our traditional working farm and discover the sounds, smells, and textures that evoke memories and reveal the nature of farmlife. Observe staff conduct the daily chores that maintain this active, productive farm. Heckscher Farm is a living resource for learning. Children and families make personal connections to a not-so-distant past when farming was a major way of life in the region. Through observation, exploration, and participation, visitors can immerse themselves in the experiences of farming.
Education We are an Educational Institution. The Museum's 10-acre farm provides educational and recreational activities. At the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, we offer year-round classes in art and nature for toddlers through adults. Press blue button for more information about the Stamford Museum and Nature Center.
Things To Do Hiking / Walking Playground Nature Trails Working Farm
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is located at 218 Spring Street, near the western entrance to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, in the village of Catskill NY 12414, Greene County in the Hudson Valley.
"In the early nineteenth century, many in this country were searching for a style of art that they could call their own. Painter, poet, and essayist Thomas Cole (1801-1848) responded to this quest by creating pristine landscape paintings unlike any yet seen in America. His vision of wild and untouched scenery with majestic mountains and tangled forests stood in stark contrast to the gentle landscape images that had come before.
"Influential people of the nascent New York cultural scene embraced his work enthusiastically, and Cole became the leader of an informal alliance of landscape artists now known as the Hudson River School. Cole, Asher Durand, Frederic Church, Sanford Gifford, Jasper Cropsey, and other painters, along with literary figures such as William Cullen Bryant and James Fenimore Cooper, forged a self-consciously “American” style and landscape vision for what was still a relatively new nation.
"The artists of the Hudson River School were united by their belief that their art might lead to spiritual renewal and contribute to the formation of a uniquely American national culture. Their work established a notion of America as a new Eden, a concept that still resonates with artists, environmentalists, and landscape enthusiasts to this day."
Visit the Thomas Cole Historic Site and join a guided tour of Cole’s home and studio, see the film about his art, stroll through the flower gardens and enjoy the sweeping view of the Catskill Mountains. Take in a special lecture about the Hudson River School, or join a guided hike to the magnificent nearby places seen in Thomas Cole’s paintings.
Things To Do at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site Exhibitions Hiking (Guided hike along Hudson River School Art Trail) Hudson River School Art Trails School Programs Sunday Salons Lectures Visitor Center & Shop
The (now known as) American Folk Art Museum was founded in 1961, in retrospect an odd moment for such a focused venture. It was well after the early decades of the twentieth century and the Modernist and Colonial Revival movements that found in American folk art the cultural validation they were seeking. And it was also years before the bicentennial celebration of 1976, when a renewed pride in America’s heritage gave rise to a boom in the marketplace as well as the serious study of material culture, filtered for the first time through the lens of multicultural patterns.
The collectors who founded the American Folk Art Museum subscribed enthusiastically to the notion of a homogenous national heritage, and this was reflected in the art they collected and, consequently, in the gifts they gave to the museum. The collection was launched in 1962 with the gift, appropriately enough, of a gate in the form of an American flag that celebrated the nation’s centennial. In the forty years since, the museum’s collection has continued to grow and evolve and now includes artworks from the seventeenth century through the present. New thoughts about the makeup of American society have expanded collecting goals, but as the “American Anthem” exhibition makes all too clear, the museum still has a long way to go toward remedying a balance weighted heavily in favor of the field’s early interests and directions. In other words, the opening of the new American Folk Art Museum does not suggest that the museum’s collection is “complete” or that things will not continue to change. Like American folk art itself, it merely marks a moment in time, with all its concomitant forces, for us to say this is where we are now, but the journey continues.
The American Folk Art Museum's exhibit "American Anthem” is an unabashed song of praise to the nation, for the simple reason that American folk art is essentially patriotic, whether celebrating national events, decrying the nation’s dark days, or describing personal moments. Refuge, freedom, ingenuity, land of opportunity, these are phrases identified with the mythology of America, and they are ideas indelibly imbedded in America’s vernacular arts.
The American Museum of Natural History was established in 1869 in a world very different from todays. Even by the late 19th century, we did not have a firm knowledge of many of Earth's land regions and oceans, the diversity of cultures outside of western societies, and the essential history and organization of life on Earth. Darwin's revolutionary Origin of Species had been published only ten years before. It would be 30 more years before the structure of the atom would be revealed and the laws of heredity disclosed, 40 years before Einstein would share his theories of relativity, and 132 years before the entire three billion nucleotides of the human genome would be mapped.
Over this period of spectacular scientific achievement, the American Museum of Natural History has played a leading role in exploration, discovery, and theoretical advances in the natural sciences. Central to these efforts has been the accumulation of one of the world's great Museum collections. The Museum was a leader in forging new theories on the way we look at cultures, biological organisms, and indeed the very evolution of life. Today, science at the American Museum of Natural History thrives and expands on these earlier accomplishments.
Science areas to explore at the American Museum of Natural History include: The Institute for Comparative Genomics, The Division of Physical Sciences and a new Astrophysics Research Program, The C. V. Starr Natural Science Building, The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, Anthropology and Cultural Studies, Paleontological Exploration, Vertebrate Zoology, Exploring the Vast Diversity of the Invertebrates, Digitization of the Library Collections.
The above are only a sample of the initiatives currently underway at the Museum that is intended to define the institution's leadership in 21st-century science. This is a time of unprecedented disclosure of the secrets of the gene, the biota, and the history and workings of the earth, the planets, and the universe. Technologies in computation, imaging, genomics, and comparative biology that is now readily adopted in Museum science seemed more like alchemy only a few years ago. Traditional assumptions about the history and interactions of humankind are broadly disarmed by the changing modern world of cultural interrelationships. And now, as never before, the kind of science fostered by the Museum is needed to define effective stewardship for Earth's eroding natural environments. In these exciting and challenging times, the Museum will continue to seize extraordinary opportunities to transform our scientific vision into meaningful results, a strategy that has served the Museum throughout its history.
Press the blue button to enter the astounding world available to explore at The American Museum Of Natural History.
The mission of the American Numismatic Society (ANS) is to be the preeminent national institution advancing the study and appreciation of coins, medals and related objects of all cultures as historical and artistic documents, by maintaining the foremost numismatic collection and library, by supporting scholarly research and publications, and by sponsoring educational and interpretive programs for diverse audiences.
On June 18, 2004, The American Numismatic Society officially opened its new headquarters at 96 Fulton Street in lower Manhattan. The ANS contains America's most comprehensive collection of coins, medals and paper currency from every part of the globe. The 35,000 square foot former bank building also encompasses the world's largest numismatic library. The library embraces two full floors. There are educational and research facilities now available to international scholars, students and the general public who are interested in studying coins, medals and other treasures in the Society's superb collection.
One of the first alternative spaces in New York City, Artists Space was founded in 1972 to support contemporary artists working in the visual arts, including video, electronic media, performance, architecture and design. The mission of Artists Space is to encourage experimentation, diversity and dialogue in contemporary arts practice, provide an exhibition space for new art and artists, and foster an appreciation for the vital role that artists play in our community.
The Asia Society is an international organization dedicated to strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among the peoples of Asia and the United States. Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, the Society reaches audiences around the world through its headquarters in New York and regional centers in Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Hong Kong, Manila, Melbourne and Shanghai.
The Asia Society Museum is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization. The Society provides a forum for building awareness of the more than thirty countries broadly defined as the Asia-Pacific region, the area from Japan to Iran, and from Central Asia to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Through art exhibitions and performances, films, lectures, seminars and conferences, publications and assistance to the media, and materials and programs for students and teachers, the Asia Society Museum presents the uniqueness and diversity of Asia.
The Chelsea Art Museum (CAM) is committed to an exploration of “art within a context.” This approach favors a program of exhibitions which reflect contemporary human experience across a broad spectrum of cultural, social, environmental and geographical contexts. CAM’s exhibitions, each supported by a rich series of related cultural events and educational programs, seek to support in both its artists and audiences a sense of creativity, community and cultural exchange. Co-founder and president, Dorothea Keeser, describes CAM’s curatorial vision as, “a commitment to art as a living entity which reacts and interacts with us and changes the way one continues to live one’s daily life ”.
In collaboration with a network of museums and visual arts institutions both national and international, The Chelsea Art Museum seeks to present important, but relatively unexplored dimensions of 20th and 21st Century art, particularly focusing on artists that have been less exposed in the United States than in their home countries. The museum, a 30,000 sq. foot renovated historic building in the heart of Chelsea, is located opposite the piers which served as entry for the arrival and assimilation of foreign cultures into New York. This location provides a powerful symbol of the museum’s mission: to be a meeting point, a destination for exhibitions and works from Europe, the Americas and Asia and returning CAM generated exhibitions to those partners both overseas and within the United States.
The Chelsea Art Museum also serves as the home of the Jean Miotte Foundation which is dedicated to archiving, preserving, presenting and making available for exhibitions the work of Jean Miotte. Rotating selections of Miotte’s work are shown on a regular basis, as are selections from the permanent collection which includes rare holdings of such artists as Pol Bury, Mimmo Rotella, and J.P. Riopelle.
The permanent collection of the Chelsea Art Museum includes many European abstract artists often labeled as Informel, including Corpora, Lakner, Kirkeby, Millares, Miotte, Santomaso, Schumacher, Stöhrer, Thieler, Vedova. The collection also holds American abstract artists Francis, LaNoue, Mitchell, Motherwell, Riopelle; a large body of works by the Affichiste Mimmo Rotella; and works by Jean Arp, Olivier Debré, Jean Fautrier, and Ellen Levy. Sculptors in the collection include Bernar Venet, Pol Bury, Kanter, Jeff Beer, Johannsen and Zadkine. The collection also has an important selection of rare books and works on paper.
For over thirty years, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan has been an exciting destination for children to discover new ideas and stretch the imagination. Each year, 350,000 museum visitors participate in a school field trip, a family visit, a professional development session or an outreach program.
Exhibitions at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan are created and built by a team of education specialists and designers and tour both nationally and internationally. Based on the idea that students learn by doing, each theme-based exhibition uses hands-on activities, interactive components and larger than life environments to encourage students to explore in new ways and make learning fun.
Engaging, hands-on programs at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan make learning fun. Key observation, analytical and problem solving skills are developed through applied learning using directed experiments, exhibition exploration, open-ended art projects and more. Activities support learning in the areas of science, math, language and the creative arts, and our interdisciplinary approach to themes appeals to students with a variety of learning styles. Programs conform to New York State and City learning standards, are adapted to each grade level and can be tailored to classes with special needs
Founded in 1926, the China Institute in America is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution that promotes the understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of traditional and contemporary Chinese civilization, culture and heritage and provides the cultural and historical context for understanding contemporary China. China Institute offers programs, activities, courses and seminars on the visual and performing arts, culture, history, music, philosophy, language and literature. They are appropriate for people of all ages and backgrounds, as well as children’s programming, business and current affairs programs and professional development programs for teachers.
The China Institute Gallery has presented over 90 exhibitions, encompassing all areas of Chinese art. With its renowned reputation for high quality exhibitions, scholarly catalogs and interpretive programming, China Institute Gallery has become a unique resource for the general public, scholars, students and connoisseurs to learn about Chinese art and culture.
The Cloisters is located in northern Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park. The Cloisters, which celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in 1998, is named for the portions of five medieval French cloisters: Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie-en-Bigorre, and Froville; that were incorporated into the modern museum building. The result is not a copy of any particular medieval structure but an ensemble of spaces, rooms, and gardens that provide a harmonious and evocative setting in which visitors can experience the rich tradition of medieval artistic production. Just as cloisters provided sheltered access from one building to another within a monastery, here they act as passageways from gallery to gallery. They provide as inviting a place for rest, contemplation, and conversation as they did for their original monastic population.
Collection at the Cloisters
The collection at The Cloisters is complemented by more than six thousand objects exhibited in several galleries on the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's main building on Fifth Ave. Renowned for its architectural sculpture, The Cloisters also rewards visitors with exquisite illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork, enamels, ivories, and tapestries.
Much of the sculpture at The Cloisters was acquired by George Grey Barnard (1863–1938), a prominent American sculptor and avid collector of medieval art. While working in rural France before World War I, Barnard supplemented his income by locating and selling medieval sculpture and architectural fragments that had made their way into the hands of local landowners over several centuries of political and religious upheaval. He kept many pieces for himself and, upon returning to the United States, opened to the public a churchlike brick structure on Fort Washington Ave filled with his collection - the first installation of medieval art of its kind in America.
Through the generosity of the philanthropist and collector John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874–1960), the museum and all of its contents were acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1925. By 1927, it was clear that a new and larger building would be needed to display the collection in a more scholarly fashion. In addition to financing the conversion of 66.5 acres of land just north of Barnard's museum into a public park, inside which the new museum building would be located, and donating seven hundred acres of additional land to the state of New Jersey across the Hudson River to ensure that the view from The Cloisters remain unsullied, Rockefeller contributed medieval works of art from his own collection (including the celebrated set of seven South Netherlandish tapestries depicting "The Hunt of the Unicorn") and established an endowment for operations and future acquisitions.
Press blue button to see highlights from the collection housed at The Cloisters and presented online.
The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The Museum believes that design shapes our objects, environments, and communications, making them more desirable, functional, and accessible. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum celebrates the nature of design and explores its impact on the quality of our lives.
"The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only institution in the United States devoted to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting works by Europe's academically trained artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Dahesh serves a diverse audience by placing these artists in the broader context of 19th-century visual culture, and by offering a fresh appraisal of the role academies played in reinvigorating the classical ideals of beauty, humanism, and skill.
"Every exhibition presented at the Museum sets out to explore, often for the first time, some important feature of academic art and the institutions that nourished it in 19th-century and early 20th-century Europe. Utilizing loans from distinguished international collections, both private and public, previous exhibitions here have examined, among other topics, the training of artists; the world of the Salon with its competitions and juries; the 19th-century fascination with the Orient, reciprocated from Cairo to Paris; the influence of photography, travel, and archeological discoveries of the classical past; and the reproduction of artworks for an international market.
"The Dahesh Museum of Art collection contains paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, and books by the most popular artists of 19th-century and early 20th-century Europe. Artists such as Barye, Benouville, Bouguereau, Bonheur, Cabanel, Gérôme, Leighton, Picou, Troyon, and Vernet explored the subjects preferred by their fellow academicians, and by the growing middle-class audience who visited the annual Salons in Europe’s major cities. Sumptuous landscapes, exotic 'Oriental' scenes, closely observed animals, grandiloquent images from history and myth, and intimate scenes of everyday life form the core of the Museum’s collection. Works by masters acclaimed today, and also by artists known only in their day, are viewed side-by-side, as they were 150 years ago."
When Puerto Rican educators, artists and community activists founded El Museo del Barrio in 1969, they envisioned an educational institution that would reflect the richness of their culture. Thirty years later, as New York City's only Latino museum dedicated to Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latin American art, El Museo del Barrio retains its strong community roots as a place of cultural pride and self-discovery, yet projects itself nationally through exciting exhibitions and programs.
From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small Island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and is one of the country's most popular historic sites. In 2001, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, in partnership with the National Park Service, unveiled the American Family Immigration History Center. This exciting family research facility at Ellis Island provides visitors with advanced computer and multimedia technology, printed materials, and professional assistance for investigating immigration history, family documentation, and genealogical exploration.
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum is located in the Main Building of the former immigration station complex and tells the moving tales of the 12 million immigrants who entered America through the golden door of Ellis Island. Today, the descendants of those immigrants account for almost half of the American people.
One of your ancestors - a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent, risked everything to come to this country. Their courage and determination provided the freedom, opportunities and lifestyle we all too often take for granted. Press blue button to enter The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation Visit "The American Immigrant Wall of Honor". You can "Search the Wall", "Link to your Heritage", "Honor Your Grandparents" and 'Search for your Family Records!
The Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) celebrates fashion and textiles as profoundly human expressions of creativity, knowledge, and identity. Founded in 1967 to support the educational programs of the Fashion Institute of Technology, The Museum at FIT is today one of only a handful of museums in the world devoted to the art of fashion.
Best known for its innovative, award-winning exhibitions, the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology also has one of the world's most important collections of fashion and textiles, which it collects, conserves, documents, exhibits, and interprets for the purposes of education and inspiration.
The collections continue to grow as pieces are donated or purchased. New acquisitions are considered when they are either exceptional examples or fill a gap in the collections. Today the FIT's Museum collections have a dual function: as design laboratories used by students and professionals and as repositories where historically important objects can be safely preserved and exhibited for the education and aesthetic pleasure of present and future generations
The Frick Collection is one of New York City's most beloved cultural treasures. A visit to The Frick Collection evokes the splendor and tranquility of a time gone by and at the same time testifies to how great art collections can still inspire viewers today. Housed in the New York mansion built by Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), are masterpieces of Western painting, sculpture, and decorative art, displayed in a serene and intimate setting. Each of sixteen galleries offers a unique presentation of works of art arranged for the most part without regard to period or national origin, in the same spirit as Mr. Frick enjoyed the art he loved before he bequeathed it to the public.
The Frick Collection was founded by Henry Clay Frick, the Pittsburgh coke and steel industrialist. At his death, Mr. Frick bequeathed his New York residence and the most outstanding of his many art works to establish a public gallery for the purpose of “encouraging and developing the study of the fine arts.” Chief among his bequests, which also included sculpture, drawings, prints, and decorative arts such as furniture, porcelains, enamels, rugs and silver, were one hundred thirty-one paintings. Forty-seven additional paintings have been acquired over the years by the Trustees from an endowment provided by the founder and through gifts and bequests. As of the end of 1995 The Frick Collection housed a permanent collection of more than 1,100 works of art from the Renaissance to the late nineteenth century.
The art of The Frick Collection includes superb examples of Old Masters, English eighteenth-century portraits, Dutch seventeenth-century works of art, Italian Renaissance paintings, Renaissance bronzes, Limoge enamels, Chinese porcelains, and French eighteenth-century furniture. Artists represented in the Collection include Rembrandt van Rijn, Giovanni Bellini, El Greco, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Francois Boucher, Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Joseph Mallord William Turner, James McNeill Whistler, Francesco Laurana, Jean-Antoine Houdon, and Severo Calzetta da Ravenna.
The Frick Collection, although small, has played a very significant role in collecting and connoisseurship in the United States. The types of paintings collected by Mr. Frick deeply affected the taste of Americans in the decades after his death, first and foremost, that of Andrew Mellon, his close friend, and other collectors who gave to The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., founded by Mellon. Later, the example of The Frick Collection helped determine the nature of museums such as the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. It was, and continues to be, the model for many other collectors and institutions, whether or not they achieve the standards of collecting or the atmosphere of The Frick Collection as we know it today.
Press blue button for the official website of The Frick Collection & Frick Art Reference Library. You can select magnificent works of art and "zoom" into the work, seeing each detail of a "masterpiece". This website is wonderful and visiting the Frick offers a unique and special experience.
The new Hayden Planetarium is unlike any other such facility in the world. In the top half of the Hayden Sphere, the most technologically advanced Space Theater in existence will use advanced visual technology (including a customized, one-of-a-kind Zeiss Star Projector) to create shows of unparalleled sophistication, realism, and excitement. With this high-definition system, the Hayden Planetarium is the largest and most powerful virtual reality simulator in the world.
The bottom half of the Hayden Sphere houses the Big Bang, where visitors will be transported to the beginning of time and space, experiencing a dramatic, multisensory re-creation of the first moments of the universe. From here, visitors continue on an awe-inspiring journey that chronicles the evolution of the universe by following the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway, a sloping walkway that takes them through 13 billion years of cosmic evolution.
See the breathtaking Passport to the Universe at the Hayden Planetarium, that reveals the wonders of our universe in a way never before possible in a planetarium. No longer dependent on a single, multi-lens projector, the presentation is driven by computers and processors that treat the audiences to realistic close-up views of star fields and planets, taking them on an exhilarating flight through a virtual re-creation of our universe, into the Orion Nebula, out of our galaxy, and deep into intergalactic space. After reaching the edges of our known universe, the tour takes a "virtual shortcut" back to Earth, in a free fall, headlong through a black hole.
The Intrepid Sea-Air Museum displays one of the most successful ships in US History, now a national historic landmark, and one of the most unique attractions in New York City. In 1943, the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier was commissioned for service in World War II and went on to serve as a primary recovery vessel for NASA and then in Vietnam. Today the museum features a range of interactive exhibits and events that make Intrepid a snapshot of heroism, education, and excitement.
The hangar deck houses three of the legendary aircraft types which originally flew from the Intrepid during World War II: an original TBM Avenger torpedo bomber, and replicas of an F6F Hellcat fighter and an SB2C Helldiver dive bomber.
On the flight deck and portside aircraft elevator, America’s modern military cutting edge is represented by a Navy F-14 Tomcat, an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon, a Marine Corps aV-8C Harrier, and an A-12 Blackbird spy plane formerly in service with the CIA. During your visit, you’ll also find international air power on display with a British F-1 Scimitar, a French Entendard IV-M and a Polish MiG-21.
The Intrepid Sea-Air Museum's helicopter collection includes two Vietnam-era UH-1 Hueys, a Marine Corps AH-1J Sea Cobra, and a fully restored Army AH-1G Cobra gunship. Press blue button to browse through the "Intrepid Sea-Air Museum" website, and then plan your visit!
The Jewish Institute of Religion Museum presents an array of cultural and educational programs, organized in conjunction with exhibitions, which disseminate Jewish history, culture, contemporary creativity, and foster interfaith and multicultural understanding. The Museum welcomes students and instructors from a broad spectrum of Jewish, public, and parochial schools, who benefit from customized docent-led tours of the Museum, as well as opportunities to meet with HUC-JIR faculty and students, attend student recitals, and visit the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's Petrie Synagogue and Klau Library.
A recent exhibition "WALDSEE-1944" is an exhibition that commemorates the annihilation of Hungarian Jewry during the summer of 1944, when Jews deported by the Nazis to their deaths at Auschwitz were required to write deceptive postcards from "Waldsee" to their families, reassuring them that all was well. Seventy international artists have created their own visual symbolism, in the form of the postcard, to commemorate the Hungarian Holocaust. Among the artists are William Kentridge, Judy Chicago, Tobi Kahn, Archie Rand, Ida Appelbrog, Hanan Harchol, Margalit Mannor, Lynn Avedenka, Ruth Weisberg, Leonard Meiselman, Natan Nuchi, Richard McBee, Donald Woodman, and Mark Podwal.
In 2004, The Jewish Museum celebrates its Centennial year, marking the gift, in 1904, of 26 Jewish ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary by Judge Mayer Sulzberger. Over the past 100 years, the Museum has assumed its role as a major cultural institution for New York City and the world. The Jewish Museum is an art museum exploring Jewish culture. It is both a source of inspiration and knowledge for an audience of visitors of all cultural backgrounds, and a special touchstone of identity for a diverse population of Jewish people. As we begin the Museum's second century, we invite you to a "virtual" exploration of an institution in which past and present meet to pose questions and foster dialogue about the future.
In 1944, Frieda Schiff Warburg, widow of the prominent businessman and philanthropist, Felix Warburg, donated the family mansion on Fifth Ave at 92nd Street for use as The Jewish Museum. Located along New York's prestigious Museum Mile, this elegant landmark structure, in the style of a French Gothic chateau, has been our home since 1947. In 1993 an ambitious expansion and renovation project doubled the gallery space, added a glorious permanent exhibition, created classrooms and an auditorium for educational programs, and improved public amenities, including a café.
Through more than 28,000 objects including painting, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects, and broadcast media, The Jewish Museum's collection demonstrates Jewish identity and its evolution through visual art. It is one of the largest, most extensive collections of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.
Café Weissman, located at The Jewish Museum, is proud to offer innovative kosher cuisine prepared by Foremost Glatt Kosher Caterers serving an exquisite selection of delicious salads, pasta dishes, desserts, and beverages.
We at Madame Tussauds are proud of our 200 year heritage. We've become world experts in entertainment and we will never cease striving to improve our art. We are always moving forward, and making the most of modern advancements. We understand that our customer is the heart of our attraction. Without a happy heart, our attraction will never be truly great. With this in mind, we will always take care of our customers, to ensure that their needs are met, and above all, to ensure that they are having the best time possible at our celebrated institution.
What will you remember most about your trip to NYC? Will you remember when you struck a pose and dazzled the paparazzi, when you sang live at the American Idol Experience, when you forecasted the weather with Al Roker, or perhaps when you made Jennifer Lopez blush? In a city with millions of things to see and do, there is only one place where over 200 of the world's top celebrities provide you with an interactive experience of a lifetime. For a trip to remember, visit Madame Tussauds, New York City's House of Wax Museum.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a collection of museums, each deserving of many repeated visits. It is a vast storehouse of knowledge, where works of art are held for reference as well as for display; its collections are meant to be consulted as one chooses from a long menu. Indeed, the strength of the Met is that all under one roof it provides an almost infinite number of options for many rich and rewarding visits. The Met is a universal museum: every category of art in every known medium from every part of the world is represented here and thus available for contemplation or study, and not in isolation but in comparison with other times, other cultures, and other media.
The Metropolitan Museum's permanent collection consists of more than two million works of art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens, businessmen and financiers as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day, who wanted to create a museum to bring art and art education to the American people.
The Metropolitan Museum's painting collection began in 1870, when three private European collections, 174 paintings in all, came to the Met. A variety of excellent Dutch and Flemish paintings, including works by such artists as Hals and Van Dyck, was supplemented with works by such great European artists as Poussin, Tiepolo, and Guardi.
The collections continued to grow for the rest of the 19th century. But it is the 20th century that has seen the Met's rise to the position of one of the world's great art centers. Some highlights: a work by Renoir entered the Met as early as 1907. The Met has become one of the world's great repositories of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. In 1910 the Metropolitan was the first public institution to accept works of art by Matisse. By 1979 the Museum owned five of the fewer than 40 known Vermeers. The Department of Greek and Roman Art now oversees thousands of objects, including one of the finest collections in glass and silver in the world. The American Wing holds the most comprehensive collection of American art, sculpture, and decorative arts in the world. The Egyptian art collection is the finest outside Cairo. The Islamic art collection is without peer.
In 1880, the Metropolitan Museum moved to its current site in Central Park. The original Gothic-Revival-style building has been greatly expanded in size since then, and the various additions now completely surround the original structure.
Among the additions to the Met are: the Robert Lehman Wing (1975), which houses an extraordinary collection of Old Masters, as well as Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art; the installation in The Sackler Wing of the Temple of Dendur (1978), an Egyptian monument (ca. 15 B.C.) that was given to the United States by Egypt; The American Wing (1980), whose magnificent collection also includes 24 period rooms offering an unparalleled view of American art history and domestic life; The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing (1982) for the display of the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas; the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing (1987), which houses modern art; and the Henry R. Kravis Wing, devoted to European sculpture and decorative arts from the Renaissance to the beginning of the 20th century.
The Metropolitan Museum continues to refine and reorganize the collections in its existing spaces. In June 1998, the Arts of Korea gallery opened to the public, completing a major suite of galleries – a "museum within the Museum". In October 1999 the Ancient Near Eastern Galleries reopened. And a complete renovation and reinstallation of the Greek and Roman Galleries is underway: the first phase, The Robert and Renée Belfer Court for early Greek art, opened in June 1996; the New Greek Galleries premiered in April 1999; and in April 2000 the Cypriot Galleries open to the public.
Important Feature: The Met's collection and special exhibitions are accessible to all. A number of additional programs and resources are designed specifically for visitors with disabilities. Get further information about accessibility, Sign Language interpretation, touch tours, and more.
Press blue button to see the Web site of The Metropolitan Museum of Art offering unprecedented access to six of the Museum's historic American period rooms, through state-of-the-art Virtual Reality technology that allows online visitors to "tour" the rooms through all-inclusive, three dimensional views. Also in Category Children | Kids - Attractions | Places To Go History Museums - New York City
For nearly half a century, the Museum of Arts & Design has served as the country’s premier institution dedicated to the collection and exhibition of contemporary objects created in media such as clay, glass, wood, metal, and fiber. The Museum celebrates materials and processes that are today embraced by practitioners in the fields of craft, art and design, as well as architecture, fashion, interior design, technology, performing arts, and art and design-driven industries. The institution’s name reflects the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the Museum’s permanent collection and exhibition programming as it explores objects that are created at the crossroads of craft, art, and design.
In June 2002, the Museum of Arts & Design was selected by The New York Economic Development Corporation (EDC), on behalf of Mayor Bloomberg, to redevelop Two Columbus Circle with the goal of bringing a vibrant cultural resource to the area. “I am delighted that Two Columbus Circle will be re-born as a museum and a distinguished work of architecture that will serve as a demonstration of the vitality of New York and the pivotal role that the arts play in the economic, social, and educational life of the city.” Mayor Bloomberg
Opening in 2008, the new Museum of Arts & Design will more than triple its space to 54,000 square feet from 17,000 square feet in its present location. The Museum’s exhibition space will increase fourfold. For the first time since its founding in 1956, the Museum will be able to present and expand its permanent collection of art objects, including ceramics, fiber, glass, metal, paper, wood, mixed media, and design–one of the most distinguished collections of its kind in the world. MAD will also double its gallery space for the display of special exhibitions organized by the Museum and other national and international arts institutions.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - honors those who died by celebrating their lives, cherishing the civilization that they built, their achievements and faith, their joys and hopes, and the vibrant Jewish community that is their legacy today. In the Museum's core exhibition, personal objects, photographs, and original films illustrate the story of Jewish heritage in the twentieth century.
The 30,000-square-foot Museum on the waterfront at 36 Battery Place in Manhattan's Battery Park City, with its six-sided shape and tiered roof symbolic of the six points of the Star of David and the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, has proved a powerful attraction as one of New York City's newest cultural destinations. The Museum of Jewish Heritage goes beyond recounting the horrors of the Holocaust. Its mission is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the broad tapestry of Jewish life over the past century, before, during, and after the Holocaust.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - a testament to the endurance of a people, teaches essential and unforgettable lessons about the danger of intolerance. The Museum, like the history of the Jewish people, is a combination of celebration and sorrow, triumph and tragedy. Every object, every display, and every voice is a demonstration of the legacy of courage in the face of adversity that sustained the Jewish people through one of the worst periods in human history.
Each year, the Museum observes Yom HaShoah with a candle-lighting ceremony that brings together Holocaust survivors and high-school students throughout the New York area in a moving demonstration of the power of passing memories from one generation to the next. Hearing the history directly from those who lived it has an impact on students that is far stronger than any book, film, or lecture. As the years pass, it becomes still more important for succeeding generations to hear first-person accounts of this incredible tragedy.
Founded in 1929 as an educational institution, The Museum of Modern Art is dedicated to being the foremost museum of modern art in the world. The Museum of Modern Art manifests this commitment by establishing, preserving, and documenting a permanent collection of the highest order that reflects the vitality, complexity, and unfolding patterns of modern and contemporary art; by presenting exhibitions and educational programs of unparalleled significance; by sustaining a library, archives, and conservation laboratory that are recognized as international centers of research; and by supporting scholarship and publications of preeminent intellectual merit.
The Museum of Modern Art seeks to create a dialogue between the established and the experimental, the past and the present, in an environment that is responsive to the issues of modern and contemporary art, while being accessible to a public that ranges from scholars to young children. The ultimate purpose of the Museum declared at its founding was to acquire the best modern works of art. While quality remains the primary criterion, the Museum acknowledges and pursues a broader educational purpose: to build a collection which is more than an assemblage of masterworks, which provides a uniquely comprehensive survey of the unfolding modern movement in all visual media.
The Museum of the City of New York was founded in 1923. Its first home was Gracie Mansion. The Museum opened the doors of its new building at 1220 Fifth Ave in 1932. The Museum of the City of New York embraces the past, present, and future of New York City and celebrates the city’s cultural diversity. It does so through its rich collections, a lively schedule of exhibitions, and an array of programs for adults and children. The Museum is dedicated to fostering an understanding of New York’s evolution from its origins as a settlement of a few hundred Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans to its present status of one of the world’s largest and most important cities.
The Museum of the City of New York's name says it all. With our unique mandate, to engage visitors in exploring the past, present, and future of the five boroughs of New York City and to explore the city's astonishing cultural diversity, we have the opportunity to present a wide variety of exhibitions, public programs, and publications, all investigating what gives New York its singular character. In this year alone, we have presented exhibitions on our own neighborhood of East Harlem, on the oldest community of Jews in North America, on the community-centered values of labor radicalism in the Bronx, on the glamour of "New York style," and on the rich legacy of black theater. Our city's constantly changing built environment was explored through exhibitions of photographs of the subways and through investigations of new design and new architecture. Public programs investigated everything from school reform to solutions to traffic congestion to the future of women in the New York workforce.
Please join us as The Museum of the City of New York continues to explore what makes New York New York.
Visitors to the National Academy Museum find it one of New York City's special treasures. The Academy is an honorary association of professional artists that maintains a museum and an art school. A requirement of membership, which is by election only, is the contribution of a representative example of each artist's work. Since its founding in 1825, the Academy has amassed a rich collection of American paintings, sculpture, prints, and architectural representations forming a permanent collection of over 8000 works of nineteenth through twenty-first century art. The museum presents exhibitions from its permanent collection as well as organizing major exhibitions, such as Surrealism U.S.A., which traveled to the Phoenix Art Museum. Located in a beautiful Beaux-Arts townhouse on Fifth Ave, the National Academy is one of the eight museums that comprise Museum Mile.
The National Academy Museum houses one of the largest public collections of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American art in the country. It comprises over five thousand works in almost every artistic style of the past two centuries, from the linear portraiture of the Federal period and the naturalistic landscapes of the Hudson River School to studies of light and atmosphere that inform Tonalism and American Impressionism; from the gritty realism of the Ashcan movement to the modernist movements of Fauvism, abstraction, and photo and magic realism. Masterworks in these and other styles have come into the National Academy Museum's collection mainly as gifts from newly elected National Academicians in compliance with membership requirements; thereby continually enriching the collection.
The National Sports Museum is the first world-class, interactive sports museum dedicated to the celebration of all sports and their significance in our lives and culture. As the "nation's definitive museum of sports," The National Sports Museum is the place for domestic and international visitors to experience the thrill and history of sports throughout the ages and throughout the world. The National Sports Museum will be located a few blocks from the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island ferry and the World Trade Center Memorial Site.
The National Sports Museum will provide an experience unlike any in New York City, the nation or the world. As a family-oriented attraction, the NSM's exhibits will engage people of all ages through an interactive and celebratory environment. The NSM will include permanent and rotating exhibits, a 360-degree immersion theater, special event spaces, an extensive retail area, and a sports-themed café.
The National Sports Museum's "Immersion Theatre" - During a spectacular 8-minute film presentation, National Sports Museum visitors will occupy the center of the theater space, surrounded by a multi-layered 360-degree video projection system. The film begins with images of empty stadiums and arenas, then proceeds through time-lapse photography to show those venues fill with fans.
Then the games begin: first serves thunder off rackets, drives explode from metal woods, footballs soar from the punter's foot and basketballs tip to one side. The intensity builds as the games proceed and visitors are taken through half-times and time-outs, building to a pulsating final sequence, showing fans celebrating after a thrilling win. Throughout the film, on a Jumbotron, athletes, fans, owners and coaches at all levels of sports talk about each stage of "the game" as it is shown.
Press blue button for more information on the exciting National Sports Museum.
The New Museum is located at 235 Bowery, New York, NY 10002. "The New Museum began as an idea in the mind of founding Director Marcia Tucker. As a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art from 1967 through 1976, Tucker observed firsthand that new work by living artists was not easily assimilated into the conventional exhibition and collection structure of the traditional art museum.
"The New Museum, designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA, is a seven-story, eight-level structure located at 235 Bowery between Stanton and Rivington Streets, at the origin of Prince Street in New York City.
"The Internship Program at the New Museum offers participants hands-on training in the museum profession and a comprehensive overview of Museum operations. Interns also gain insight into the world of contemporary art."
Press blue button for current exhibitions, calendar, digital archive, tours, and more about the New Museum.
New Museum First Saturdays for Families First Saturdays at the New Museum offer special, hands-on programs designed for families with children and young adults five to fifteen years old, conducted by trained New Museum educators the first Saturday of each month. Families have the opportunity to explore the New Museum’s exhibitions through lively conversations in the galleries, and to engage in related creative activities.
The New York City Police Museum, as we know it today, was created in 1929 when the Recruit Training School was relocated to what was to become the Police Headquarters Annex at 400 Broome Street. The academy was then known as the "Police College". An entire floor of the college was dedicated as a museum, although still focusing on criminal methods and crime.
The Police Museum started to focus more on the history of the department and policing in New York with the appointment of its first curator, Detective Alfred Young who supplemented the displays of the museum with his own, extensive collection of police memorabilia. Detective Young is also credited with designing the current Medal of Honor. By March 2002, the museum opened at its permanent home at 100 Old Slip, the site of the old First Precinct stationhouse, a building that itself reflects the rich history of the NYPD.
Our building at 100 Old Slip was built in 1909-11 and designed by the notable architectural firm of Hunt & Hunt. This building was constructed as the new home for the First Precinct. It was considered a model police facility when built and chiefs of police throughout the country visited the new stationhouse looking to copy some of its features in their own new buildings. This building replaced another stationhouse built on the exact same spot in 1884, in fact the new stationhouse used the same foundation as the building it replaced. The 1884 stationhouse was constructed on the site of the former Franklin Market. It was built in the Neo-Italian Renaissance style. Its visual power was created by a rhythmic series of tall arches, heavy rusticated walls and restrained ornamentation. The building's distinctive profile with its dominating cornice is reminiscent of the Palazzo Riccardi in Florence and is now the home of The New York City Police Museum.
The New-York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West (Richard Gilder Way) New York, NY 10024.
The following opening paragraph is taken from "The Address of 'The New-York Historical Society' delivered to the public on February 12th, 1805 and September 18, 1809: "Having formed an association, for the purpose of discovering, procuring, and preserving whatever may relate to the natural, civil, literary, and ecclesiastical history of our country, and particularly of the State of New-York, we solicit the aid of the liberal, patriotic, and learned, to promote the objects of our institution."
Today, The New-York Historical Society offers a world of information such as the wealth of significant objects housed in the Luce Center, their power to fascinate, evoke the past, and convey the physical reality of history complements the special exhibitions, library resources, and public programs that are also available to visitors. By presenting such treasures in a format at once transparent, adaptable, and accessible, the New-York Historical Society is charting an important new path in the museum community.
Attractions Include Children's Museum Events and Exhibitions Programs Two million manuscripts, 500,000 photographs, 400,000 prints
Press blue button to explore the New York Historical Society & Museum website.
The Paley Center for Media is located at 25 West 52 Street, New York, NY 10019 and is located in Beverly Hills, CA. The Paley Center for Media leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. Drawing upon its curatorial expertise, an international collection, and close relationships with the leaders of the media community, the Paley Center examines the intersections between media and society. The general public can access the collection and participate in programs that explore and celebrate the creativity, the innovations, the personalities, and the leaders who are shaping media. Through the global programs of its Media Council and International Council, the Paley Center also serves as a neutral setting where media professionals can engage in discussion and debate about the evolving media landscape. Previously known as The Museum of Television & Radio, the Paley Center was founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, a pioneering innovator in the industry.
At The Paley Center for Media, you have the opportunity to access an international collection of more than 140,000 programs covering almost 100 years of television and radio history, including news, public affairs programs and documentaries, performing arts programs, children's programming, sports, comedy and variety shows, and commercial advertising. Programming from some seventy countries is represented in the collection.
In our library you choose a program from the collection. Then you go to watch or listen to it at a console individually - or with up to four people at a family console.
You can also drop in to a screening in one of the Paley Center's theaters. Each day we screen a wide variety of programming from our collection, from David Bowie in performance or a look at the work of Jim Henson or the short films of Saturday Night Live. In our theaters you enjoy the communal experience of watching television together. All of the programming is also available for you to watch or listen to at an individual console through the library.
Throughout the year we offer numerous public programs in the Media as Lens subscription series that bring together writers, directors, producers, actors, critics, journalists, and artists from many disciplines to discuss everything from the creative process behind television and radio to the current trends in media and popular culture, to global political situations. Press blue button for more information about the The Paley Center for Media.
The mission of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is to promote the understanding and appreciation of art, architecture, and other manifestations of modern and contemporary visual culture; to collect, preserve, and research art objects; and to make them accessible to scholars and an increasingly diverse audience through its network of museums, programs, educational initiatives, and publications.
In June 1943, Frank Lloyd Wright received a letter from Hilla Rebay, the art advisor to Solomon R. Guggenheim, asking the architect to design a new building to house Guggenheim's four-year-old Museum of Non-Objective Painting. The project evolved into a complex struggle pitting the architect against his clients, city officials, the art world, and public opinion. Both Guggenheim and Wright would die before the building's 1959 completion. The resultant achievement, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, testifies not only to Wright's architectural genius, but to the adventurous spirit that characterized its founders.
The Guggenheim collection "online" premiered in April 2001 with a selection of works of art from the New York museum's holdings. Currently representing 169 artists, the collection online encompasses both the classic and the new—from the Guggenheim's earliest work, an 1867 landscape by Camille Pissarro, through more recent acquisitions, a 1998–99 sculpture by Robert Gober—striking a balance that reflects the dynamic tenor of the institution as a whole. Each work may be viewed at small, medium, or large resolution, and is accompanied by insightful commentary.
The Studio Museum in Harlem is a contemporary art museum that focuses on the work of artists of African descent locally, nationally and globally, as well as work that has been inspired and influenced by African-American culture, through its exhibitions, Artists-in-Residence program, education and public programming, permanent collection, archival and research facilities. The Studio Museum in Harlem is committed to serving as a unique resource in its local community and in national and international arenas by making art works and exhibitions concrete and personal for each viewer and providing a context within which to address the contemporary and historical issues presented through art created by artists of African descent.
The Studio Museum in Harlem has a long tradition of presenting programs that address prevalent issues in contemporary art by artists of African descent. Through the Department of Education and Public Programs, we offer a range of activities and programs that engage a diverse cross-section of artists of various disciplines, writers, scholars and critics who share diverse perspectives with our audiences.
Programs include: Architectural Walking Tours, Artists-In-Residence Open Studios, Books & Authors, Director's Dialogues, Hoofers' House, Inside/Out Gallery Tour, Poetry @ SMH, Sunday Salon, The Fine Art Of Collecting, Vital Expressions in American Art: Performance @ SMH.
In the Winter 2001, The Studio Museum in Harlem launched a new initiative Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History and Community, a intergenerational program that uses SMH's James VanDerZee Collection/Archives as the point of entry for people of all ages to share experiences and perspectives on community, identity, history and culture. Expanding the Walls was conceived to allow SMH to develop vital relationships with three distinct populations--youth, families, and senior citizens, as well as the cultural institutions and community based organizations that provide services to these groups.
Over the past decade museums around the nation have undertaken special initiatives to strengthen community relationships. Providing access to the arts, addressing the needs of under-served populations and using museum collections creatively to reflect the identity and interests of community have been the driving forces behind new programs. In developing programs that best meet the needs of their varied constituencies, the museum field has made it a priority to address communities who are often marginalized within the traditional paradigm of museum education. While the field has invested a great deal of time and resources in redefining the role of the museum in communities, many of these efforts have not been sustained and or the programs were intended to function as one-time exposure activities.
The Studio Museum in Harlem has over the last three decades successfully served as a resource for scholars, educators and more traditional museum visitors. In its geographic community-Harlem-however it has been perceived as exclusive and elitist. Its programs, while reflecting the standards of the museum field, have not always addressed the interests of its immediate community.
Expanding the Walls is a program that has been conceived to challenge habitual museum education practices by creating an environment where there is a clear exchange of information and an interactive pedagogical process between community and the institution, and between different generations. At the core of this new initiative is a program through which youth are trained to use photography and the visual arts in general to facilitate discussions of larger social issues in the context of exhibitions presented at The Studio Museum in Harlem. Press blue button for more information on "Expanding the Walls" and the many exciting events at The Studio Museum in Harlem.
The Whitney Museum houses one of the world's foremost collections of twentieth-century American art. The Permanent Collection of some 12,000 works encompasses paintings, sculptures, multimedia installations, drawings, prints, and photographs, and is still growing. The Museum was founded in 1931 with a core group of 700 art objects, many of them from the personal collection of founder Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney; others were purchased by Mrs. Whitney at the time of the opening to provide a more thorough overview of American art in the early decades of the century. Mrs. Whitney favored the art of the revolutionary artists derisively called the Ashcan School, among them John Sloan, George Luks, and Everett Shinn, as well as realists such as Edward Hopper and American Scene painters John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton. Her initial gift, however, also comprised many important works by early modernists: Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, Max Weber, and others. Virtually all the works collected by the Museum for the next twenty years came through the generosity of Mrs. Whitney.
Founded in 1973, Yeshiva University Museum’s changing exhibits have celebrated the culturally diverse intellectual and artistic achievements of 3,000 years of Jewish experience. The Museum provides a window into Jewish culture around the world and throughout history through its acclaimed multi-disciplinary exhibitions and award-winning publications. By educating audiences of all ages with dynamic interpretations of Jewish life, past and present, along with wide-ranging cultural offerings and programs, Yeshiva University Museum attracts young and old, Jewish and non-Jewish audiences.
Yeshiva University Museum presents exhibitions with an interdisciplinary focus that reflect the diversity of the Museum’s collection of more than 8,000 artifacts. As a resource for scholarly research, Yeshiva University Museum’s exhibitions provide unique opportunities for artists, historians, collectors, and ethnographers to examine, compare, and research objects, ideas, and techniques. Its contemporary art shows offer the public the opportunity to survey art being created by living Jewish artists throughout the world.
Features Include: Four Galleries, Exhibition Arcade, Multilingual Tours in English, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian, & Yiddish, Outdoor Sculpture Garden, Docent Lounge, Children’s Workshop, 250 Seat Auditorium, Kosher Café.
Godwin-Ternbach Museum is located at Klapper Hall 405, Queens College, Flushing NY 11367. The Godwin-Ternbach Museum is the only museum in Queens with art from ancient to modern times as well as the only museum within the City University of New York, and houses more than 3,500 works of art. These include Egyptian, Greek, and Asian antiquities, and pre-Columbian, African, and Pacific culture artifacts. Roman and Islamic glass, Renaissance and Baroque sculpture and decorative arts, as well as paintings and drawings by masters of all periods highlight the collection.
The Godwin-Ternbach Museum, officially established in 1981, had its genesis in the Queens College Art Collection. Drawing on its extensive and varied works, loans of artworks from other collections, and the rich educational resources of Queens College, the museum offers a dynamic schedule of changing exhibitions and programs. Through its outreach, art education programs as well as publications, lectures, music, films, and workshops are made available to individuals of all ages.
Press blue button to explore the Godwin-Ternbach Museum. For more information about the exhibition or lectures series, call 718-997-4747. Admission to the exhibition and lecture series is free.
Bear Mountain Park: Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center The study of native animals and their habitat at Bear Mountain has a long history. In 1921, the American Museum of Natural History installed a facility at the Boy Scouts headquarters on Lake Kanawauke. Four years later, the same Museum began a program for the study of insects in Harriman State Park. The Commission added a bear den in 1926, which became a small zoo, as the facility took in more injured animals in need of shelter.
Today's Trailside Museums and Zoo occupy 40-acres on a bluff 250 feet over the Hudson River. The trails, including the first section of the Appalachian Trail, are among the oldest in the country; they link the various homes of Samantha, the eagle, and other birds of prey, the bear den, as well as habitats for beavers, a river otter, foxes, coyotes, and more.
Children enjoy the various presentations of indigenous wildlife, geology and herpetology. On display are Native American artifacts, models of Revolutionary War battles fought on-site, and an exhibit of the origins of the Boy Scouts, and four Museum buildings. See the bald eagle, black bear, owl, river otter and more animals local to Bear Mountain.
The Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center also highlight the history of the area. Learn about the importance of Bear Mountain in the American Revolutionary War. Visit historic 1777 & 1779 Trails that retrace the routes taken by the British army during the American War of Independence. Visit Fort Montgomery, a Revolutionary War fort built to defend the Hudson Highlands and protect American control of the Hudson River and learn about the Battle of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton.
Young children, older children, and adults all enjoy visiting each of the Museum buildings that house different exhibits. Visit the Local Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish Museum, the Geology Museum, History Museum and Nature Study Museum.
Hudson Highland Nature Museum offers the Outdoor Discovery Center and the Wildlife Education Center.
Outdoor Discovery Center 100 Muser Drive, across from 174 Angola Road Cornwall, NY 12518
Wildlife Education Center 25 Boulevard Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY
Founded in 1959, the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum is a center for nature, with a focus on environmental education an a mission to develop responsible caretakers of the natural world. Over the years it has developed quality educational programs for students and the public that focus on the unique ecology of the Hudson Highlands and promote knowledge and appreciation of our natural world. Each year the Museum reaches over 30,000 children and adults.
Kids Things To Do Animals and Nature programs Birthday Parties at the Wildlife Education Center More birthday parties ideas for children. Hiking Trails (Guidebooks at the Outdoor Discover Center) Summer Science and Nature Camp Weekend Nature Programs Young Naturalists Classes
Things To Buy for Kids The Museum Nature Shops have a wide selection of items to spark a child’s imagination, great books to enjoy and beautiful jewelry to wear. They offer a wonderful supply of small toys, birthday party goodie bag items, nature guide books, nature crafts and nature-themed books for children, jewelry, bird feeders and bird seed and more.
Press blue button for more about the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum for children, families, and grownups. Also in Location Cornwall-on-Hudson
Founded in 1959, the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum is a center for nature, with a focus on environmental education and a mission to develop responsible caretakers of the natural world. Over the years it has developed quality educational programs for students and the public that focus on the unique ecology of the Hudson Highlands and promote knowledge and appreciation of our natural world.
Things To Do at Outdoor Discovery Center The Outdoor Discover Center is located at 100 Muser Drive (entrance to the center is on Muser Drive across from 174 Angola Road) in Cornwall, NY.
Things To Do at Wildlife Education Center See the Living Hudson Exhibit; a multi-sensory experience full of the flora and fauna native to the Hudson Estuary. Follow the journey as water trickles down a highland creek into a wetland pond. The pond empties into a freshwater stream which then joins the Hudson River Estuary.
Press blue button to learn more about upcoming events, featured programs, and to Meet the Animal of the week.
The D&H Canal Park and the Neversink Valley Area Museum are located in Cuddebackville, Orange County, NY along the banks of the Neversink River. The Neversink Valley Area Museum preserves and documents the history of the peoples and industry of the Neversink and Shawangunk valleys of New York's Catskill region.
The Neversink Valley Area Museum occupies historic canal-era buildings in the D&H Canal Park right on the Neversink River.
For the Kids The Neversink Valley Area Museum has a number of activities that are especially suited to kids and their families.
The County Park, our home, has lots of grass and a playground.
Children love our Narrated Boat Rides along the D&H Canal (Sundays: 30 minute boat rides, boat seats 12 people, rides are $5.00).
Discover the beauty of the Neversink Valley This lovely region of Orange County is home to the Neversink, the Minisink, the amazing D&H Canal, a rich archaeological history and a network of small museums and historical societies devoted to presenting it all to you. Join us at the Neversink Valley Area Museum and our sister institutions for a tour of the natural beauty and rich history of our little corner of New York State. Press blue button for Kids & Family, events, and more about Neversink Valley Area Museum
Click to enlarge sign about Fort Montgomery in the American Revolution.
The interpretive sign reads: Welcome to Fort Montgomery "You are standing near the western end of Fort Montgomery: a Revolutionary War fort built to defend the Hudson Highlands and protect American control of the Hudson River. On October 6, 1777, the British captured Fort Montgomery and destroyed it in the days that followed.
"Trails from this parking area lead to two of the fort's redoubts. The trail that passes beneath the highway will take you to the Fort Montgomery visitor center and Fort Montgomery's remains where interpretive signs will help you understand the history of the fort and the battle."
Fort Montgomery State Historic Site Fort Montgomery is located in Fort Montgomery, NY 10922 at Bear Mountain in the historic Hudson River Valley.
Fort Montgomery was the scene of a fierce battle for control of the Hudson River during the American Revolutionary War; the Hudson was considered strategic by both the Americans and the British during the American War for Independence. Today, Fort Montgomery stands as an archeological site and a historic ruin.
Building Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton "Early in the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress realized that the Hudson River was critical to the American cause. If the British controlled the river, they could divide the rebellious colonies. Therefore, the Americans began work on Fort Montgomery in March 1776. . .
"Fort Montgomery was a bustling community of hundreds of people. Soldiers, laborers, merchants, families, servants, and slaves lived at or visited the fort. Ships and boats arriving and departing added to the atmosphere of a small city.
"Supplies were often hard to obtain, morale was often low, and discipline was a chronic problem. Nevertheless, Forts Montgomery and Clinton were largely complete by October 1777, when the British attacked them."
Fort Clinton "Originally, the commissioners in charge of the work were confident that no overland attack on the fort was possible, but misgivings led them to begin extending the fortifications inland. They began fortifying several pieces of high ground that became Fort Montgomery's three redoubts.
"When the Americans discovered that the land on the opposite side of the Popolopen Creek was higher and would threaten Fort Montgomery if held by the enemy, they began constructing a second fort there, called Fort Clinton. They connected the two forts by a pontoon bridge.
Click to enlarge sign about the Battle of Fort Montgomery.
The interpretive sign reads: Battle of Fort Montgomery "To aid Lieutenant General John Burgoyne's British army stalled at Saratoga, Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton sailed from New York with 3,000 British, German, and Loyalist soldiers and a flotilla of warships. On the morning of October 6, 1777, Clinton landed 2,100 of his men on the west side of the Hudson River near Stony Point. This force followed a narrow trail through the mountains, where they ran into a party of 30 men sent from Fort Clinton to detect the British advance. After beating the Americans back, Sir Henry Clinton sent 900 men around Bear Mountain to attack Fort Montgomery. The rest would wait to attack Fort Clinton until the first group had reached Fort Montgomery.
"In the afternoon, the British began an assault on both forts, which were defended by no more than 700 men. At Fort Montgomery, the Americans kept the British at bay as the two sides exchanged musket fire. When the Americans refused to surrender, the British stormed both forts. Taking advantage of the growing dark and the smoky haze from the battle, many of the Americans escaped, but as many as 275 were taken as prisoners to New York City where they remained for much of the war.
"Following the battle, the British destroyed Fort Montgomery, garrisoned Fort Clinton, and burned New York's capital at Kingston. Then, receiving orders to join Sir William Howe's army near Philadelphia, Clinton's men destroyed Fort Clinton and sailed back down the Hudson. Although captured and destroyed, the forts had presented enough of an obstacle to keep the British forces in New York from aiding Burgoyne's army. The following year, in 1778, the American began rebuilding their defenses, this time at West Point."
Click to enlarge photo of the Wounded Patriot at the Battle of Fort Montgomery.
Men in the photo represent two American patriots: Private, Ulster County Militia, and Private, 5th New York Regiment. The militiaman, in civilian clothing, is armed with a British musket. He assists his wounded comrade carrying a French musket from the 1750s.
The American Revolution - 1777: History of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton The following historical accounts record the Battles of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton from different historical perspectives:
The War of the Revolution, by Christopher Ward, Volume II (Macmillan, 1952)
"An opaque fog lay close to the surface of the Hudson River on the morning of October 5, 1777. The awakening bugles of General Israel Putnam’s Continentals at Peekskill on the eastern shore of the river seemed muted by the white and misty blanket. The slow-rising sun burned irregular holes in it, however, and through these the General’s sentinels, who had been posted south of his encampment during most of the summer, saw something that banished their accustomed boredom. There were barges and galleys downriver—many of them—and above the low lying haze rose the towering masts of British frigates. From downriver, too, came the muffled sounds of alarm guns. The long-dreaded invasion of enemy troops from occupied New York had begun.
"The elderly Yankee Israel Putnam was busy at once. An oarsman, rowing desperately, bore messages across the wide stream to Fort Montgomery, an unfinished cluster of earthworks then under the command of the thirty-eight-year-old governor of the new state of New York, Brigadier General George Clinton. At this bastion, nearly a hundred and fifty feet above the spot where the Popolopen Creek joins the Hudson, the Governor received Putnam’s letter. Immediately he sent a summary of its contents to his older brother, General James Clinton, then in command of Fort Clinton, a smaller stronghold on the steep south bank of the narrow creek.
"In the meantime, the British under Sir Henry Clinton (a distant cousin of the American generals of the same surname) were disembarking at Verplanck’s Point on the east bank of the Hudson, not far below Putnam’s headquarters. The grating of their boats in the shallows of the river, the sharp voices of their officers ordering immediate formations, came strangely through the thick fog to the ears of Putnam’s scouts, informing them only that the invaders were in considerable numbers . . .
". . . Perhaps the Battle of Fort Montgomery would have been utterly neglected had not two young American soldiers chosen to visit the site on a sunny spring day of the following year. Historians do not usually end their chapters on such footnotes as these men provided, but their reports have so documented the narrative that they deserve place here. One of them, a young chaplain named Timothy Dwight (later president of Yale College), wrote in his journal that while he was climbing from a river barge to the place where the battle had been fought, the stench of dead bodies caused him great distress.
"We found, at a small distance from Fort Montgomery, a pond of a moderate size, in which we saw the bodies of several men, who had been killed in the assault upon the fort. They were thrown into this pond, the preceding autumn, by the British … Some of them were covered at this time; but at a depth so small as to leave them distinctly visible. Others had an arm, a leg, or a part of the body, above the surface. The clothes which they wore when they were killed, were still on them, and proved that they were militia; being the ordinary dress of farmers. Their faces were bloated and monstrous; and their postures were uncouth, distorted and to the highest degree afflictive . . ."
Battles Of The Revolutionary War: 1775-1781 by W.J. Wood (Dec 23, 2003) "On October 6th, 300 Continental soldiers of the 5th New York regiment, 100 artillerymen of Lamb's Artillery, and some 300 Levies and militiamen defended the unfinished Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton against a combined force of roughly 2,100 Loyalists, Hessians, and British regulars led by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton attacked Forts Montgomery and Clinton from the landward side (which was only partially completed) with support from cannon fire from British ships on the Hudson River. The land columns attacking from west of the fort consisted of the New York Volunteers, the Loyal American Regiment, Emmerich's Chasseurs, the 57th and the 52nd Regiments of Foot.
"The Americans had emplaced an iron chain and a boom across the Hudson River, protected by four warships, to impede the British flotilla.
"Lt. Col. Mungo Campbell and several British regulars approach the fort with a flag of truce indicating that they wish to avoid `further effusion of blood.' Clinton sends Lt. Col. William S. Livingston to meet the enemy. The British officer requests that the patriots surrender. They are promised that no harm would come to them. Livingston, in turn, invites Campbell to surrender and promises him and his men good treatment. Fuming at this audacity, the British resume the fight. British ships working against an ebb tide attack the forts and American vessels. A steady volley ensues with each side receiving a share of the bombardment. British officers Campbell and Vaughan close in on all sides of the twin forts. Leading his men into battle, Campbell is killed in a violent attack on the North Redoubt of Fort Montgomery. Vaughan's horse is shot from under him as he rides into battle at Fort Clinton.
"After a fierce battle lasting until dark, the British pushed the courageous Americans from the forts at the points of their bayonets. The defenders are overpowered by sheer numbers and the British gain possession of Forts Montgomery and Clinton. American casualties numbered about 350 killed, wounded and captured, while the British paid a price of at least 190 killed and wounded. Those who were not killed or did not escape are shipped to the infamous Sugar House Prisons in New York City and then onto British "hell ships" (prison ships) in the harbor. A "return," or report of prisoners, is sent to communities in the Highlands to inform families of their loved ones' capture. It is up to the families to send provisions lest the prisoners starve. Countless patriots perish on the prison ships.
"U.S. Army battle map, The Battle of Fort Montgomery, 5-6 October 1777 U.S. Army battle map, The Battle of Fort Montgomery, The British Attack, Dusk, 6 October 1777 Forts Montgomery and Clinton, located just south of West Point, were built for the defense of the Hudson Highlands in 1776. It was here that British and loyalist troops overwhelmed Clinton's outnumbered patriots in October.
"Although the Americans lost the battle for the Highlands, a relative handful of Americans aided in delaying British reinforcements from joining Burgoyne in the upper Hudson Valley and allowed Gates to gain much needed militia reinforcements in time to ultimately win Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga."
A guide to the Battles of the American Revolution by Theodore P. Savas and J. David Dameron (Savas Beatie LLC, NY 2006)
American Perspective: "Waiting within the American fortifications on Bemis Heights was the bloodied Continental Army led by Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates. Not an audacious commander, Gates was content to await General Burgoyne's next move. While Gates market time on Bemis Heights, Patriot forces assigned to defensive positions guarding the entrance to the Hudson Highlands worked to complete two forts on the Hudson River 100 miles south of Albany, New York. Their commander was Brig. Gen. George Clinton (not to be confused with the British commander with the same last name). The forts over which the American Clinton (who was also governor of New York) labored were named Montgomery, in honor of fallen Patriot Gen. Richard Montgomery, and Clinton, after himself as commander of the forces in that region. Built on opposite banks of Popolopen Creek, which emptied into the Hudson River on its western shore at a strategic bend, eight miles south of West Point, the bastions were key to the strategic defense of the Hudson Highlands.
Fort Montgomery guarded the northern bank of the creek and Fort Clinton the southern bank. To the "east of both forts flowed the majestic Hudson River. All told, the American fielded 600 men and 20 pieces of heavy artillery. The Patriots strung a heavy iron chain across the river and seeded the water with log obstacles to disrupt any maritime assault upon the American forts. Patrolling the Hudson were two Americans warships, Montgomery and Congress, supported by a handful of smaller vessels . . .
"Fort Clinton was constructed on the south side of Popolopen Creek on a rocky ridge overlooking the Hudson River below, oriented to cover a 400-yard wide plain before the drop to the waterway. Fort Montgomery also overlooked the Hudson River, but was situated on the northern shore of Popolopen Creek, which ran west from the Hudson . . .
"After a perfunctory request that the defenders capitulate (which was rejected), the twin assaults began. There was no element of surprise or effort at finesse. The British attached nearly simultaneously with the sun setting behind Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell's columns. Sir James Wallace's British river fleet also arrived and opened fire on the American vessels and forts, providing the British land forces with supporting fire.
"Fort Montgomery fell first . . . Fort Clinton's defenders offered a better account of themselves, but the outcome was the same. Sir Henry Clinton ordered his command to launch a direct attach (there was little room to maneuver). His regulars and Hessian allies swept forward through a line of obstructions, taking terrible casualties during the approach and in the close-quarter fighting that followed. The weight of British metal carried the day, however, and within a short time the garrison was dead, wounded, captured, or fleeing . . .
"By 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. the fighting was over. Only 300 Americans, including Generals James and Governor George Clinton, escaped, most from Fort Montgomery . . . Casualties: British: 190 killed and wounded; American: 350 killed, wounded, and captured."
Fort Montgomery as a Historic Ruin New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has decided not to recreate Forts Montgomery and/or Clinton. "Because of the limits of available information, any recreation would be inaccurate and would hide the violent end of these massive fortifications. Instead, the remains are preserved, just as the have survived the ages, as hallowed ground."
Fort Montgomery stands as an archeological site and a historic ruin.
Fort Montgomery, Today Today, Fort Montgomery is an archeological site and a historic ruin. This Historic Site is a genuine vestige of our nation's struggle for independence. Visitors will see the actual foundations of the fort's buildings and remains of the fort's earthworks. Visit Fort Montgomery and tour the remains of the 14 acre fortification, perched on a cliff overlooking the Hudson River.
The site includes a Visitor Center and interpretive trail that guides visitors past the fort's ruins to breathtaking views of the Hudson River. The Visitor Center features artifacts discovered in Fort Montgomery, mannequin displays, a 3 dimensional map model, and a 14 minute orientation film.
Information Source The history of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton during the American Revolutionary War; a War of Independence between the Americans and England, is sourced from interpretive signs at the Fort Montgomery Visitor Center and on the Fort Montgomery historic trails.
Things To Do at Fort Montgomery Audio-Visual Programs Demonstrations Group Tours Hiking Historic Site Interpretive Signs Museum Scenic Views Self Guided Tours Visitor Center
Sources: Ward, Christopher. The War of the Revolution, Volume II (Macmillan, 1952) Wood, W.J. Battles Of The Revolutionary War: 1775-1781 (Dec 23, 2003) Savas, Theodore P. and Dameron, David J. A guide to the Battles of the American Revolution Savas Beatie LLC, NY 2006
Storm King Art Center is located at Old Pleasant Hill Road, Mountainville NY 10953, Orange County in the Hudson Valley. Storm King is widely recognized as one of the world’s greatest sculpture parks. "Storm King Art Center is a museum celebrates the relationship between sculpture and nature. Five hundred acres of landscaped lawns, fields and woodlands provide the site for postwar sculptures by internationally renowned artists. At Storm King, the exhibition space is defined by sky and land. Unencumbered by walls, the subtly created flow of space is punctuated by modern sculpture. The grounds are surrounded by the undulating profiles of the Hudson Highlands, a dramatic panorama integral to the viewing experience. The sculptures are affected by changes in light and weather, so no two visits are the same.
History of Storm King Art Center "Ralph E. Ogden and H. Peter Stern, then joint owners of Star Expansion Company founded Storm King Art Center in 1960. Originally Ogden envisioned a museum of the Hudson Valley painters, however after visiting a marble quarry in Austria in 1961 he became partially interested in sculpture. Early purchases were set outside the building as part of a formal garden scheme. Six years later, Ogden saw sculptures by David Smith (1906-1965) set in open fields outside his home in Bolton Landing. The Art Center purchased thirteen works from the artist’s estate and inspired in part by Smith’s sculpture fields soon began to place works outdoors in a new way that directly responded to the landscape of Mountainville. Since that time, each sculpture has been sited as part of a visual fabric that includes its immediate surroundings and the distant landscape scene – expanding the context for viewing far beyond traditional garden confines. In 1972 the Art Center began acquiring a permanent collection of large-scale sculptures. Works are acquired selectively, always with attention to the potential interaction of sculpture with the Storm King landscape. Ogden died in 1974; H. Peter Stern continues to serve as both Chairman and President of the Art Center.
Museum Building: "Completed as a residence in 1935 for the late Vermont Hatch, the French Normandy-style building was designed by architect Maxwell Kimball. The building's granite stones were salvaged from Danskammer, the 1834 Edward Armstrong mansion located north of Newburgh that stood overlooking the Hudson River for almost 100 years. The five Ionic columns now situated on the Art Center's property formed the front of Danskammer. The interior of the museum building contains many period details such as walnut paneling, and walnut and oak parquet floors. Inside are nine exhibition galleries, a museum shop, and offices.
Landscape "At Storm King, visitors are encouraged to enjoy nature as well as art, to meander on trails and discover sculptures, or to traverse the fields to walk among monumental works. The grounds are under a carefully supervised program of maintenance and change. Recently the Art Center has developed the North Trail and a wooded grove with sculptures, and has restored several walking paths."
Visitors may walk through the grounds or take a self-guided tour aboard a handicap-accessible tram that travels through the main portion of the grounds. An audio-guide is available for rental at the museum shop. Press blue button to learn about the collections, current exhibitions, membership, photos, and more about Storm King Art Center.
The word is Fabulous collection of modern and majestic sculptures in an exceptional outdoor setting that complement each and every piece of art. Storm King is magical in all seasons, especially in the Fall. Bring the children, a picnic, and dine under a tree; four miles of hiking trails are also available.
Harriman State Park, located in Rockland and Orange counties, is the second-largest park in the parks system, with 31 lakes and reservoirs, 200 miles of hiking trails, three beaches, two public camping areas, a network of group camps, miles of streams and scenic roads, and scores of wildlife species, vistas and vantage points. Harriman State Park includes Lakes Welch, Sebago, Tiorati and Silvermine, the Anthony Wayne Recreation Area, Sebago Cabins and Beaver Pond Campgrounds.
Sterling Forest State Park, a 21,935-acre park, is located at 116 Old Forge Road, Tuxedo, NY 10987 in Orange County. Sterling Forest State Park offers a nearly pristine natural refuge amidst of one of the nation's most densely populated areas, a remarkable piece of woodland, a watershed for millions, and a tremendous outdoor recreation area. This unbroken deep-forest habitat is important for the survival of many resident and migratory species, including black bear, a variety of hawks and songbirds and many rare invertebrates and plants. Hunting, fishing and hiking opportunities are available.
Learn about Sterling Forest's environment and history at the Visitor Center, overlooking Sterling Lake. The visitor center features exhibits about the local environment.
Sterling Forest Bird Conservation Area The Sterling Forest® BCA is part of Sterling Forest® State Park. Sterling Forest® State Park is within a natural area of state and national importance due to its watershed, wildlife habitat, cultural resources, open space and outdoor recreation significance. Most of the park is covered by either ecological communities that have statewide significance or of such quality that they should be protected as significant examples within New York State. The park has considerable biodiversity including a diversity of bird species. A part of the Hudson Highlands, the area has strong relief ranging from 800-1200' in elevation.
Press blue button for more about biking, fishing, hiking, hunting, birding, and the Museum at Sterling Forest State Park.
Things To Do at Sterling Forest State Park Biking Birding Fishing Gift Shop Hiking Hunting Museum / Visitor Center Nature Study Recreation Programs Scenic Views
The United States Military Academy Museum is considered to be the oldest and largest diversified public collection of militaria in the Western Hemisphere. The museum is located in West Point, NY 10996 in Orange County.
About the West Point Museum
"As a department of the United States Military Academy, the Museum supports cadet academic, military and cultural instruction. Its collections include nearly all aspects of military history and encompass the history of West Point and the United States Military Academy, the evolution of warfare, and the development of the American Armed Forces. While only a portion of the collection is on display, all artifacts are available for cadet academic instruction, special exhibition and research.
"Based upon captured British materials brought to West Point after the British defeat at Saratoga in 1777, the Museum collections actually predate the founding of the United States Military Academy. When the Academy opened in 1802, many Revolutionary War trophies remained to be used for cadet instruction.
"By the 1820s, a teaching collection of artifacts existed at the Military Academy and after the Mexican War (1846 - 1848) West Point was designated by Executive Order as the permanent depository of war trophies. In 1854 the first public museum was opened and in 1989 the West Point Museum in Olmsted Hall opened at Pershing Center. Today it represents the culmination of more than two centuries of preserving our military heritage."
Press blue button for more about the United States Military Academy Museum at West Point.
Southeast Museum is located at 67 Main Street, Brewster NY 10509, Putnam County in the Hudson Valley. The Southeast Museum is a non-profit educational institution established in 1963; dedicated to collecting, preserving and interpreting the material artifacts and culture significant to the history of the Town of Southeast and its environs.
The Southeast Museum offers exhibits on the history of the Town of Southeast, including the early American Circus, the Harlem Line Railroad, the Tilly Foster Mine, the Borden Milk Condensery, and the Croton Reservoir System.
In addition, the museum presents various changing exhibits, drawing on its extensive collection of antique farm and household implements, quilts, clothing and assorted Americana reflecting 19th century material culture. The museum is located on Main Street, Brewster in one of Putnam County's largest landmarked buildings, the 1896 Old Town Hall, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Press blue button for events, exhibits, programs, museum shop, and more about the Southeast Museum.
The Tilly Foster Farm Museum, a 199-acre farm, is located at 100 Route 312, Brewster, NY 10509 in the Town of Southeast, Putnam County. Tilly Forster Farm is a preservation, farming and educational endeavor of the Society for the Preservation of Putnam County Antiquities and Greenways (aka Preserve Putnam) and its founder, George Whipple.
Events Include Home & Habitats. Meet animals from the rainforest, mountains, farm, desert and ponds. Hands-on age-appropriate science education program that uses live animals.
Maple Syrup demonstrations
Sheep Shearing. Enjoy the spring ritual of sheep shearing every half hour, visit with the animals, learn about farm equipment.
The word is Admission to the Tilly Foster Farm Museum is free and open to the public seven days a week from 10am – 4pm. Call for more activities and events.
The Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum is located at 63 Chestnut Street, Cold Spring, NY 10516 in Putnam County.
"The Putnam County Historical Society was founded in 1906 by a group of prominent Philipstown residents and chartered the next year to be the first historical society in the county. Its dedicated early members were prominent Cold Spring residents: A. Augustus Healy, Gouverneur Paulding, William Henry Haldane, Robert Floyd-Jones, and William Wood. Galvanized by the desire to collect and preserve historical and cultural materials pertaining to Putnam County, especially the Philipstown area, and the Hudson Highlands, while both looking back to the nineteenth century and forward into the twentieth, the members initially concentrated on the assemblage of information related to many county families, the compilation of a list of local Civil War veterans, and a study of the milestones on the Putnam County segment of the New York to Albany Post Road. During these early years, the members met in private homes, where objects collected by the society were stored, as well as in libraries, where special programs were held.
"In 1960, with funds from the estate of a longtime supporter, the noted writer Laura Spencer Porter Pope (1907–1957), the society acquired the Foundry School building, which was built in about 1830, enlarged in the 1860s, and used for the education of the foundry's teenage apprentices as well as its employees' children. In 1971, a wing was added to house the society's holdings related to the West Point Foundry. Since the establishment of this museum, the society's members, many of them extraordinarily informed about the history of the Highlands and the county, have continued to dedicate their time and talents as docents, researchers, and educators.
"Today, the organization is known as The Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum (PCHS–FSM) and is owned by a not-for-profit corporation under the oversight of the Department of Education of the State of New York. PCHS-FSM is governed by a board of trustees composed mainly of local residents accomplished in business and the professions and is administered by a professional staff including, an executive director and a curator.
"The purpose of the society is to collect, preserve, and present to the public historical and cultural materials pertaining to Putnam County, especially the Philipstown area, the West Point Foundry, and the Hudson Highlands. To fulfill this mission, the society maintains and administers the Foundry School Museum and a research library. The museum organizes changing exhibitions, with accompanying catalogues, and provides educational programming for the public."
The above information is sourced from the PCHS-FSM website.
Press blue button for the Putnam Historical Society, including directions, exhibits, and more about the Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum.
Click to enlarge photo of Hessian Lake at Bear Mountain Park.
Hessian Lake is located in Bear Mountain State Park. Hessian Lake offers a dock on the Hudson for mooring small craft, rental boats, and lake and river fishing. Looking for fun things to do in the summer? Plan a picnic followed by a boat ride or a hike around Hessian Lake.
Bear Mountain State Park, a 5,000-acre park, is situated in rugged mountains rising from the west bank of the Hudson River. Bear Mountain Park, flagship of the Palisades Interstate Park System, is renowned for its natural beauty. The park is located at Bear Mountain, New York 10911, just 45 miles north of New York City in the historic Hudson River Valley.
The park features playing fields, shaded picnic groves, a dock on the Hudson for mooring small craft, lake and river fishing access, a swimming pool, the Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center, hiking, biking, cross-country ski trails and ski-jumps. Ice-skate at Bear Mountain's outdoor rink open for ice-skating, weather permitting, from late October through mid-March. Also visit Perkins Memorial Tower atop Bear Mountain. Perkins Point affords spectacular views of the park, the Hudson Highlands and Harriman State Park.
Lakes, ponds, forest, hills, and mountains abound at Bear Mountain. Bear Mountain is heavily forested, offering the natural beauty of sights such as Perkins Memorial Tower. Bear Mountain is primarily a day-use park with magnificent scenery, photo opportunities and hiking for all levels of hikers.
Things To Do at Hessian Lake in Bear Mountain Park Boat Launches Boat Rentals Fishing (lake and river fishing) Food Hiking Trails / Walking Merry-Go-Round Pavilion Museum - Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center Nature Trails Picnic Tables Playgrounds Playing Fields
Points of Interest for Kids The Merry-Go-Round Pavilion at Bear Mountain features hand-painted scenes of the park while the merry-go-round itself features 38 carved renditions of Hudson River Valley animals, including raccoons, bear, deer, eagles, foxes, river otters, and bobcats.
Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center The study of native animals and their habitat at Bear Mountain has a long history. In 1921, the American Museum of Natural History installed a facility at the Boy Scouts headquarters on Lake Kanawauke. Four years later, the same Museum began a program for the study of insects in Harriman State Park. The Commission added a bear den in 1926, which became a small zoo, as the facility took in more injured animals in need of shelter.
Perkins Drive, also known as Perkins Point and Perkins Memorial Tower, stands at the summit of Bear Mountain State Park, 1,305 feet above the Hudson River. The tower was completed in 1934 and dedicated to George Walbridge Perkins, the first President and widely regarded founder of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC).
Perkins Memorial Tower and Drive were built with funds provided by the descendants of George Walbridge Perkins. Perkins Memorial Tower, atop Bear Mountain, provides spectacular views of the park, the Hudson Highlands, and Harriman State Park.
"The sinuous and steep drive, which leads to the Tower 1,305 feet above the Hudson River, was blasted off the mountain by 1,500 workers using 50,000 tons of dynamite. The tower, built to serve as a weather station and fire lookout, served those purposes until the 1950s. Work began in 1932, thanks to labor provided by the NYS Temporary Relief Administration. The drive and tower were inaugurated in 1934."
Hike, bike, or drive to Perkins Point, just be sure not to miss this attraction. Perkins Point is an absolute must see when vacationing or planning a day-trip to Bear Mountain. Walk the four sets of stairs in the tower (landings have benches to stop and rest between floors) to the observation floor where the views are documented and described in detail.
"With its 360-degree panorama, the Perkins Memorial Tower offers spectacular views of the Hudson River, the Bear Mountain Bridge, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Storm King, and Fort Montgomery. Four states are visible (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania), as well as the New York City skyline. The observation floor has interpretive displays that describe the distant views, including several mountain ranges: the Taconics, Ramapos, Shawangunks, and even the Catskills. Perkins Memorial Drive and Tower truly are a highlight of any visit to Bear Mountain."
Things To Do at Perkins Point Biking (Advanced bikers can ride to the top of Perkins Point.) Birding Hiking Trails / Walking Museum at Perkins Tower Nature Trails Picnic Tables Scenic Views
Bear Mountain Park: Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center The study of native animals and their habitat at Bear Mountain has a long history. In 1921, the American Museum of Natural History installed a facility at the Boy Scouts headquarters on Lake Kanawauke. Four years later, the same Museum began a program for the study of insects in Harriman State Park. The Commission added a bear den in 1926, which became a small zoo, as the facility took in more injured animals in need of shelter.
Today's Trailside Museums and Zoo occupy 40-acres on a bluff 250 feet over the Hudson River. The trails, including the first section of the Appalachian Trail, are among the oldest in the country; they link the various homes of Samantha, the eagle, and other birds of prey, the bear den, as well as habitats for beavers, a river otter, foxes, coyotes, and more.
Children enjoy the various presentations of indigenous wildlife, geology and herpetology. On display are Native American artifacts, models of Revolutionary War battles fought on-site, and an exhibit of the origins of the Boy Scouts, and four Museum buildings. See the bald eagle, black bear, owl, river otter and more animals local to Bear Mountain.
The Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center also highlight the history of the area. Learn about the importance of Bear Mountain in the American Revolutionary War. Visit historic 1777 & 1779 Trails that retrace the routes taken by the British army during the American War of Independence. Visit Fort Montgomery, a Revolutionary War fort built to defend the Hudson Highlands and protect American control of the Hudson River and learn about the Battle of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton.
Young children, older children, and adults all enjoy visiting each of the Museum buildings that house different exhibits. Visit the Local Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish Museum, the Geology Museum, History Museum and Nature Study Museum.
Bear Mountain State Park is located on the west side of the Hudson River in Orange County and Rockland County, New York. The 5,067-acre (20.51 km2) Bear Mountain State Park, flagship of the Palisades Interstate Park System, is renowned for its natural beauty and rugged mountains and is just 45 miles north of New York City, in the historic and beautiful Hudson River Valley.
Lakes, ponds, forest, hills, and mountains abound at Bear Mountain. Bear Mountain is heavily forested, offering the natural beauty of sights such as Perkins Memorial Point,
Of interest to hikers, the historic Appalachian Trail is carried across the Bear Mountain Bridge and the Popolopen Suspension Bridge. Although campgrounds and lodging are available, Bear Mountain Park is primarily a day-use park offering magnificent scenery, photo opportunities, and great hiking for all levels of hikers. The historic Bear Mountain Inn, situated in Bear Mountain Park, overlooks Hessian Lake and provides food and overnight accommodations. Food is also available at several vendors around Hessian Lake and in other areas of the park.
Bear Mountain Park attractions and activities include a large playing field, picnic groves, rowboat docks on Hessian Lake, swimming pool and bathhouse, nature trails including key segments of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the Long Path, basketball court, Trailside Museums and Zoo, Iona Island Estuarine Reserve and Bird Refuge, Perkins Tower, and the Merry-Go-Round. Many winter activities are available at Bear Mountain Park, including an outdoor rink that is open for ice-skating from late October through mid-March.
Perkins Memorial Tower sits 1,305 feet above the Hudson River, atop Bear Mountain. Perkins Point and Perkins Memorial Tower afford spectacular views of the park, the Hudson Highlands and Harriman State Park. Driving, biking, or hiking along Perkins Memorial Drive offers breathtaking views from many vantage points leading to Perkins Memorial Tower perched at the top of the mountain. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy at one of many picnic spots that are available along Perkins Memorial Drive.
Click to enlarge photo of sign - Popolopen Creek Trail to Fort Montgomery.
Popolopen Creek Trail to Fort Montgomery Walk the Popolopen Creek Trail to Fort Montgomery where you will "stand on the site of Fort Clinton, which was built along with Fort Montgomery to prevent British ships from sailing up the Hudson River during the Revolutionary War. On October 6, 1777, the British captured both forts and destroyed them shortly thereafter.
"This trail leads down to the Popolopen Creek and across the Popolopen Suspension Footbridge to Fort Montgomery State Historic Site. Fort Montgomery is an archeological site and a historic ruin. Interpretive signs and an audio tour are available to help understand the history of the fort and the battle."
Educational attractions that are fun for kids include the Trailside Museum and Zoo, and the Merry-Go-Round featuring 42 hand carved seats of native animals. After a ride on the merry-go-round, visit the zoo and see how many native animals you can recognize. (Perhaps your children can help name the animals.) .
Kids Attraction - Merry-Go-Round The Merry-Go-Round at Bear Mountain features hand painted scenes of the park and 42 hand carved seats of native animals including: black bear, wild turkey, deer, raccoon, skunk, Canada goose, fox, swan, bobcat, rabbit and more.
Kids Attraction - Trailside Museum and Zoo There are four museums at Trailside. The Reptile and Amphibian House is home to a variety of turtles, snakes, frogs, toads, salamanders and skinks as well as many species of fish. The Nature Study Museum houses specimens originally created by the Museum of Natural History to educate people about animal identification. Visitors can learn about geologic formations of the Hudson Highlands in the Geology Museum and local Native American and early settler culture in the History Museum.
Things To Do at Bear Mountain State Park Biking Trails Boat Rentals Dockage Fishing (lake and river fishing) Food at park and at Bear Mountain Inn Hiking Trails / Walking Merry-Go-Round Pavilion Nature Trail Perkins Memorial Drive & Tower Picnic Tables Playground Playing Fields Pool (very large pool) Swimming Trailside Museums Zoo and Nature Park
Harriman State Park, located in Rockland and Orange counties, is the second-largest park in the parks system, with 31 lakes and reservoirs, 200 miles of hiking trails, three beaches, two public camping areas, a network of group camps, miles of streams and scenic roads, and scores of wildlife species, vistas and vantage points. Harriman State Park includes Lakes Welch, Sebago, Tiorati and Silvermine, the Anthony Wayne Recreation Area, Sebago Cabins and Beaver Pond Campgrounds.
The D&H (Delaware & Hudson) Canal Historical Society & Museum is located at Mohonk Road, High Falls NY 12440, Ulster County in the Hudson Valley. Established in 1966, the mission of the D&H Canal Historical Society is to preserve, protect and perpetuate the unique history of the Delaware & Hudson Canal, particularly in Ulster County. As part of fulfilling its mission, the Society operates a museum and maintains the Five Locks Walk, a National Historic Landmark.
Museum exhibits convey an appreciation for the history of the canal, including its initial financing, development of the technological innovations with which it is associated, and the nature of life on a canal boat. Numerous tools and artifacts from the canal era are on display, along with the work of famous local artists. The working model of a lock is a highlight of the visit, as it demonstrates how canal boats dealt with differences in elevation over the route.
Brief History "The D&H Canal was conceived by the Wurts brothers as a means to transport anthracite coal from their Pennsylvania mines to the Hudson River at Kingston, New York, from where it was shipped downriver to New York City. This 108-mile, 108-lock waterway operated from 1828 until 1898, and its construction is associated with such new technologies and feats of civil engineering as the gravity railroad and the cable suspension bridge.
"The canal was constructed along a previously unsettled route in less than three years using only picks, shovels, draft animals and blasting powder. Towns and villages sprang up along its route, and industries developed to exploit local resources such as lumber, agricultural products, and bluestone. Natural (hydraulic) cement was discovered near High Falls in 1825, and was used in constructing the canal and in building structures such as the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty. The availability of anthracite coal was a boon to the Hudson Valley brick industry, which supplied the building needs of metropolitan New York."
Press blue button for more about the history of the D & H (Delaware & Hudson) Canal.
Things To Do at the Museum Canal Museum store and bookshop Tools and artifacts from the canal era
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