View Full Version : History of Trail in NY around Rt. 301
I just finished some slack packing in NY around Fahnestock State Park. Just south of 301 there is a section of trail across some impressive stone work structures, much like narrow bridges across gullys so that you are walking on a narrow ridge that is man made. They look to be from the old CCC days. Does anyone know the origin of these structures?
Doc
Its a railbed I think. Used to be a narrow railway there. Don't remember if it was freight or passenger.
Old Grouse
06-19-2008, 08:13
I believe you're referring to the bed of the 19th century railroad which brought iron ore from the local mines to the Parrott foundries located in Cold Spring, up the Hudson. This company employed (later) railroad magnate Edward Harriman in his early years, and is famous for making the Parrott Gun, a rifled cannon which was part of the Federal artillery arsenal during the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln visited the factory in Cold Spring when the cannon was in development, and watched as a demo was fired into the side of a mountain across the river. He reportedly remarked that it was wonderful to be able to hit the side of a nearby mountain, but that he was hoping for greater accuracy in the field.
Interesting. I walked this section with the Boy Scouts in April and we were wondering what it was. I told the other adults I thought it was a little overdone for an old logging road and too narrow for a train. Thanks for the info.
Thanks folks-I could have sworn it was a CCC project.
Doc
I'm sorta planning ahike thru there next month Bear Mtn to Hanover
John Klein
06-19-2008, 22:11
I don't think you'll get a response more specific than Old Grouses's but...
If you happen to go to the EMS store in Poughkeepsie, I remember a guy that worked there (but not his name) that knew a lot about the Fahnestock trails. Of course, I haven't been there in 3 years.
LIhikers
06-20-2008, 11:58
Iron ore was big in that part of southern NY and northern NJ. There are the remains of mines that can seen seen from various trails other than the AT. Most of them are filled with water, but not all. There's a couple that you can go into for a little ways, but it is prohibited by the parks they are in. And since there was ore, there were also furnances to smelt the ore. My understanding is that most of the trees in that area were cut down to use as fuel in the furnaces and what's there now is what has regrown since the late 1800s.