HUDSON 400!

THE HUDSON RIVER: SYMBOL OF AMERICA

Past, Present... and Future

The Hudson River: Symbol of America

Themes Outline

The Age of Discovery

I. Tides of Exploration: Trade and Colonization

~The Fabled All-Water Route to Asia, Cartography, and Navigation

~Trade and The Dutch East India Co. (formed in 1602)

~ September 19^th, 1609. Henry Hudson and the Half Moon (Halve Maen), during the third of his four voyages reaches the present-day Albany area.

· Agreeing to a 12 yr. Truce, the Dutch and Spanish temporarily stop fighting the 80 yrs. war. This provides the Dutch with greater resources to pursue trade and establish settlements

~ Robert Juet, Navigating and Documenting the River

~ Early names for the Hudson

· The River of the Steep Hills (Verazano’s name for the river)

· The Grand River (Verazano)

· River of Mountains (Henry Hudson’s name for the river)

· The North River

· River of Prince Mauritius

· The Nassau River

· The Manhattan River

· Muhheaknnuk, Native American name (great waters constantly in motion)

· Named Hudson River in 1664

~Discovering the river’s source

~ The relationship of the river to the land

~ 1614, Adriaen Block, a Dutch private fur trader and navigator explored the coastal and river valley areas between present-day NJ and MA during four voyages between 1611-1614. Noted for fur trade with Indians and a map of region to which the term New Netherland is first applied.

· On his fourth journey to the lower Hudson, his ship the Tijger was accidentally destroyed by fire. Over winter, with the help of Lenape, he built the Onrust to continue his exploration

· Remnants of the charred Tijger were found in 1916 by workers digging a subway tunnel

· Block’s cannon was found in 1968 by workers digging for the World Trade Center. The WTC was built over the site of the discoveries

· The charred ship and canon are on view at the Museum of the City of NY

~Early Dutch Settlements and Communities: New Amsterdam and Fort Orange,1624

~ May 4, 1626. Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland aboard the See Meeuw to become director.

~ March 28, 1638, Arrival of William Kieft aboard DeHaring to assume directorship of New Netherland

~ Adriaen Van der Donck, representative of the van Rensselaer interests; later wrote descriptions of lora, fauna, and native people

~ Prominent Dutch Families and Estates in the Hudson River Valley

~ Estates of the Hudson River Valley

~ Cultural Encounters: Natives, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese

~ The Dutch stronghold, trade is the focus

~ May 11, 1647. Petrus Stuyvessant arrives at Manhattan with the WIC ships Groote Gerrit and Princess Amalia to assume his position as director general of New Netherland, Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba.

~ The First People, Native American Cultures living along the River

~The English close in around 1649 – farming and craftsmen more common than adventurers and traders

~ April 10, 1652. The formation of the village of Beverwijck, established as the Court of Fort Orange and Beverwijck, temporarily resolving dispute between the Patroonship of Resselaerswijck and the West India Co.

~ Sept. 15^th, 1655. The Peach War erupts with attack on New Amsterdam by a combined force of Manhattan Rim Indians

~ By 1664, 9,000 settlers lived in New Netherland: 40% Dutch, 19% German, 15% English

~ Cities and towns along the Hudson

Military and Strategic Prominence

II. Winds of Liberty, Tide of Blood: Military and Strategic Prominence

~ Strategic Location and Resources

~Alliances and Conflict

~ British Rule

~ The Quest for Independence from the Crown

~ Bannerman’s Island Arsenal, Pollepel Island

· Francis Bannerman

~ Supplies Route

~ Military Fortifications: American Revolution/ French and Indian War

· Ferry crossings between Fishkill and Plum Point

· Verplanck and Haverstraw connected New England to the Middle Atlantic colonies

· West Point and Fort Constitution across the River

1. 1778, Great Chain of forged iron links anchored by wood and stone to prevent British ships from sailing up the Hudson.

2. A similar chain further south at Fort Montgomery to the eastern shore was broken by the British

· Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton near Bear Mountain

· Benedict Arnold, the Turncoat

· George Washington at Newburgh

Transportation and Commerce

II. River of Fortune, River of Loss: Transportation and Commerce

~ The Advent of Steam Powered Transportation

~ Robert Fulton, The Clermont 1807

· Fast and affordable way of travel

· By 1850, approx. 150 vessels making way up and down Hudson

· Estimated 1 million passengers

~ The New Industrial Age

~ The River as Highway System

~ The Utilitarian River and Commercial Industry: Transportation of Cargo, Passengers, and Resources for Commercial Relationships

· Industry such as ice harvesting, storage, marketing in Hudson Valley

1. Ice Industry

2. Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck

· Shipping of beaver pelts, timber, natural commodities

· Waterfront Districts

· Boat building: Steamboats, tugboats, towboats, and barges

· Brewers and breweries

· Tanneries

1. William Edwards

2. Zadock Pratt

· Lime, Cement, and Bluestone Mining

· Brick making

· Coach and Carriage makers

· Factories

· Jobs along the River and throughout the Valley

· Hudson River Steam Lines

· Tech Valley

~ Canal Systems

· DeWitt Clinton, Gov. of NY, Champion of the Erie Canal

· Erie Canal, proposed in 1805, completed 1825 – The Hudson became one of the nation’s main arteries of trade, opening a gateway to the west

· A period of major economic and industrial expansion

· The Delaware and Hudson Canal, constructed 1825-1829 and built to transport anthracite coal from northeastern PA to markets on the Hudson

~ The Railroad System

· The New York Central known as the “Water Level Route”- the first four track long-distance route in the world

· The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, chartered 1826, opened 1831 providing a way for cargo to avoid the Erie Canal. Name change to Albany and Schenectady Railroad, 1847

· Utica and Schenectady RR 1833

· The Hudson River Railroad chartered 1846

~ Broadsides, advertising

~ Chronology of important laws and events (separate list)

~ leather Tanning Industry

· William Edwards

· Zadock Pratt

Tourism and Cultural Symbol

IV. River of Journeys, Trade Winds of Change: Tourism and Cultural Symbol

~ American Culture of Prosperity and Progress

~ A Culture Bound to the River and Beyond its Shores

~ Sails and Sloops, Pleasure Boats, and Yachts

~ Hotels, Inns, Public Houses, Boarding Houses, Taverns

~ Ethnic and Regional Foods

~ Public Celebrations and Festivals

· 1909 Hudson-Fulton Celebration

1. AIHA

2. Albany/Troy Festivals

3. Mid-Hudson

4. NYC

5. Metropolitan

· Dutch Traditions

1. Pinksterfests at Philipsburg Manor: Pinkster, a Dutch term for Pentecost. The celebration emphasized African music and storytelling, along with Dutch heritage and colonial dancing, reflecting enslaved Africans who participated in the holiday.

· Tulip Festival

~ Parks and Nature Preserves

~ Dutch Heritage Sites (Hudson Valley, Catskill Region and Capital District)

· Jacob Blauvelt Farmhouse

· Kingston Historic Stockade

· Mount Gulian Historic Site

· Old Dutch Church

· Philipsburg Manor

· Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow

· Van Alen House

· Van Cortlandt House

· Crailo House

· Schenectady Historic Stockade

· Bronck Museum

· The New Netherland Museum & Half Moon Visitor’s Center

~ Lighthouses (Hudson River Lighthouse Coalition, 518-828-4385)

· Little Red Lighthouse (Northern Manhattan)

· Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse, 1884

· Stony Point Lighthouse, Stony Point Battlefield

· Esopus Meadows Lighthouse

· Rondout

· Saugerties

· Hudson-Athens

~ Cemeteries and Burial Grounds

~ Dutch Architecture

· Gambrel Roof

· Spring Eaves

· Dutch Doors and Shutters

~ The Adirondack Camp and Cottages in American Architecture

~ Oral Histories

~ Reenactments

~ Churches

~ Namesakes

· Streets

· Towns

· Organizations

· Commemoratives/ Revitalization Projects

~Grants’ Tomb

~Riverside Park

~ The Palisades

~ Grand Estates, Families, Public Figures, Entrepreneurs

· Andrew Jackson Downing, architect, horticulturist, landscape designer

· Robert Morris

· Alexander Hamilton

· Belmonts

· Vanderbilts

· DeWitt Clinton

· Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

· Rockefellers

· Astors

~ Crossings (bridges and tunnels)

· GW Bridge

· Verrazano Narrows Bridge

· Newburgh Bridge

· The Tappan Zee Bridge

· Bear Mt. Bridge

· West Point

Recreation, Sport, and Leisure

V. River of Leisure and Play: Recreation, Solace, and Entertainment

~ The Leisure Class and Cultivating Leisure

~ Nature Retreats and Parks

~ Health Retreats

· Cornwall, west side of Hudson, a popular spot for health seekers

~ Adirondack Park

~ Water and Boating Sports – Racing, regattas, fishing, and swimming

~ Camping, Hiking, Biking, and Mountaineering

~ Summer camps

~ Summer vacations

~ Hikes, trails

~ Canoe trips

~ Events, Activities, Pastimes, Hobbies, Diversions

~ Libraries, Historic Sites, Churches, Museums, Foundations and Institutions

The River and the Natural Environment

VI. Undercurrents of Mystery and Knowledge:

~ The Eco-Science of the River

· The Glacial “Script ” that became the Hudson

· The Watershed: Sources and Feeder Streams; The Estuary, The Fjord , and the River’s Course

1. Source: Lake Tear of the Clouds

2. Mouth: Lower New York Bay

3. Source elevation: 4,293 ft.

4. Basin area: 14,000 sq. miles

· Tributaries (north to south)

1. Opalescent River

2. Battenkill Creek

3. Mohawk River

4. Catskill Creek

5. Kaaterskill Creek

6. Sawkill Creek

7. Esopus Creek

8. Rondout Creek

9. Roeliff-Jansen Kill

10. Wappingers Creek

11. Fishkill Creek

12. Moodna Creek

13. Croton Creek

14. Sparkill Creek

· Tidal Marshes

· Underwater and Aquatic Life

· Shorelines

· Geology

· Plant life

· Plankton, diatoms, algae, larvae, worms, etc

· Amphibians

· Snakes

· Avian Life and Habitats

· Wildlife

· Early Documentation by the First Scientists: Peter Kalm, Amos Eaton, Verplanck Colvin, Cadwallader Colden, Jane Colden

· John and William Bartram

· Sir Charles Lyell

· The Upper Hudson, the Lower Hudson

· The Reaches (Racks)

· Marshlands and Flats

· The Hudson Highlands (Dubbed World’s End and Devil’s Horse Race by Dutch sailors)

· Currents, Winds, Depths

· Hudson Canon

· 895 mi. Journey to the Ocean – Abyssal Plain

~ Progress VS. Preservation : Claiming the River, Reclaiming and Reestablishing an Eco-Environment

~ Early 20^th c. advocates

· John Burroughs

· Edward Henry Harriman

~ Sources of Contamination

· Power plants, Hydro-electric power, nuclear power

· Run off from paper plants

· Chemical and industrial waste

· Quarries

· High levels of PCB’s from plants in Fort Edward, Hudson Falls

· Erosion

· Ship and Boat building

~ Modern Environmentalism began in 1962 following a Con-Edison proposal to build a hydro-electric plant on the river at Storm King Mountain near Cornwall. Following hearing, appeals, and more hearings, ultimately Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969, which required an environmental impact study on all major projects.

· Scenic Hudson, an environmental group opposed the on-going fight with Con-Ed

· The Clearwater Organization, was formed by Pete Seeger in 1969 t continue efforts. The Clearwater Sloop still sails to promote the Hudson

· 1980 Con Ed donated the land purchased for a plant for use as a park

· The Hudson is now closed to commercial striped bass fishing

· Misuse/Overuse of the River Resources, Toxic Substance and the Clean-up of Contaminants

· Closing mills

· Revised regulatory laws regarding dumping and toxic waste

· The Palisades Interstate Park Commission – one of the first cooperative efforts to protect and conserve an area along the Hudson

· A Riverkeeper monitors the water’s condition from a boat sailed up and down the Hudson, reporting industries that are dumping illegally

· Watershed Planning

· Habitat Conservation

· Waterfront Revitalization

· Fish populations are growing and many are now safe to eat

· Riverfront festivals up and down the Hudson now celebrate the River’s return to health

· Open-Space Planning

~ Underwater Cultural Heritage

· Aquatic Lore

· The River Floor

· Shipwrecks and Shipwreck sites

· Battleground Artifacts

· Underwater Surveys

· Scuba Diving

· Underwater Archaeology and Artifacts

· Underwater Historic Preservation

· Underwater “Collections”

· Burial Grounds

· Downed Planes

· Discarded railroad ties, nearly 2,000

· Junked Vehicles and Appliances

· General Refuse, Debris, Jetsam

Nostalgia and the River

VII. The Current of Memory, Myth, and Imagination: The Hudson River Valley in Art and Awareness

~ Native Mythology and Lore

~ Early Hudson River depictions

· Jacques-Gerard Milbert, French naturalist and artist

· Alexander Robertson (sketchbook)

· William Guy Wall

~ The Hudson River School, impact on American Art and History

· Thomas Cole, founder and followed by Casilear, Kenset, Gifford, Doughty, Innes, Johnson, Rossiter, Cropsey, Weir, and Church attracted attention for approx. 50 years, followed by a second generation of Hudson River painters

· Hudson River artists: their homes, and studios

· Drawings and sketches

~ Folklore and Folkways

~ Philosophy

~ New York’s Knickerbocker Writers

· Washington Irving, James Fennimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant

~ Literature

· American Renaissance Writers

· Herman Melville

· Edith Wharton

· Walt Whitman

· Henry James

· T. Coraghessan Boyle

· Paul Goodman

· Correspondence

~ Photographs

· Seneca Ray Stoddard

~ Journals/Diaries

~ Poetry

~ Journalism

~ Music

~ Trades and Crafts

~ Nostalgia

~ Contemporary Art

· Don Nice

The Hudson River Valley Today

II. The River Unbound: The Iconographic River and The Hudson River Valley Today

~ The River as “Spine” of the East and Gateway to Expansion

· Cartography

~ The River as a symbolic natural monument of American History

~ Immigration, Redefining opportunity for new Americans

~ Land laws and reformed land ownership rights

~ Bound to the River, Daily life and Culture

~ The Common Man’s River – the democratic river

· Pastoral Landscapes/River Scenery

· Regional Access Points

· Gardens of the Hudson River Valley

· Underground Railroad, Old Fort House Museum, Fort Edward (Solomon Northrop house)

· Multicultural Opportunity/Festivals

~ Utopian Communities, Artist Communities

~ Public Awareness, Understanding, and Involvement

~ Cultural Resource Management

~ Hudson River Collections, Museums and Historic Houses, Conservation, Exhibitions, Visitors’ Centers, Education, and Interpretation

~ The Hudson River Valley Today

· Local Communities/The Global Community

· Tech Valley

· National and International Acclaim

· The Capital District

· Nanotechnology

· Uniting with other communities, the nation, and the world through our heritage, resources, and technology

· Waterfront Revitalization

· Initiatives to attract commerce, industry, relocations