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WHOEVER has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but, sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory.
At the foot of these fair mountains, the voyager may have descried the light smoke curling up from a village, whose shingle-roofs gleam among the trees, just where the blue tints of the upland melt away into the fresh green of the nearer landscape. It is a little village, of great antiquity, having been founded by some of the Dutch colonists, in the early times of the province, just about the beginning of the government of the good Peter Stuyvesant, (may he rest in peace!) and there were some of the houses of the original settlers standing within a few years, built of small yellow bricks brought from Holland, having latticed windows and gable fronts, surmounted with weather-cocks.
–Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving
(credit: High Tor Hiking Trip/Jason )
I grew up in Rockland County in the heart of the Hudson Valley. As a child, my dad loved to hike locally to unfold the region’s extraordinary beauty and history for me. We hiked throughout Harriman (Palisades) State Park. But the first hike I remember was up High Tor. There are several approaches, but the one he chose was through the High Tor Vineyard, which sits just about a small village called Centenary.
After hiking up the mountain, we were rewarded with an extraordinary 360 degree view of the entire Hudson Valley. It isn’t a particularly difficult climb or steep ascent nor do you top out at a formidable elevation. But the view rivals some of the great peaks for its sweep and scope.
The town of Haverstraw (my father’s birthplace) lay spread out at our feet. I could see the high school where he taught for over 30 years. I could even see his birthplace at 103 Hudson Avenue. There was the railroad line where, as an eager child, I waved at the engineers in the cabooses of all the trains that passed. But most important of all, the Hudson River, one of the great rivers of the world, laid out before me like a wide, waving ribbon cutting through the Hudson Highlands as far as the eye could see. At Haverstraw, the river is a mile wide, the greatest width of its entire run from the Adirondacks to New York City. This is the reason that Henry Hudson anchored in Haverstraw Bay on his return southward journey down the Hudson River in 1609. My dad even told me about one frigid winter when the entire river froze from Haverstraw to Ossining on the other side allowing people to walk from shore to shore.
This hike first introduced me to the majesty of the Hudson. Ever since, I’ve loved mountains more than any other outdoor terrain (now I’ve been in the Sierras, Cascades, Sybellines and others). But the Hudson Highlands will always hold a special place in my heart.
early 1900s image of Haverstraw from High Tor (credit: Town of Haverstraw website)
This is where Rip Van Winkle (in Washington Irving’s story of the same name) laid down for his twenty winks which turned into 20 years of sleep. This is where Benedict Arnold met Maj. John Andre to plot the betrayal of West Point to the British. This is the beloved land which Maxwell Anderson saved from the wrecker’s ball with his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, High Tor (see accompanying play poster–there was also a 1956 film version starring Bing Crosby (!) as Van Van Dorn). This is the land of my father.
High Tor is a national historic landmark and managed by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. A park staff member directed me to Friends of Palisades, an eye-catching website devoted to the parks and historic sites managed by PIPC.
Tags: haverstraw, high tor, Hudson River Valley, maxwell anderson, rip van winkle, washington irving
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Hi,
I have just found 2 of your postings that mention Haverstraw. My late father, Douglas Warschauer, born 1925, grew up in Haverstraw. My family owned a small clothing store in town.
Have you researched the history of the Jewish community in Haverstraw? I’d be interested in discussing this with you.
Thanks,
Jeff Warschauer
Brooklyn, NY
warschauer@aol.com
No, I haven’t. While I’m sure my family was affiliated with the shul there, by the time I was around (starting in the 1950s) I don’t remember it playing a large role in my grandmother’s or father’s life. I know more about the Jewish community in Peekskill, where my father’s famiily originated before coming to Haverstraw.
Glad to see that Haverstraw has as much of a pull on you as it does on me.
Haverstraw is currently undergoing a $1 Billion restoration and urban renewal. I wasn’t sure if you were aware of this. There are plans for a popular art museum, world-class restaurants, a 3-mile promenade on the riverfront, a hotel and spa, performing arts center, and possibly an aerial tram that will be strung from the Village to the top of High Tor. These are exciting times. I hope it would prompt you to spend more time in Haverstraw, watch its development, and tell others to boost its economy by also visiting and spending their money. Thanks for your interest. I am glad to see someone else loves this amazing village.
A tram on High Tor would ruin that landscape permanently. What is wrong with exercise? Hiking those trails the and enjoying the beauty before you is one of the most natural highs one can experience. The High Tor Ridge is a natural resource of the area I grew up in. How will the construction and blasting of a Tram undermine the already delicate ecosystem? Do you [think] the parks system that maintains High Tor would allow that?
I understand the people that put in the housing at the old DePasquale property are trying to say that they own the Fowlers Gap where the Elks Club have a marina. The Elks were there before most of us were born. Although I don’t live in Haverstraw any more, my heart still lives there. I can still recall the aircraft beacon radiating through the night as a symbol of MY Haverstraw. A friend of mine once told me “You can take the boy out of Haverstraw, but you can’t take Haverstraw out of the boy.” When I visit the cemetery on 9W to visit my parents graves, I study that mountain, remembering the times [I] had as a child hiking and camping on it. If anyone wants to do something to make that mountain shine again, build another beacon atop that ridge, show what Old Haverstraw was. Change is always a good thing, but beware, change can also bite you when least expect it.
We hike in the area regularly and are every bit as sentimental about it as well.
Harriman Hikers
A North NJ Singles Hiking Club
Established 1974
http://www.harrimanhikers.org
I’ve started a blog on the current developments in Haverstraw. Mainly about its restoration and plans for its future. History will be added. Check it out…there are a lot of changes coming to the Village.
The website for the above-mentioned blog is http://villageofhaverstraw.wordpress.com . Feel free to leave comments!
I’m interested in the “mythology” of High Tor. Many years ago I drank a lot of High Tor wine and am writing about the winery and the mountain. it seems to me I heard that there were legends etc. associated with the mountain, but I can’t track any of that down. Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Herb McGrew / Napa CA
I’m interested in the “mythology” of High Tor. Many years ago I drank a lot of High Tor wine and am writing about the winery and the mountain. it seems to me I heard that there were legends etc. associated with the mountain, but I can’t track any of that down. Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Herb McGrew / Napa CA
Find the 1950’s made-for-TV movie with Bing Crosby and Julie Andrews. I[t] give[s] a little insight into the lore of High Tor including the flying dutchmen, etc. It’s a great movie!
There are several local legends associated with High Tor. One is mentioned by Maxwell Anderson in his play about the lost crew of Henry Hudson on the ship, “Onrust”. Another legend is that when a bad storm is approaching and thunder is heard, the thunder is the sound of the Dutch spirits playing ten-pin (bowling). I’m sure there are many other legends associated with the peak. It was used as a Native American beacon before the settlers came. During the Revolution it was used as an American army beacon and as a post to view British ships coming up from British-held New York City. Check out more local information at http://www.HaverstrawLife.com
Jared: Glad to know about your new blog/website featuring Haverstraw. It’s a great subject & I wish you well. You should try to add some oral histories of Haverstraw Old Timers & something from the Village historian whose name I believe is Casey (Tom?). Haverstraw history is amazing, varied & interesting.
Hi Richard,
I am assuming that your father was Jules Silverstein. I remember him well and with warm regards and respect. I also remember your grandmother. My father, Paul Korn, was a policeman in Haverstraw, my brother, Rich, and I taught for so many years at North Rockland High School. Our grandfather was one of the founding fathers of the synagogue. My memories of Haverstraw are good ones. I miss the sounds of the trains, the police whistle and the Little League Field. No matter where you go in this world, if you run into someone from Haverstraw, it feels like you have met “family.” Thanks so much for doing this article.
Ellen Korn
Yes, my dad was Jule. I wrote about him here. And my grandfather Marcy here. You might like to read some of my reminisences.
I think I can remember by dad mentioning your brother, Rich’s, name.
My own memories of Haverstraw: running out from my grandmother’s house at 103 Hudson Ave. to wave at the railroad man in the caboose of the trains that passed by. Also my grandfather, when the fire whistle would blow, would interpret, based on the intervals & number of whistles where the fire was and how many alarms it was. It was like knowing a magical language. When my dad brought me by the fire station the firemen offered me a ride and the chance to blow the fire truck’s horn. I was very shy and the prospect of the huge truck & the deafening horn scared the life out of me.
I also remember lovely winter days after snowstorms when kids would make a tobaggon like run on the hill where the Civil War monument sits. What a great ride!
I remember the synagogue was on the street just behind my grandmother’s house, but I don’t recall being in it though I prob. was as a child.
Thanks for the Information on High Tor. I’m researching my Grandfather Francis A. Glass MD that lived in the house opposite the Elks Club in the early 40’s- I think 52 Front Street. He was a doctor there in Haverstraw and I’m looking into the people he knew as a way of seeing who he was.
Francis Glass’s wife Dorothy was a patron of the arts.
Hi Mike, I am a Haverstraw girl. My dad is Vince Perry who was the milkman in Haverstraw from the mid 1940’s until 1986. He talks of your Grandparents and Aunt Dorthea as if they were family. We visited their home several times. I even named my daughter Heather. Dad spent lots of time at Fowler’s, which is now the Elks Club. He refers to it as “bare ass beach”. He says he could always swim nude there. He said on the weekend during the summer months, the yachts would come up from the city and he would take them into the pier at Fowler’s. The people would have dinner in Haverstraw. My dad was extremely fond of your family.
Thank Hope for replying to my question about my Grandfather. I never got to meet Francis Glass but I’ve been discovering many things about him. And it is wonderful that your father still remembers him. Here is is, pictured along side my father.
My mother’s name is Alice. She was born in 1926 and was born and grew up in Haverstraw, N.Y. She went to the synagogue in Haverstraw and knows several of the families who posted comments here. I will check this site periodically and contact anyone who provides an email address.
My father, Murray Korn, was born in Haverstraw in 1924 and much of our family is still in Rockland and the Hudson Valley. I have fond memories of Haverstraw, of the synagogue, and of our family’s hikes on the High Tor. Richard, of course, I remember you as well. Thanks so much for your piece on Haverstraw.
And I, you from our little 2nd floor room in the house on Old Schoolhouse Road that served as New City Jewish Center’s first shul. Bygone days. So glad that you found this post & my blog. How is Risa?
Richard,
I enjoyed reading your piece on Haverstraw and Hi Tor- I remember you and Todd (I think you were in our class-Clarkstown ‘71??) and your parents from New City. Our Rockland family is now based in Nyack, but the view of Haverstraw and the Hudson, as I approach on 9W, always takes my breath away.
I’m alive and well outside of Boston, where I’ve been for the past many years. I hope all is well with you and yours.
Risa
Hi RIchard, My husband Tom and I grew up in Haverstraw. We both were very fond of your Dad. Tommy has a most memorable story about him. He and his friends were in Mr. Silverstein’s social studies class misbehaving. It must have been 1961 or 1962. The lesson was about Southeast Asia. Your dad scolded them and told them to pay attention as some day them may find out where Southeast Asia really is. Tommy found out in 1968 when he landed in Da Nang as a US Marine. He said his first thought was, “So this is Southeast Asia, Mr. Silverstein.” We have been in New City since 1974 and have raised our three children here. Our Haverstraw stories make them wish they had grown up there also. Hope Perry Jauntig
My mother, Alice Wolff, remembers the Korn family from Haverstraw. Does your father still live in Rockland County?
My father died 2 years ago, but my mother lives there, as does my brother, and I am not that far away. Many names are familiar to me, but, unfortunately, I don’t recall your mother’s name. I’m sure my father would have remembered…
Hi Rachel,
Thanks so much for passing this around to your cousins in Florida. Cousin Tony sent it to me and I will forward it to Linda and Rich. Hope all is well.
Ellen
Hi, Thanks to you and Tony for sharing this. I think it is great. We’re OK, and hope you are also.
Rachel
Thanks for your reply. Risa is fine. Actually, it was my brothern Morton who forwarded the blog to me (forwarded to him by a friend from New City). How is your family?
I remember your younger brother, Mort.
My mom lives in Florida. My brothers Marc and Scott live in Nanuet with their families. My youngest brother also lives in Rockland. Todd, who would be your age I believe (we won’t have to tell anyone, all right?!) is a chemistry professor in Oregon.
I live and blog in Seattle. Been here since 1998.
I’ve also written some about my dad’s family roots in Peekskill and its history.
After reading all of the replies I feel as though I have stepped back in time as so many beautiful memories came rushing through my mind. Haverstraw is truly a family town. My father, Bernie Ring, owned Ring’s cleaners, and my mother, Mary Lu Ring (Brems) father was Justice of the Peace for many years. Her family also owned the New Main Hotel. She continues to tell us many stories; as my Dad and his cousins loved to do while my cousins sat around the holiday table and listened in amazement.
Hi, Ro–
I can’t stop reading this. Morton’s friend sent it to him, and he forwarded it to me and Risa. We really owe Richard Silverstein a big debt of gratitude for reminding us of times gone by…. and getting us to join the conversation.
Hope you are all well.
Rachel
linda and i remember your father well. he was my teacher and he was an especially good one. it was a pleasure to teach side by side with him for many years. he was a special basketball fan and was honored with a reserved seat with his name on it. i too have deep feelings towards haverstraw. it was a blue collar village with a lot of character. it was hurt badly by the mall and other economic developments that really dried up jobs in the village. the hudson river is of great interest to wealthy people, i just hope the end result of any “changes” will include meaningful economic revitalization for the people of the village. richard korn
I’m so pleased to hear you speak well of my dad as a teacher. I can remember as a 5 yr old sitting on a high stool in the back of his class & listening to him teach a class. I couldn’t understand much but I was so proud that every student was intent on everything that MY DAD said to them. It really left an impression.
After my dad died, he was inducted into the N. Rockland Sports Hall of Fame. I think he helped found the group as well. He was a real sports maven & N. Rockland really held a special place in his sports pantheon.
There’s at least one Haverstraw blog which you might like to visit.
I don’t know what it is about Rockland Country or Haverstraw or the Hudson River Valley that makes such an impression on you so that you remember it this strongly decades after you’ve lived there. Part of my attachment has to do for sure with my dad’s sense of the importance of history. Another part is the sheer majesty of the landscape.
My children are growing up in Seattle. I wonder whether they’ll have this type of attachment to this specific place or it will feel more generic to them.
Hi Kids,
Richie, I’m so glad to see you online ;-)
Thank you (and Edie) for your recent cards
Mary Lou
I too find myself checking this site daily after I read it the first time. It has reminded us how close we all are, and how important this tiny town is to each of us (even though Rich had to stand between Haverstraw High and me – Ramapo, when I was on his “turf” during one of our football games).
This is giving us all an opportunity to take a little time out and remember. One of the earlier comments regarding the Shul brought back the memories of my Grandmother’s house, which was across the street from the Shul. I loved spending the night there and hearing the train go by; and the smell of the roses and lilacs.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Love,
Ro
It is wonderful to read everyone’s comments-they bring back many memories, from the lilacs in my grandmother’s back yard, to the shul where Rachel and I went to Sunday school, to going to Haverstraw High School football games with my Dad as a child.
What a thrill this has been to read because I’m connected in several ways.
I, too, taught with Jule Silverstein at North Rockland High School. My mother was a Nurse’s Aide at the NYS Rehabilitation Hospital (now Helen Hayes Hospital) and worked on the same floor as Mrs. Glass (Dorothy?) the wife of Dr. Glass. Mrs. Glass was a head nurse there. My mom worked there from 1955-85. I took dancing lessons from Dorothea Glass Wolfe their daughter. Linda Korn and I went to high school with Dorothea’s daughter, Heather.
My grandmother, Lucretia Petrone, was the first Italian child born in Haverstraw. It was July, 1888. Her father owned a grocery store on Broadway. One of the families that traded in the store was named Dillon. Their youngest son (”Babe”), Irvin Dillon, because a Justice of the Peace in Clarkstown. He married my parents in 1945 and his older son, Robert, married me in 1988.
To complete this rather small circle, Bob Dillon taught at Clarkstown North and he had some of “the Silverstein boys” and “the Korn kids” as students!
Can’t you just hear THE TWILIGHT ZONE theme song playing in the background???
Hello, Mary Lou. You were one of my dad’s favorite colleagues at N. Rockland. And your husband, Bob, was one of my favorite teachers at Clarkstown. I did an informal independent study with him in which we discussed European history while he did lunch time hall duty. I got a top grade on the European history AP exam!
I hope both of you are very well.
thank you
I’ll pass on the warm regards to Bob
I called my mom (born on Broadway in Haverstraw) and she can’t wait to read what you’ve written about Haverstraw, Jule and Marcy. She knew both of them.
Also…we LOVE Seattle and have family there
another really funny connection…your brother, Todd, taught Chem in Walla Walla, Washington. He took the teaching position of my cousin who went to teach in Portland, Me.
It is that cousin’s son who lives in Seattle. We’ve visited him several times.
I really think that Rod Serling is watching over us. I’m so excited as I write that some of my sentences are just jabber.
We’re having dinner with Rachel Korn Wasserman in about two hours!
ml
Wonderful. If you’re ever out here please let me know. I have 3 incredible children who would cheer you enormously (if you needed any!).
For the stuff I’ve written about family & Rockland/Haverstraw just go to the “Hudson River Valley” category on the right sidebar & that will provide all the posts I’ve written. I even have a picture there of my grandfather with a semi pro baseball team in Peekskill from 1920! Wish I could find out what newspaper first published the image.
Todd now teaches at Willamette University in Salem, OR.
Does anyone remember the candy store on Broad St. in Haverstraw owned by my grandmother Esther Wolff? I think she had the store until 1965.
Dear Everyone,
Thank you for all the good news. We just had a great afternoon. Risa was down, and we had lunch with her, Rachel and Steven, and Morton and Kim. We enjoyed reading all of your messages.
Bubbie Ann
and we enjoyed
Best to you all,
Hello Everbody,
I enjoyed reading everybody’s comments, and I lived at 102 Hudson Avenue, right across from your grandparents. Then it was the Marcy’s, the corner hang-out for us high school kids. I can’t remember how many times I climbed up to the beacon and looked over at New York City. I had my first cigarette up there. Now I sit on my patio smoking little cigars with my grandson, I gues I take after my father who smoked White Owls.
I remember Dr Glass coming to our home to check on me for my chicken pox, and giving me a quarter for being so good and not scratching. I will never forget that. He was so wonderful, everybody loved that man. I can’t remember the name of the radio show where they had famous, well thought of people, and Dr. Glass was on that show.
Before he was president, Franklin Roosevelt stayed at the New Main Hotel. The hotel was owned by my grandparents and my uncle, Chapman.
There are so many memories of Haverstraw, and a lot of history, and even more nicknames; Mickey the Goose, Step-and-a-Half, Mouse Finnerty, Midnight, etc.
My brother, Jimmy Brems, and his friends would often ice skate on the frozen Hudson River.
I have enjoyed reading all of the comments. Stay tuned there will more stories to come.
Mary Lu
My cousin, Mike Warner, directed me to this wonderful site. These reminiscences bring me back to my early childhood when I lived in Haverstraw. Dr. Glass was my grandfather. He died in 1944, the year before I was born. I lived in his house on First Street until I was 7, along with my grandmother, Dorothy Glass, and Dr. Glass’s sister, Kitty, and my parents, Richard and Anne Glass.
My mother is the daughter of John and Elizabeth Feeney, who lived at 67 New Main Street. My mother remembers the Korns, Jauntigs, Perrys and Brems, and said she like to hang out at Marcy’s when she was in high school.
I have very fond memories of Haverstraw, and the time I spent playing by the river and around the Elks Club. There was a little candy store at Van Houten and West Streets. The owner was a blind man who could always tell what we were buying and make change for us.
Richard, thank you for putting this site together.
Frank Glass
Dear Frank,
Are you related to Fran Feeney? She was a student of mine and her dad was on the same floor as my dad at Summit Park in Pomona.
Mary Lou Dillon
Hi Mary Lou,
Fran is my cousin. Her father, Jim, is my mother’s younger brother. Their older sister, Betsy, still lives at the house on New Main Street. Jim was staying there also before he went to Pomona and I understand that Frances was spending a lot of time with him also.
My mother has enjoyed hearing about this website. I’ll tell her about your message. (She doesn’t have a computer).
Frank
Dear Frank,
There is still another connection. You’ll note that Hope Perry Jauntig has posted at this site. Hope and I grew up across the street from each other in Garnerville. Another family that lived near us was the Cravens (Bob, Lynn, Nicki, Fran and Laurie). Their mom, Marian, was a Feeney, too, I think!
Mary Lou
Mary Lou,
Great to hear from you about this. Marian was my mother’s older sister. The Craven’s house was one of my favorite places to visit when I was a kid, with all the hiding places and a big cherry tree in the back yard. It was quite sad to learn that the house was torn down.
Frank