Misplaced Pages

#718281

81-689: The Mountain House's site, the "Pine Orchard," had long been famous for its panoramic views up and down the Hudson Valley and even beyond to the east. John Bartram and James Fenimore Cooper had both written about it, in different contexts. Artists and writers had discovered the Catskills some time earlier. Shortly after it was constructed, the Mountain House and its surroundings became a favorite subject for Washington Irving and artists of

162-673: A high-tech competitor to regions such as Silicon Valley and Boston , it has since grown to represent the counties in New York between IBM 's Westchester County plants in the south and the Canada–US border to the north. The area's high technology ecosystem is supported by technologically focused academic institutions including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute . Tech Valley encompasses 19 counties straddling both sides of

243-636: A projectile point of red-brown chert found in 2007 at the edge of Tupper Lake. During an interval of roughly 11,000 years following the end of the Last Glacial Period, the climate of the Adirondacks gradually warmed, with the area's tundra being replaced by forests that were now able to grow. During the transition between the Archaic and Woodland (1000 BC – AD 1000) periods, multiple different groups replaced

324-426: A 10,000 feet (ca. 3,048 m) thick layer of ice to completely melt. Evidence of this period includes: Soils in the area are generally thin, sandy, acidic, and infertile, having developed since the glacial retreat. The climate is strongly continental , with high humidity and precipitation year-round. The Adirondacks typically experience pleasantly warm, rainy weather in the summer (June–August), with temperatures in

405-412: A burgeoning biotechnology sector in the 21st century, with over US$ 1 billion in planned private investment as of 2016, earning the county the nickname Biochester . The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area promotes historic, natural, and cultural sites in 11 counties. The Hudson Valley is divided into three regions: Upper, Middle, and Lower. The following is a list of the counties within

486-412: A circular dome approximately 160 miles (260 km) wide and covering about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km ). The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy , which is the highest point in New York at 5,344 feet (1,629 m). The Adirondack High Peaks , a traditional list of 46 peaks over 4,000 feet (1,200 m), are popular hiking destinations. There are over 200 named lakes with

567-1017: A freeway in much of Orange County and will be designated Interstate 86 in the future. Hudson River crossings in the Hudson Valley region from south to north include the Tappan Zee Bridge between South Nyack in Rockland County and Tarrytown in Westchester County, the Bear Mountain Bridge between Peekskill in Westchester County and Fort Montgomery in Orange County, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge between Newburgh in Orange County and Beacon in Dutchess County,

648-452: A large proportion of the agricultural output. Meanwhile, land west of Hudson River contained smaller landholdings with many small farmers living off the land. A large crop grown in the region was grain, which was largely shipped downriver to New York City, the colony's main seaport, for export back to Great Britain. In order to export the grain, colonial merchants were given monopolies to grind the grain into flour and export it. Grain production

729-472: A large public campground, North-South Lake , near the site of the hotel. The Mountain House site is an easy walk from it along the popular Escarpment Trail . All that remains of what was once America's most fashionable resort are the gateposts and the sweeping views from the cleared site. 42°11′42″N 74°02′05″W  /  42.19500°N 74.03472°W  / 42.19500; -74.03472 Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as

810-485: A prominent Philadelphia businessman and longtime Mountain House guest named George Harding asked a waiter to bring some fried chicken to his daughter Emily instead of the hotel's usual dinner fare of roast beef, as she had been prescribed a diet which excluded red meat. The ensuing argument went all the way to Beach, who refused to budge despite Harding's history with the hotel. In exasperation, Beach suggested that Harding should perhaps build his own hotel. Harding called

891-694: Is bounded by three other provinces: the St. Lawrence (Champlain) on the north, northeast; the Appalachian Plateau to the south, southwest; and the Valley and Ridge to the southeast. The entire region lies within Adirondack Park , a New York state protected area of over 6,000,000 acres (2,400,000 ha). The park was established in 1892 by the state legislature to protect the region's natural resources and to provide recreational opportunities for

SECTION 10

#1732780881719

972-578: Is caused by a hot spot in the Earth's crust . A recent study has revealed a column of seismically slow materials about 50–80 km deep beneath the Adirondack Mountains, which was interpreted to be the upwelling asthenosphere contributing to the uplift of the mountains. The occurrence of earthquake swarms near the center of the massif at Blue Mountain Lake may be evidence of this. Some of

1053-687: Is home to the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest, hosted at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds. The region has sunlight, moisture, chalky soil, and drainage conducive to grape growing, especially grapes used in Champagne. Tech Valley is a marketing name for the eastern part of New York State, including the Hudson Valley and the Capital District . Originating in 1998 to promote the greater Albany area as

1134-480: Is one of the oldest winemaking and grape-growing regions in the United States, with its first vineyards planted in 1677 in current-day New Paltz . The region has experienced a resurgence in winemaking in the 21st century. Many wineries are located in the Hudson Valley, offering wine-tasting and other tours. Numerous wine festivals are held in the Hudson Valley, with themes often varying by season. Rhinebeck

1215-809: The Adirondack Northway and the New York Thruway , and with heavy state taxpayer subsidy , has experienced significant growth in the computer hardware industry, with great strides in the nanotechnology sector, digital electronics design, and water- and electricity-dependent integrated microchip circuit manufacturing, involving companies including IBM in Armonk and its Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown , GlobalFoundries in Malta , and others. Westchester County has developed

1296-616: The Algonquians who allied with the French. Another early use of the name, spelled Rontaks , was in 1729 by French missionary Joseph-François Lafitau . He explained that the word was used by the Iroquois as a derogatory term for groups of Algonquians who did not practice agriculture and therefore sometimes had to eat tree bark to survive harsh winters. The Mohawks had no written language, so Europeans used various phonetic spellings of

1377-606: The Algonquins lived along the river, mostly in peace with the other groups. The lower Hudson River was inhabited by the Lenape. The Lenape people waited for the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano onshore, traded with Henry Hudson , and sold the island of Manhattan . Further north, the Wappingers lived from Manhattan Island up to Poughkeepsie . They lived a similar lifestyle to the Lenape, residing in various villages along

1458-772: The American Soccer Pyramid . They compete in the North Atlantic conference of the NPSL's Northeast region, and began their first season in May 2016. 42°0′N 74°0′W  /  42.000°N 74.000°W  / 42.000; -74.000  ( Hudson Valley ) Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( / ˌ æ d ɪ ˈ r ɒ n d æ k / AD -i- RON -dak ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York which form

1539-635: The Bee-Line Bus System in Westchester County and Transport of Rockland in Rockland County. The Hudson Valley is served by two airports with commercial airline service: Westchester County Airport (HPN) near White Plains and Stewart International Airport (SWF) near Newburgh . Commuter rail service in the region is provided by Metro-North Railroad (operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority ). Metro-North operates three rail lines east of

1620-628: The Hudson River Valley ) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York . The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yonkers in Westchester County , bordering New York City . The Hudson Valley was inhabited by indigenous peoples long before European settlers arrived. The Lenape , Wappinger , and Mahican branches of

1701-930: The Mid-Hudson Bridge between Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County and Highland in Ulster County, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge between Rhinecliff in Dutchess County and Kingston in Ulster County, and the Rip Van Winkle Bridge between Hudson in Columbia County and Catskill in Greene County. The Walkway Over the Hudson is a pedestrian bridge which parallels the Mid-Hudson Bridge and

SECTION 20

#1732780881719

1782-732: The New York Yankees . The team is a member of the Mid-Atlantic League and plays at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill . The New York Boulders of the independent Can-Am League play at Clover Stadium , in Pomona, NY. Kingston Stockade FC is a soccer team representing the Hudson Valley in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national semi-professional league at the fourth tier of

1863-556: The Northwest Passage . During this attempt, Henry Hudson decided to sail his ship up the river that would later be named after him. As he continued up the river, its width expanded, into Haverstraw Bay, leading him to believe he had successfully reached the Northwest Passage. He also proceeded upstream as far as present-day Troy before concluding that no such strait existed there. After Henry Hudson realized that

1944-622: The Pascack Valley Line (serving central Rockland County) and the Port Jervis Line (serving western Rockland County and Orange County). Amtrak serves Yonkers , Croton-Harmon , Poughkeepsie , Rhinecliff-Kingston , and Hudson along the eastern shores of the Hudson River, as well as New Rochelle in southeastern Westchester County. The Hudson Valley Renegades is a minor league baseball team affiliated with

2025-626: The sedimentary rock was changed into metamorphic rock . It is these Proterozoic minerals and lithologies that make up the core of the massif. Minerals of interest include: The Adirondacks are uplifted by a hot spot in the Canadian Shield in contrast to other mountain ranges in New York which are a part of the Appalachian chain (not to be confused with the cultural region of Appalachia). Around 600 million years ago, as Laurentia drifted away from Baltica (European Craton),

2106-479: The 20th century failed for numerous reasons, including poaching, vehicle collisions, and conservation incompetence. Nearly 60 percent of the park is covered with northern hardwood forest . Above 2,600 feet (790 meters), conditions are too poor for hardwoods to thrive, and the trees become mixed with or replaced by balsam fir and red spruce . Above 3,500 feet (1,100 meters) black spruce replace red. Higher still, only trees short enough to be covered in snow during

2187-553: The Adirondack Mountains as hunting grounds. According to Haudenosaunee historian Rick Hill, the region was considered a ' Dish with One Spoon ,' symbolizing shared hunting resources between the groups. A group of Algonquian people, known as the Mahicans, also occupied the region, particularly the Hudson River Valley. These were the groups that the first European explorers of the area encountered. European presence in

2268-492: The Adirondack mountains. Because local Iroquoian and Algonquian tribes had been decimated first by smallpox and measles in the 1600s, then by wars with encroaching European settlers, there likely were very few people living in the region by the time Pownhall wrote his description. It is only relatively recently that numerous archaeological finds have definitively shown that Native Americans were indeed very present in

2349-441: The Adirondacks before European contact, hunting, making pottery, and practicing agriculture. The European impression of a wild region devoid of human connection set up a narrative about wilderness that would persist through the next 200-some years of the region's history. While society's perception of the Adirondacks' value changed, they were always seen as a land of natural resources and physical beauty, not of human history. First

2430-528: The Adirondacks have been referred to as "new mountains from old rocks." It is theorized that there is a hotspot beneath the region, which causes continued uplift at the rate of 1.5–3 centimetres ( 5 ⁄ 8 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 8  in) annually. The Adirondack mountain range has such unusual characteristics compared to the area around it that it is divided into its own province within the Appalachian Highlands physiographic division. It

2511-674: The Adirondacks were Paleo-Indians who arrived around the 14th millennium BC following the end of the Last Glacial Period . The earliest migrants arrived from the St. Lawrence River Valley to the north, and settled along the shores of the Champlain Sea . During the Archaic Period (8000–1000 BC) this semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer Laurentian culture inhabited the Adirondacks; evidence of their presence includes

Catskill Mountain House - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-599: The British, under General John Burgoyne 's strategy, would be able to cut off the patriot hub of New England (which is on the eastern side of the Hudson River) and focus on rallying the support of loyalists in the South and Mid-Atlantic regions. The British knew that total occupation of the colonies would be unfeasible, which is why this strategy was chosen. As a result of the strategy, numerous battles were fought along

2673-697: The Hudson River to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, from east to west they are the New Haven Line (serving southeast Westchester County), the Harlem Line (serving Central and Eastern Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties), and the Hudson Line (serving western Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties). West of the Hudson, New Jersey Transit operates two lines rail service under contract with Metro-North Railroad to Hoboken Terminal :

2754-516: The Hudson River was not the Northwest Passage , the Dutch began to examine the region for potential trading opportunities. Dutch explorer and merchant Adriaen Block led voyages there between 1611 and 1614, which led the Dutch to determine that fur trade would be profitable in the region. As such, the Dutch established the colony of New Netherland . The Dutch settled three major fur-trading outposts in

2835-692: The Hudson River. Other fortresses were located in various locations throughout the Hudson Highlands . In 1497, John Cabot traveled along the coast and claimed the entire country for England; he is credited with the Old World 's discovery of continental North America. Between then and about 1609, exploration took place around New York Bay , but not into the Hudson Valley. In 1609, the Dutch East India Company financed English navigator Henry Hudson in his attempt to search for

2916-427: The Hudson Valley became an agricultural hub, with manors being developed on the east side of the river. At these manors, landlords rented out land to their tenants, letting them take a share of the crops grown while keeping and selling the rest of the crops. Tenants were often kept at a subsistence level so that the landlord could minimize his costs. Landlords held immense political power in the colony due to driving such

2997-554: The Hudson Valley began to lead the farm-to-table movement , the local food movement , and sustainable agricultural practices . The fertile Black Dirt Region of the Wallkill and Schoharie valleys also began to be farmed. Dairy farms are predominant, though fruit, vegetable, poultry, meat, and maple syrup production are also common. Orchard cultivation is common in Orange, Ulster, Dutchess, and Columbia counties. The Hudson Valley

3078-574: The Hudson Valley fall within the Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands Ecoregion . During the last ice age, the valley was filled by a large glacier that pushed south as far as Long Island . Near the end of the last ice age, the Great Lakes drained south down the Hudson River, from a large glacial lake called Lake Iroquois . Lake Ontario is the remnant of that lake. Large sand deposits remain from where Lake Iroquois drained into

3159-419: The Hudson Valley on one side and two lakes on the other side that provided water and recreation. In 1839, Charles L. Beach, whose father ran a stagecoach line from the town of Catskill to the Mountain House, leased the hotel from the owners for six years and then bought it outright. Beach rebuilt the Mountain House, changing the original Federal design into a neo-classical structure . One summer day in 1880,

3240-866: The Hudson Valley sorted by region. The Lower Hudson Valley is typically considered part of the Downstate New York region due to its geographical and cultural proximity to New York City . Lower Hudson Mid-Hudson Upper Hudson/ Capital District Major interstates in the Hudson Valley include Interstate 87 (part of the New York State Thruway ), a small section of Interstate 95 in Southeastern Westchester County, Interstate 287 serving Westchester and Rockland Counties, Interstate 84 serving Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange Counties, and Interstate 684 serving Westchester and Putnam Counties. parkways in

3321-581: The Hudson; these are now part of the Rome Sand Plains . Due to its resemblance, the Hudson River often has been described as "America's Rhine". In 1939, the magazine Life described the river as such, comparing it to the 40-mile (64 km) stretch of the Rhine in Central and Western Europe. The Hudson Valley has a long agricultural history and agriculture was its main industry when the region

Catskill Mountain House - Misplaced Pages Continue

3402-428: The Laurentian culture—including the Sylvan Lake, River, Middlesex, Point Peninsula, and Owasco cultures. By the time of the Owasco culture c.  1 AD , maize and beans were being cultivated in the uplands of the Adirondacks. The first Iroquoian peoples, the Mohawk (or Kanyengehaga) and the Oneida (or Oneyotdehaga), arrived in the Adirondack region between 4,000 and 1,200 years ago. Both groups claimed

3483-403: The North-South Lake area was no longer the heart of the Catskills. Beach and Harding both died in 1902. Just as the fame of the Mountain House was to be eclipsed by other area hotels, so were the Catskills eclipsed by the Adirondacks as the fashionable playground of the wealthy. The Mountain House continued to operate until the start of World War II — 1941 was its last season. In 1962,

3564-399: The State of New York acquired the property. Preservationists pointed to the hotel's historic value, but were ultimately unsuccessful when it was burned by the state Conservation Department on January 25, 1963, in accordance with revisionist Forest Preserve management policies forbidding most structures on land retroactively decreed by government to be "forever wild." The state now operates

3645-406: The area began to be pulled apart forming the Iapetus Ocean . Faults developed, running north to northeast which formed valleys and deep lakes. Examples visible today include the grabens Lake George and Schroon Lake . By this time the Grenville mountains had been eroded away and the area was covered by a shallow sea. Several thousand feet of sediment accumulated on the sea bed. Trilobites were

3726-422: The area began with a battle between Samuel de Champlain and a group of Mohawks, in what is now Ticonderoga in 1609. The Jesuit missionary Isaac Jogues became the first recorded European to travel through the center of the Adirondacks, as the captive of a Mohawk hunting party, in 1642. The early European perception of the Adirondacks was of a vast, inhospitable wilderness. One map of the area from 1771 shows

3807-434: The area was an inhospitable tangle, then a lucrative store of lumber. After the American Revolutionary War , New York State gained ownership of most of the land in the region. Needing money to discharge war debts, the government sold nearly all the original public acreage about 7 million acres for pennies an acre. Lumbermen were welcomed to the interior, with few restraints, resulting in massive deforestation . Later,

3888-468: The bluff, checking his family out that very day and beginning plans for his own hotel, to be located atop neighboring South Mountain and utterly dwarf Beach's. He kept his word, opening the Kaaterskill Hotel next year and offering the Mountain House its first real competition. The rivalry between the two hotels and their proprietors came to be known in the region as the "Fried Chicken War." It actually benefited both, since guests at one would often stroll to

3969-443: The building of the Erie Canal , the area became an important industrial center. The canal opened the Hudson Valley and New York City to commerce with the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. However, in the mid 20th century, many of the industrial towns went into decline. The first railroad in New York, the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad , opened in 1831 between Albany and Schenectady on the Mohawk River, enabling passengers to bypass

4050-414: The colony, along the river, south to north: New Amsterdam , Wiltwyck , and Fort Orange . New Amsterdam later became known as New York City , Wiltwyck became Kingston , and Fort Orange became Albany . In 1664, the British invaded New Netherland via the port of New Amsterdam. New Amsterdam and New Netherland as a whole were surrendered to the British and renamed New York. Under British colonial rule,

4131-421: The earthquakes have exceeded 5 on the Richter magnitude scale . Starting about 2.5 million years ago, a cycle of Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods began which covered the area in ice. During the most recent episode, the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of northern North America between about 95,000 and c. 20,000 years ago. After this the climate warmed, but it took nearly 10,000 years for

SECTION 50

#1732780881719

4212-439: The interior of the Northeast to the coast. Hundreds of factories were built around the Hudson, in towns including Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Kingston, and Hudson. The North Tarrytown Assembly (later owned by General Motors ), on the river in Sleepy Hollow, was a large and notable example. The river links to the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes, which allowed manufacturers in the Midwest, including automobile factories in Detroit, to use

4293-441: The late 1800s, most farms transitioned from tenant farming to being family-owned, with more incentive to improve the land. Grain production moved west to the Genesee Valley , and so Hudson Valley farms specialized, especially in viticulture , berries, and orchard cultivation. Agriculture began to decline in the 19th century, and rapidly declined in the 20th century. By the 1970s, the United States' culinary revolution began, and

4374-440: The more recent human history of the Adirondack region, see Adirondack Park . The rocks of the Adirondack mountains originated about two billion years ago as 50,000 feet (ca. 15,240 m) thick sediments at the bottom of a sea located near the equator . Because of plate tectonics these collided with Laurentia (the precursor of modern North America) in a mountain building episode known as the Grenville orogeny . During this time

4455-421: The new Hudson River School , most notably Thomas Cole . Cooper advised his European audience, "If you want to see the sights of America, go to see Niagara Falls , Lake George and the Catskill Mountain House." Harriet Martineau was more moved by the view there than at Niagara. The hotel was built in 1823 and opened a year later by a group of merchants from nearby Catskill on a plateau with sweeping views of

4536-455: The number of smaller lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water reaching over 3,000. Among the named lakes around the mountains are Lake George , Lake Placid , and Lake Tear of the Clouds . The region has over 1,200 miles (1,900 km) of river. Although the mountains are formed from ancient rocks more than 1 billion years old, geologically, the mountains are relatively young and were created during recent periods of glaciation. Because of this,

4617-442: The other for lunch. The view that made the Mountain House famous came at a cost— getting up the 1,600-foot (487.6 m) climb from the valley required a five-hour stagecoach ride. As more competing hotels that were easier to reach began to be developed, the Mountain House built the cable-operated Otis Elevating Railway to bring its guests directly from the Hudson to the hotel. But the railway proved to be expensive to operate, and

4698-430: The paintings of the Hudson River School were especially attracted to the region. The Hudson River valley runs primarily north to south down the eastern edge of New York State, cutting through a series of rock types including Triassic sandstones and redbeds in the south and much more ancient Precambrian gneiss in the north (and east). In the Hudson Highlands, the river enters a fjord cut during previous ice ages. To

4779-442: The principal life-form of the sea bed, and fossil tracks can be seen in the Potsdam sandstone floor of the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center. About 10 million years ago, the region began to be uplifted. It has been lifted about 7000 feet (ca. 2,134 meters) and is continuing at about 2 millimeters per year, which is greater than the rate of denudation . The cause of the uplift is unknown, but geologists theorize that it

4860-420: The public. It covers over 20 percent of New York state's land area. The word Adirondack is thought to come from the Mohawk word atirǫ́·taks meaning "eaters of trees". The earliest written use of the name was in 1635 by Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert in his Mohawk to Dutch glossary, found in his Journey into Mohawk Country . He spelled it Adirondakx and said that it stood for Frenchmen, meaning

4941-566: The range of 66–73 °F (19–23 °C), cooler than the rest of New York State due to the higher elevation. Summer evenings in the Adirondacks are chilly, with temperatures ranging on average between 45–54 °F (7–12 °C). Winters (December–March) are long, cold, snowy and harsh, with temperatures ranging from 18 to 23 °F (−8 to −5 °C). Winter nights are frigid, with temperatures between −2 and 4 °F (−19 and −16 °C). Spring (April–May) and fall (September–November) are short transitional seasons. The Adirondack Mountains form

SECTION 60

#1732780881719

5022-405: The region as a blank space in the northeastern corner of New York. In 1784, Thomas Pownhall wrote that the Native Americans referred to the area as "the Dismal Wilderness, or the Habitation of Winter," and that the area was "either not much known to them, or, if known, very wisely by them kept from the Knowledge of the Europeans." He clearly had the impression that native people did not live within

5103-441: The region include the Bronx River Parkway , the Cross County Parkway , the Hutchinson River Parkway , the Sprain Brook Parkway , and the Saw Mill River Parkway serving solely Westchester County, the Taconic State Parkway serving Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, and Columbia Counties, and the Palisades Interstate Parkway serving Rockland and a very small portion of southwestern Orange County. New York State Route 17 operates as

5184-402: The river for transport. With industrialization came new technologies, such as streamboats, for faster transport. In 1807, the North River Steamboat (later known as Clermont), became the first commercially successful steamboat. It carried passengers between New York City and Albany along the Hudson River. At the end of the 19th century, the Hudson River region of New York State would become

5265-467: The river, including several in the Hudson Valley. In the early 19th century, popularized by the stories of Washington Irving , the Hudson Valley gained a reputation as a somewhat gothic region characterized by remnants of the early days of the Dutch colonization of New York (see " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow "). The area is also associated with the Hudson River School , a group of American Romantic painters who worked from about 1830 to 1870. Following

5346-413: The river. They traded with both the Lenape to the south and the Mahicans to the north. The Mahicans lived in the northern valley from present-day Kingston to Lake Champlain , with their capital located near present-day Albany . The Algonquins in the region lived mainly in small clans and villages throughout the area. One major fortress was called Navish, which was located at Croton Point , overlooking

5427-426: The slowest part of the Erie Canal. The Hudson Valley proved attractive for railroads once technology progressed to the point where it was feasible to construct the required bridges over tributaries. The Troy and Greenbush Railroad was chartered in 1845 and opened that same year, running a short distance on the east side between Troy and Greenbush, now known as East Greenbush (east of Albany). The Hudson River Railroad

5508-535: The southernmost part of the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion . They are heavily forested, and contain one of the southernmost distributions of the taiga ecotype in North America. The forests of the Adirondacks include spruce , pine and deciduous trees. Lumbering, once an important industry, has been much restricted by the creation of state forest preserve. The mountains include many wetlands , of which there are three kinds: Breeding birds include northern forest specialists not found anywhere else in

5589-463: The state, such as boreal chickadees , Canada jays , spruce grouse , black-backed woodpeckers , common loons and crossbills . Mammals include raccoons , beavers , river otters , bobcats , moose , black bears , and coyotes . Extirpated or extinct mammals that formerly roamed the Adirondacks include the eastern cougar , eastern elk , wolverine , caribou , eastern wolf , and the Canada lynx . Attempted reintroductions of elk and lynx in

5670-545: The view south from higher mountains in the area, but Slide Mountain , many miles to the southwest in the Ulster County town of Shandaken . Beach, who had long claimed that the Pine Orchard was at 3,000 feet (914.4 m) above sea level, 750 feet (228.6 m) higher than its actual elevation (a fib perpetuated even today by the state historical marker at the site), joined forces with his rivals to cast doubt on Guyot's claim, and even questioned his scientific credentials. But by 1886, other surveyors had confirmed Guyot's results, and

5751-426: The west lie the extensive Appalachian Highlands. In the Tappan Zee region, the west side of the river has high cliffs produced by an erosion-resistant diabase ; the cliffs range from 400 to 800 feet (120 to 240 m) in height. The Hudson Valley is one physiographic section of the larger Ridge-and-Valley province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division. The northern portions of

5832-567: The wilderness character of the region became popular with the rise of the Romantic movement , and the Adirondacks became a destination for those wishing to escape the evils of city life. Rising concern over water quality and deforestation led to the creation of the Adirondack Park in 1885. In 1989, part of the Adirondack region was designated by UNESCO as the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve . For

5913-434: The winter can survive. A small area on the highest peaks exists above the tree line and has an alpine climate . These areas are covered by plants which occupied a large lowland tundra following the most recent period of glaciation. The amount of area covered by this ecosystem changes from year to year due to local climate changes, and has been estimated to only cover between 65–85 acres (26–34 hectares). The alpine ecosystem

5994-470: The word, including Achkokx , Rondaxe , and Adirondax. Such words were strongly associated with the region, but they were not yet considered a place name; an English map from 1761 labels the area simply Deer Hunting Country . In 1838, the mountains were named Adirondacks by Ebenezer Emmons , the State Geologist for the northern New York State Geological District. The first humans to live in

6075-694: The world's largest brick manufacturing region, with 130 brickyards lining the shores of the Hudson River from Mechanicsville to Haverstraw and employing 8,000 people. At its peak, about 1 billion bricks a year were produced, with many being sent to New York City for use in its construction industry. Tourism became a major industry as early as 1810. With convenient steamboat connections in New York City and numerous attractive hotels in romantic settings, tourism became an important industry. Early guidebooks provided suggestions for travel itineraries. Middle-class people who read James Fenimore Cooper 's novels or saw

6156-617: The world. The New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway began at Weehawken Terminal and ran up the west shore of the Hudson as a competitor to the merged New York Central and Hudson River Railroad . Construction was slow and was finally completed in 1884; the New York Central purchased the line the next year. During the Industrial Revolution, the Hudson River Valley became a major location for production. The river allowed for fast and easy transport of goods from

6237-692: Was also at high levels in the Mohawk River Valley. The Hudson River was a key river during the Revolutionary War . The Hudson's connection to the Mohawk River allowed travelers to get to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River eventually. In addition, the river's close proximity to Lake George and Lake Champlain would allow the British navy to control the water route from Montreal to New York City. In doing so,

6318-755: Was chartered the next year as a continuation of the Troy and Greenbush south to New York City, and was completed in 1851. In 1866, the Hudson River Bridge opened over the river between Greenbush and Albany, enabling through traffic between the Hudson River Railroad and the New York Central Railroad west to Buffalo . When the Poughkeepsie Bridge opened in 1889, it became the longest single-span bridge in

6399-407: Was finally sold for scrap in 1918 during World War I . Beach's promotional claim that the Mountain House sat amid the highest peaks in the Catskills suffered a major blow in the 1880s, when Princeton University geologist Arnold Henry Guyot undertook the first-ever comprehensive survey of the Catskills and found that the highest peak in the region was not Kaaterskill High Peak , which dominates

6480-415: Was first settled. Around the 1700s, tenant farming was highly practiced. The farms' main products were grains (predominantly wheat), though hops , maple syrup , vegetables, dairy products, honey, wool, livestock, and tobacco were produced there. The region became the breadbasket of colonial America, given that the surrounding New England and Catskills areas were more mountainous and had rockier soils. In

6561-584: Was formerly a railroad bridge. NY Waterway operates the Haverstraw-Ossining Ferry between Haverstraw in Rockland County and Ossining in Westchester County, as well as ferry service between Newburgh in Orange County and Beacon in Dutchess County. Intercity and commuter bus transit are provided by Rockland Coaches in Rockland County, Short Line in Orange and Rockland Counties, and Leprechaun Lines in Orange and Dutchess Counties. There are also several local bus providers, including

#718281