Dunderberg Mountain
Encyclopedia
Dunderberg Mountain stands at the so-called southern gate of the Hudson Highlands
where the region's namesake Hudson River
enters a dramatic gorge. It rises about 1086 feet (331 m) from the river's west bank above Jones Point, New York
, within Bear Mountain State Park
and the town of Stony Point
in Rockland County, New York
.
, lie to the north. On the northwestern side is the abandoned hamlet of Doodletown
. At Dunderberg's immediate southern slope is the Hudson River, while to the southwest are outlying neighborhoods of Tomkins Cove, a community or segment of Stony Point.
The mountain as labeled on current U.S. Geological Survey maps and a widely used hiking map, extends about a mile and a half from its easternmost footing on the river at Jones Point. But several summits lying still farther to the west and southwest are evidently part of the Dunderberg formation, or massif, as described by at least some editions of an influential area hiking guidebook. These include Bald Mountain or Bockberg (1,130 feet (344 m)), as well as the Timp (984 feet (300m)), each of which are, however, separately named by the USGS. The Boulderberg, labeled as such on certain maps of historical interest, lies a short distance to the south of the Timp.
As Dunderberg's crest runs inland latitudinally from the river, Timp Brook splits it into northerly and southerly ridges; Bald Mountain lies at the end of the northerly ridge, while the Timp terminates the southerly ridge about two-and a half miles southwest of Jones Point. Timp Brook emerges from a small swamp between the two ridges to flow down steeply to the north around Bald Mountain and thence to the northeast, into the valley known as Doodletown Clove between West Mountain and Dunderberg.
Closely following the upper course of Timp Brook was once the main route into Doodletown from the southwest. A half-mile farther west, an old farm road, later used as a fire road and now a foot-path, also enters Doodletown valley, through a narrow gap known as Timp Pass between the Timp and West Mountain. However, since the late 19th century, the main road up the Hudson (now 9W) has circled around the base of Dunderberg near the river.
, as troops moved over a pass to the west of the mountain while marching to attack Forts Clinton and Montgomery
in 1777.
In a report to General William Howe
several days after the Oct. 6, 1777 attack, the British commander Sir Henry Clinton wrote that at daybreak, 2,100 troops disembarked from vessels at Stony Point:
Sir Henry's "Pass of Thunder Hill" apparently stood between what is now called Bald Mountain and the Timp, about a mile southwest of the westerly summit of Dunderberg. It lies about a half-mile east of what is now called Timp Pass.
The modern 1777 Trail commemorates Sir Henry's route, and was built in 1974–75 as a joint project of the Rockland County Boy Scouts, the Palisades Interstate Park, the Rockland County Cooperative Extension and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. The route was determined by Jack Mead of the Trailside Museum at Bear Mountain from British military records and maps drawn by Major Robert Erskine, Surveyor General of the Continental Army.
Anthony Wayne
, in his successful attack on Stony Point
in 1779, used a route that entirely avoids the Dunderberg area, passing nearly two miles to the west of the Timp. A contemporary trail commemorates Wayne's route and is mapped by the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference.
as the 12 miles (19.3 km) track wound its way back to the base of the mountain, like a roller coaster
, affording scenic views of the Hudson and reaching speeds of up to 50 mi/h.
Directors of the Dunderberg corporation included Henry J. Mumford, who with his brother H.L. Mumford, operated the former Mauch Chunk Railroad of similar design as a successful and well-known tourist attraction during the 1870s in what is now Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania
. The Mauch Chunk Railroad, originally designed for a coal mine, became the inspiration for modern amusement park roller coaster
s.
Funding for the Dunderberg project ran out in 1891 and the system was never completed; the reasons for the failure remain unclear.
One theory holds that the facility was planned as part of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Verplanck's Point (south of Peekskill
) is said to have been considered as a possible location during the planning stage of the Exposition, and it is possible that the funding for the hotel and the railway collapsed after Congress awarded the location to Chicago
instead. Although the theory is persistent, no clear documentation has been found to support it.
Today, ruins and some signs of the Spiral Railway construction are still visible. The graded areas can be accessed from the Ramapo-Dunderberg and the Timp-Torne trails, and became somewhat popular for walking following publication of William Howell's two volumes of hiking diaries called "The Hudson Highlands" in 1933 and 1934, and reprinted by "Walking News" in 1982.
began to establish an iron mine by acquiring nearly 200 acre (0.809372 km²) on the north slope of Dunderberg and the base of Bald Mountain. Two years earlier, the inventor had created a method for using electromagnets
to separate and refine iron ore.
The remains of Edison's mine lie southeast of Doodletown Reservoir south of the abandoned "Old Turnpike," between the Cornell Mine Trail and the Doodletown Bridle Path. A tailings pile is on the hillside. The land was eventually acquired by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission
on December 31, 1938.
Other abandoned iron mines in the immediate vicinity predate Edison's project, and include those on Bald Mountain and West Mountain.
blasted into the side of Dunderberg was opened to traffic in 1931. The lower section of highway had been constructed in 1911 as a 12 feet (3.7 m) roadway. The upper-level project was compared in the 1930s with Storm King Highway
and the southeastern approach to Bear Mountain Bridge
, two other mountainside highways along the Hudson built in the same era.
For 1.5 miles (2.4 km) the new highway averaged an elevation above the river of between 200 and 300 feet (91.4 m). The project was undertaken because it reportedly required less excavation and backfilling than that required to widen the lower roadway to four lanes. Funds for the project had been allocated by the state in 1924. Over a period of years the road was temporarily blocked by landslides on a number of occasions.
With the opening of the upper level, the lower highway was to be widened to 20 feet (6.1 m) and carry only northbound traffic, while the upper level, also 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, would carry southbound traffic.
Today the lower roadway appears on maps as a minor secondary road labeled "Old Route 9W." More than a mile of this route is now called the Jones Point Greenway and is used solely for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The upper roadway is three lanes and additional blasting has evidently been completed in recent years.
Hudson Highlands
The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York, between Newburgh Bay and Haverstraw Bay, which form the northern region of the New York - New Jersey Highlands....
where the region's namesake Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
enters a dramatic gorge. It rises about 1086 feet (331 m) from the river's west bank above Jones Point, New York
Jones Point, New York
Jones Point is a hamlet located in the town of Stony Point in Rockland County in the state of New York, United States. Located north of Tomkins Cove; east of Bear Mountain State Park; south of Iona Island; and west of the Hudson River...
, within Bear Mountain State Park
Bear Mountain State Park
Bear Mountain State Park is located on the west side of the Hudson River in Orange and Rockland counties of New York. The park offers biking, hiking, boating, picnicking, swimming, cross-country skiing, cross-country running, sledding and ice skating...
and the town of Stony Point
Stony Point, New York
Stony Point is a triangle-shaped town in Rockland County, United States. Rockland County is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, east and south of Orange County, New York, and west of the Hudson River and Westchester County. The population...
in Rockland County, New York
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
.
Geography
The bulk of Dunderberg projects into the Hudson River, which describes an arc about its eastern side. Tidal marshes of the river, Snake Hole Creek and Iona IslandIona Island
Iona Island may refer to:*Iona, an island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland*Iona Island *Iona Island...
, lie to the north. On the northwestern side is the abandoned hamlet of Doodletown
Doodletown, New York
Doodletown was an isolated hamlet in the Town of Stony Point Rockland County, New York, United States. Purchased by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission during the 1960s, it is now part of Bear Mountain State Park and a popular destination for hikers, birdwatchers, botanists, and local historians...
. At Dunderberg's immediate southern slope is the Hudson River, while to the southwest are outlying neighborhoods of Tomkins Cove, a community or segment of Stony Point.
The mountain as labeled on current U.S. Geological Survey maps and a widely used hiking map, extends about a mile and a half from its easternmost footing on the river at Jones Point. But several summits lying still farther to the west and southwest are evidently part of the Dunderberg formation, or massif, as described by at least some editions of an influential area hiking guidebook. These include Bald Mountain or Bockberg (1,130 feet (344 m)), as well as the Timp (984 feet (300m)), each of which are, however, separately named by the USGS. The Boulderberg, labeled as such on certain maps of historical interest, lies a short distance to the south of the Timp.
As Dunderberg's crest runs inland latitudinally from the river, Timp Brook splits it into northerly and southerly ridges; Bald Mountain lies at the end of the northerly ridge, while the Timp terminates the southerly ridge about two-and a half miles southwest of Jones Point. Timp Brook emerges from a small swamp between the two ridges to flow down steeply to the north around Bald Mountain and thence to the northeast, into the valley known as Doodletown Clove between West Mountain and Dunderberg.
Closely following the upper course of Timp Brook was once the main route into Doodletown from the southwest. A half-mile farther west, an old farm road, later used as a fire road and now a foot-path, also enters Doodletown valley, through a narrow gap known as Timp Pass between the Timp and West Mountain. However, since the late 19th century, the main road up the Hudson (now 9W) has circled around the base of Dunderberg near the river.
Revolutionary War
Dunderberg was a landmark for British forces during the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, as troops moved over a pass to the west of the mountain while marching to attack Forts Clinton and Montgomery
Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery
The Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery was an American Revolutionary War battle fought in the highlands of the Hudson River valley, not far from West Point, on October 6, 1777. British forces under the command of General Sir Henry Clinton captured Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery, and then...
in 1777.
In a report to General William Howe
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC was a British army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American War of Independence...
several days after the Oct. 6, 1777 attack, the British commander Sir Henry Clinton wrote that at daybreak, 2,100 troops disembarked from vessels at Stony Point:
The Avant Garde of 500 Regulars & 400 Provincials ... began its March to occupy the Pass of Thunder Hill; this Avant Garde after it had passed that Mountain, was to proceed by a detour of seven Miles round the Hill [Bear Mountain], and Debouchée in the Rear of Fort Montgomery, while General VaughanJohn Vaughan (British army officer)Lieutenant-General Sir John Vaughan KB , styled The Honourable from 1741, was a British soldier and a Member of Parliament in both the British and Irish Parliaments.-Background and early career:...
, with 1200 Men was to continue his March towards Fort Clinton ... Major General Tryon with the Remainder, being the Rear Guard, to leave a Battalion at the Pass of Thunder Hill to open our Communication with the Fleet...
Sir Henry's "Pass of Thunder Hill" apparently stood between what is now called Bald Mountain and the Timp, about a mile southwest of the westerly summit of Dunderberg. It lies about a half-mile east of what is now called Timp Pass.
The modern 1777 Trail commemorates Sir Henry's route, and was built in 1974–75 as a joint project of the Rockland County Boy Scouts, the Palisades Interstate Park, the Rockland County Cooperative Extension and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. The route was determined by Jack Mead of the Trailside Museum at Bear Mountain from British military records and maps drawn by Major Robert Erskine, Surveyor General of the Continental Army.
Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the sobriquet of Mad Anthony.-Early...
, in his successful attack on Stony Point
Battle of Stony Point
The Battle of Stony Point was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on the night of July 15–16, 1779. A select force of Continental Army infantry made a coordinated surprise night attack and stormed a fortified position of the British Army on the Hudson River south of West Point, New...
in 1779, used a route that entirely avoids the Dunderberg area, passing nearly two miles to the west of the Timp. A contemporary trail commemorates Wayne's route and is mapped by the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference.
Spiral Railway Corp.
In 1889, the Dunderberg Spiral Railway Corporation formed with the goal of building a hotel at the top of Dunderberg. Tourists were to reach the hotel by means of a steam-powered railway. For the descent, the cars would be powered simply by gravityGravity railroad
A gravity railroad or Gravity railway is a railroad on a slope that allow cars carrying minerals or passengers to coast down the slope by the force of gravity alone. The cars are then hauled back up the slope using animal power or a stationary engine and a cable, chain or one or more wide, flat...
as the 12 miles (19.3 km) track wound its way back to the base of the mountain, like a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
, affording scenic views of the Hudson and reaching speeds of up to 50 mi/h.
Directors of the Dunderberg corporation included Henry J. Mumford, who with his brother H.L. Mumford, operated the former Mauch Chunk Railroad of similar design as a successful and well-known tourist attraction during the 1870s in what is now Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania
Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania
Jim Thorpe is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 4,804 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County. The town has been called the "Switzerland of America" due to the picturesque scenery, mountainous location, and architecture; as well as the "Gateway to...
. The Mauch Chunk Railroad, originally designed for a coal mine, became the inspiration for modern amusement park roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
s.
Funding for the Dunderberg project ran out in 1891 and the system was never completed; the reasons for the failure remain unclear.
One theory holds that the facility was planned as part of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Verplanck's Point (south of Peekskill
Peekskill, New York
Peekskill is a city in Westchester County, New York. It is situated on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from Jones Point.This community was known to be an early American industrial center, primarily for its iron plow and stove products...
) is said to have been considered as a possible location during the planning stage of the Exposition, and it is possible that the funding for the hotel and the railway collapsed after Congress awarded the location to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
instead. Although the theory is persistent, no clear documentation has been found to support it.
Today, ruins and some signs of the Spiral Railway construction are still visible. The graded areas can be accessed from the Ramapo-Dunderberg and the Timp-Torne trails, and became somewhat popular for walking following publication of William Howell's two volumes of hiking diaries called "The Hudson Highlands" in 1933 and 1934, and reprinted by "Walking News" in 1982.
Edison Mine
In 1890 Thomas EdisonThomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
began to establish an iron mine by acquiring nearly 200 acre (0.809372 km²) on the north slope of Dunderberg and the base of Bald Mountain. Two years earlier, the inventor had created a method for using electromagnets
Electromagnet
An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by the flow of electric current. The magnetic field disappears when the current is turned off...
to separate and refine iron ore.
The remains of Edison's mine lie southeast of Doodletown Reservoir south of the abandoned "Old Turnpike," between the Cornell Mine Trail and the Doodletown Bridle Path. A tailings pile is on the hillside. The land was eventually acquired by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission
Palisades Interstate Park Commission
Palisades Interstate Park and its creator, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, was formed in 1900 by governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster M. Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the destruction of the Palisades by quarry operators in the late 19th century...
on December 31, 1938.
Other abandoned iron mines in the immediate vicinity predate Edison's project, and include those on Bald Mountain and West Mountain.
"Upper Level" 9W roadway construction
A 2.44 miles (3.9 km) so-called upper level section of U.S. Route 9WU.S. Route 9W
U.S. Route 9W is a north–south U.S. Highway in the states of New Jersey and New York. It begins on Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey as it crosses the US 1 & 9, US 46, and the Interstate 95 approaches to the George Washington Bridge, where it heads north up the west...
blasted into the side of Dunderberg was opened to traffic in 1931. The lower section of highway had been constructed in 1911 as a 12 feet (3.7 m) roadway. The upper-level project was compared in the 1930s with Storm King Highway
Storm King Highway
The Storm King Highway is a three-mile segment of NY 218 between Lee Road in the Town of Highlands at the south end and the Cornwall-on-Hudson village line in Orange County, New York, United States...
and the southeastern approach to Bear Mountain Bridge
Bear Mountain Bridge
The Bear Mountain Bridge is a toll suspension bridge in New York State, carrying U.S. Highways 202 and 6 across the Hudson River between Rockland and Westchester counties...
, two other mountainside highways along the Hudson built in the same era.
For 1.5 miles (2.4 km) the new highway averaged an elevation above the river of between 200 and 300 feet (91.4 m). The project was undertaken because it reportedly required less excavation and backfilling than that required to widen the lower roadway to four lanes. Funds for the project had been allocated by the state in 1924. Over a period of years the road was temporarily blocked by landslides on a number of occasions.
With the opening of the upper level, the lower highway was to be widened to 20 feet (6.1 m) and carry only northbound traffic, while the upper level, also 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, would carry southbound traffic.
Today the lower roadway appears on maps as a minor secondary road labeled "Old Route 9W." More than a mile of this route is now called the Jones Point Greenway and is used solely for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The upper roadway is three lanes and additional blasting has evidently been completed in recent years.
Cultural references
- In "The Storm-Ship", Washington IrvingWashington IrvingWashington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
portrayed the Dunderberg as home of a malevolent imp, calling up storms against unwary sailors on the Hudson River. "The captains of the river craft talk of a little bulbous-bottomed Dutch goblin, in trunk hose and sugar-loafed hat, with a speaking trumpet in his hand, which they say keeps about the Dunderberg." - In the Irving story, a priest, while sailing past the Dunderberg is said to have captured the Imp of the Dunderberg, permanently imprisoning the creature within the steeple of the First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of KingstonFirst Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of KingstonThe Old Dutch Church, officially known as the First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Kingston, is located on Wall Street in Kingston, New York, United States. Formally organized in 1659, it is one of the oldest continuously existing congregations in the country...
, New York (or the Old Dutch Church.) - The New York-built, Civil War-era ironclad USS Dunderberg took her name from this peak.