Garrison Landing Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Garrison Landing Historic District, also known as Garrison's Landing, is a small commercial and residential area
located between what is now the Metro-North
Hudson Line
and the Hudson River
in Garrison
, New York, United States. Its buildings were mostly erected in the 1850s, around the time the Hudson River Railroad, later the New York Central
, laid the tracks. Much of the construction was spearheaded by the president of a local ferry company to provide rental housing for local workers. His descendants lived in the area until the late 20th century and led efforts to preserve
it, founding and helping to run two organizations for that purpose.
Its architecture remained well-preserved enough that in the late 1960s the producers of the film version of Hello, Dolly filmed scenes here set in 1890 Yonkers
, and made some improvements to the district that still exist. In 1982 the 5.3 acres (2.1 ha) historic district
was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as part of the Hudson Highlands Multiple Resource Area
. Until 2008 it was also home to Guinan's, an Irish pub well-known outside the area, and the subject of a book by journalist Gwendolyn Bounds.
, on the south. That area includes 17 buildings and structures, most of them contributing properties
to the district's historic character, on Depot Square and Dock Road plus the open areas extending to the river behind them.
Most of the buildings are located on the west side of Depot Square, the main road into the district, which dead-ends at the southern boundary. The former train station, now a community theater, is the only building between Depot Square and the tracks. They are a mix
of commercial and residential use. The few buildings on the very short Dock Road are residential. All buildings in the district use Garrison Landing as their address rather than the street name.
There is a marina
with open, grassy common and gazebo
at the southwestern corner of the district. Views of the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point
across the river are available from most of the district.
Most of the buildings are frame
houses in the Andrew Jackson Downing
-inspired Carpenter Gothic
style. There are only three significant buildings in other materials, the Golden Eagle hotel in brick, the stone former train station and the former Guinan's Pub in stucco. An early house on the river, past the end of Dock Street, uses brick in part.
in brick on the first story but shiplap
above, dates to 1800 and occupied by the Belcher family until late in the 20th century. When the railroad began construction, in the 1850s, Belcher built most of the other homes in the district as tenant
properties, to be rented to both his employees and those working at the large riverfront estates nearby.
Most were the frame Carpenter Gothic buildings, reflecting the new style
of the era. The Golden Eagle Hotel, on Dock Road, completed in 1854, was an exception. It is a three-story brick building on a stone foundation
with molded
wooden trim on the windows, brick drip moldings, a porch with paneled piers on the ground level and corner brackets
and railings, and gable
d roof. Near the southern end of the district, one building would be faced in stucco
.
In 1892, the Golden Eagle would be joined by the Central's new station building. It mixed elements of the Italianate
, Victorian Gothic and Hudson River Bracketed styles, an eclecticism common in the Central's Hudson Valley
stations. It is a one-story stone building with a hipped roof
that curves at the end, roof finial
s, and wood brackets on corbel
supports. The original 1850s frame station, which had been on the site, was relocated nearby.
Some additional frame buildings were constructed in the early 20th century. There were no other changes to the district or its buildings throughout the next several decades other than the installation of asbestos
siding to some of them. In 1968, the Hello Dolly production crew repainted several of the more visible buildings, added a cupola
to the train station (still extant in 1982, but removed since) and built the gazebo
in the open area near the marina.
Since its listing on the Register, the district has become a local arts and cultural center. The train station has been home to the Philipstown
Depot Theatre since 1996.
, Jim Guinan, opened Guinan's, an Irish pub in the stucco building at the south end of the district. Over time, it became a local institution, the subject of a book called Little Chapel on the River by Wall Street Journal reporter Gwendolyn Bounds, and a popular stop for commuters getting coffee and doughnuts in the morning and a drink in the afternoon, after the current station was built in the early 1980s right next to it. News of its closing upon Guinan's retirement in early 2007 led to efforts that postponed that for a year. Its closure inspired a play and the recording of a CD of songs frequently performed at the pub's monthly Irish Nights.
The building is currently vacant. Residents want Garrison Station Plaza Inc. (GSP), one of the two entities that own most of the district's buildings, to continue the same use so that the Landing will continue to have a cafe or similar business. The company has submitted a request to the town to convert it to offices and an apartment.
Garrison Landing Association, both chaired at one time by Taylor Belcher, a descendant of Henry. The two entities between them own 10 of the 17 properties in the district, and are charged with maintaining its historic character.
The Town of Philipstown zones
the district in one of its two business classifications. There is no historic overlay district.
Residential area
A residential area is a land use in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit...
located between what is now the Metro-North
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
Hudson Line
Hudson Line (Metro-North)
Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line is a commuter rail line running north from New York City along the east shore of the Hudson River. Metro-North service ends at Poughkeepsie, with Amtrak's Empire Corridor trains continuing north to and beyond Albany...
and the 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...
in Garrison
Garrison, New York
Garrison is a hamlet in Putnam County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Philipstown and is on the east side of the Hudson River, across from the United States Military Academy at West Point...
, New York, United States. Its buildings were mostly erected in the 1850s, around the time the Hudson River Railroad, later the New York Central
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
, laid the tracks. Much of the construction was spearheaded by the president of a local ferry company to provide rental housing for local workers. His descendants lived in the area until the late 20th century and led efforts to preserve
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
it, founding and helping to run two organizations for that purpose.
Its architecture remained well-preserved enough that in the late 1960s the producers of the film version of Hello, Dolly filmed scenes here set in 1890 Yonkers
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
, and made some improvements to the district that still exist. In 1982 the 5.3 acres (2.1 ha) historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as part of the Hudson Highlands Multiple Resource Area
Hudson Highlands Multiple Resource Area
The Hudson Highlands Multiple Resource Area is a Multiple Property Submission study supporting multiple listings in 1982 to the United States National Register of Historic Places...
. Until 2008 it was also home to Guinan's, an Irish pub well-known outside the area, and the subject of a book by journalist Gwendolyn Bounds.
Geography
The district's boundaries are the river on the west, the railroad tracks on the east, Dock Road on the north and the end of Depot Square, just north of the current train stationGarrison (Metro-North station)
The Garrison Metro-North Railroad station serves residents of Garrison, New York via the Hudson Line. Trains leave for New York City every hour on weekdays and about every 25 minutes during rush hour...
, on the south. That area includes 17 buildings and structures, most of them contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the district's historic character, on Depot Square and Dock Road plus the open areas extending to the river behind them.
Most of the buildings are located on the west side of Depot Square, the main road into the district, which dead-ends at the southern boundary. The former train station, now a community theater, is the only building between Depot Square and the tracks. They are a mix
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
of commercial and residential use. The few buildings on the very short Dock Road are residential. All buildings in the district use Garrison Landing as their address rather than the street name.
There is a marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
with open, grassy common and gazebo
Gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal, that may be built, in parks, gardens, and spacious public areas. Gazebos are freestanding or attached to a garden wall, roofed, and open on all sides; they provide shade, shelter, ornamental features in a landscape, and a place to rest...
at the southwestern corner of the district. Views of the U.S. Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
across the river are available from most of the district.
Most of the buildings are frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
houses in the Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
-inspired Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
style. There are only three significant buildings in other materials, the Golden Eagle hotel in brick, the stone former train station and the former Guinan's Pub in stucco. An early house on the river, past the end of Dock Street, uses brick in part.
History
The earliest extant building in the district is the -story home of Henry White Belcher, owner of the Garrison and West Point Ferry Company. His home, sidedSiding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
in brick on the first story but shiplap
Shiplap
Shiplap is a term used to describe a type of wooden board used commonly in the construction of barns, sheds, outbuildings and inexpensive or seasonal homes. It is either rough-sawn 1" or milled 3/4" pine or similarly inexpensive wood between 3" and 10" wide with a 3/8" - 1/2" rabbet on opposite...
above, dates to 1800 and occupied by the Belcher family until late in the 20th century. When the railroad began construction, in the 1850s, Belcher built most of the other homes in the district as tenant
Leasehold estate
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord....
properties, to be rented to both his employees and those working at the large riverfront estates nearby.
Most were the frame Carpenter Gothic buildings, reflecting the new style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
of the era. The Golden Eagle Hotel, on Dock Road, completed in 1854, was an exception. It is a three-story brick building on a stone foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
with molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
wooden trim on the windows, brick drip moldings, a porch with paneled piers on the ground level and corner brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
and railings, and gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof. Near the southern end of the district, one building would be faced in stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
.
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
, Victorian Gothic and Hudson River Bracketed styles, an eclecticism common in the Central's Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
stations. It is a one-story stone building with a hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
that curves at the end, roof finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s, and wood brackets on corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
supports. The original 1850s frame station, which had been on the site, was relocated nearby.
Some additional frame buildings were constructed in the early 20th century. There were no other changes to the district or its buildings throughout the next several decades other than the installation of asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
siding to some of them. In 1968, the Hello Dolly production crew repainted several of the more visible buildings, added a cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
to the train station (still extant in 1982, but removed since) and built the gazebo
Gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal, that may be built, in parks, gardens, and spacious public areas. Gazebos are freestanding or attached to a garden wall, roofed, and open on all sides; they provide shade, shelter, ornamental features in a landscape, and a place to rest...
in the open area near the marina.
Since its listing on the Register, the district has become a local arts and cultural center. The train station has been home to the Philipstown
Philipstown, New York
Philipstown is a town located in the western part of Putnam County, New York, United States. The population was 9,422 at the 2000 census.- History :The town was first settled around 1715....
Depot Theatre since 1996.
Guinan's Pub
In 1959 an Irish immigrantIrish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, Jim Guinan, opened Guinan's, an Irish pub in the stucco building at the south end of the district. Over time, it became a local institution, the subject of a book called Little Chapel on the River by Wall Street Journal reporter Gwendolyn Bounds, and a popular stop for commuters getting coffee and doughnuts in the morning and a drink in the afternoon, after the current station was built in the early 1980s right next to it. News of its closing upon Guinan's retirement in early 2007 led to efforts that postponed that for a year. Its closure inspired a play and the recording of a CD of songs frequently performed at the pub's monthly Irish Nights.
The building is currently vacant. Residents want Garrison Station Plaza Inc. (GSP), one of the two entities that own most of the district's buildings, to continue the same use so that the Landing will continue to have a cafe or similar business. The company has submitted a request to the town to convert it to offices and an apartment.
Preservation
GSP is a for-profit real estate company owned by the non-profitNon-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
Garrison Landing Association, both chaired at one time by Taylor Belcher, a descendant of Henry. The two entities between them own 10 of the 17 properties in the district, and are charged with maintaining its historic character.
The Town of Philipstown zones
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
the district in one of its two business classifications. There is no historic overlay district.
External links
- Garrison Landing page at bridgeandtunnelclub.com, with many pictures.
- Little Chapel on the River, Gwendolyn Bounds' blog about Guinan's.
- Garrison Art Center, located in the district
- Philipstown Depot Theatre, in the 1892 train station