The second day of our trip was reserved for seeing a few places, none of which were properly abandoned, but all of which had rich history.
Our first jaunt of the day was, of course, to head over to the Weehawken Dueling Grounds, where Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr famously demonstrated their inability to “use their words” to solve interpersonal conflicts. Again, not at all an abandoned place, but one that’s important to us and our love of history.
After exploring Hamilton Park and taking in the views of the Manhattan skyline, we headed north of the city to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, New York. We were actually excited to find out that there was actually some abandonment here, thus keeping us within our mission as ghost town explorers! There is, in fact, much documentation of the rise and fall of many Hudson Valley communities. As we drove into Tarrytown, we saw a lake with what appeared to be some kind of house…in the middle of it, on its own tiny island. We weren’t able to find a spot to pull over and take a picture of it without causing a traffic hazard, but we did find an article that has one, here. The article itself, written by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, has some delicious history involving John D. Rockefeller manipulating the railroads in the area (because he didn’t like them so close to his estate), which in turn manipulated the lake system and the entire community. What used to be known as East Tarrytown eventually disappeared due to a change in the landscape and the Rockefeller’s considerable investment to buy the land out from under people and force them to leave.
Additionally, there are other small estates and communities in the area that have gone to ruin, mostly thanks to changing economies. A local man, Rob Yasinsac, has taken to documenting all of the ruins he can as they slowly get demolished for new development. He sounds like a kindred spirit, and we wish him luck and safety as he explores abandoned structures!
Tarrytown proper, as well as Sleepy Hollow, are actually not “sleepy” at all, as it turns out. Both are quaint, bustling small towns, slow close together as to be nearly indistinguishable from one another. What really sets Sleepy Hollow apart, though, is the cemetery.
In total honesty, we have never seen a cemetery quite like this. When you have to measure a cemetery in square miles, you know you’re on to something. Findagrave.com lists over 15,000 interments, but only 53% have been photographed, which means there’s likely many, many more than that. Many famous people call this their final resting place, including some of the Astors, Rockefellers, and Carnegies, as well as Elizabeth Arden and of course Washington Irving himself. There was simply no way a person could see the whole thing in one day, especially considering the rolling hills which are tiered with various levels of graves.
We were able to find Washington Irving and the Carnegies, as far as famous graves go; Issa was also able to do a little work on photo requests for Findagrave.com. We barely got to explore the oldest, full-Dutch section close to the front because, curiously, the cemetery closed at 4:30 and we were closely monitored by a security guard as we made our way out (we imagine a lot of mischief might take place in such a large space if they didn’t have tight security).
We were also able to find, in Tarrytown, the monument dedicated to the capture of American Revolutionary War spy Major John Andre. It was amusing to read up on this part of history, as we both remembered it, but fuzzily. How fascinating how well he was esteemed by some of the greatest leaders of the Revolution, even in spite of his conviction. There is apparently also a monument to site of his execution in Tappan, New York, on the other side of the Tappan Zee, adjacent to New Jersey.
Overall, it was a very productive day of our trip. Next up: the Big Apple!
Travels with Abandon 