lookijl.blogg.se

• Abandoned castle in new york plus#

That being said, the narration is unofficial and not a part of the trip, so your experience may vary.

However, it makes for a nice and comfortable ride to the island.Īlong the way, boat operators typically offer a bit of history on the area and point out nearby attractions in Beacon and Newburgh, including George Washington’s Headquarters and Dennings Point.

The boat, known as the Estuary Steward, is a relatively small boat with few frills. Boat rides to Bannerman Castle take about 30 minutes each way.īoat rides to Bannerman Castle take roughly 30 minutes to traverse the 3.5-mile distance on the Hudson River.

This makes it very convenient both for those with cars and those arriving by rail on the Metro-North Railroad’s Hudson Line (which is only 1:40 from Grand Central Station in New York City). Since Bannerman Castle sits on an island in the middle of the Hudson River, tours start with a 30-minute boat ride that leaves from a dock in Beacon, New York that’s adjacent to the community’s train station. Wanting to learn more about this amazing spot, I signed up for the seasonal tours offered by the Bannerman Castle Trust. This six-acre island, known officially as Pollepel Island, is home to the incredible Bannerman Castle. If you’ve ever stood along the Hudson River near Newburgh, Beacon, or Cornwall-on-Hudson and looked out over the river, it’s likely that you couldn’t help but notice the abandoned castle that sits on an island in the middle of the river. We will make a small commission from these links if you order something at no additional cost to you. While there, you’re also encouraged to explore the gardens, which are maintained by volunteers and feature all manner of lovely native plants.Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. Guides give a brief history of the island and circulate photos of Bannerman’s old storehouse before bringing visitors to the old residence, which recently reopened after an extensive renovation. (The structure itself is not stable enough to allow tourgoers inside, alas.) (Note for the thrifty: There’s also a Metro-North package that bundles the price of a tour with a train ticket to Beacon or Newburgh.) Visitors are whisked to Pollepel via ferry from either Beacon or Newburgh, which deposits them at the bottom of a long staircase leading to a bluff overlooking the castle. Touring the island is an anachronistic experience and well worth the price of admission, which is $35 for adults and $30 for kids. Neil Caplan, a Beacon resident, founded the organization-today, he’s one of several guides who lead regular tours of the island, and has a hand in planning the special events that take place there.

Abandoned castle in new york plus#

Decades of decline, plus a huge fire in 1969, left the structure in ruins by the 1990s, when the Bannerman Castle Trust was established. Bannerman died in 1918, and a massive explosion damaged the edifice in 1920. (There’s also a smaller, less decorated building, which was used as an office and residence.)Ĭonstruction began in 1901, and was never quite finished. But once Bannerman arrived, he set about building a grand structure there, inspired by the design of Scottish and Moorish castles. Before he came along, the island had been largely uninhabited tall tales about it being haunted persisted and kept would-be settlers away. Bannerman, who was born in Scotland but raised in Brooklyn, accumulated and sold surplus military goods from a young age, and began his catalog business following the war.īannerman needed a place to store his cache of retail goods-which included weapons, uniforms, and gunpowder-and thus, the storehouse on Pollepel Island was born. In the decades following the Civil War, it was the center of entrepreneur Francis Bannerman’s northeastern retail empire. Though the structure may look like it was once a rich family’s enormous estate, its origins are actually a bit more humble. (Of note: Tours are not wheelchair accessible, unfortunately.) And while Pollepel Island and the castle itself are largely cut off from the public, they’re accessible for tours throughout summer and fall, and a fantastic reason to take a day trip upstate. This is Bannerman’s Castle, a 19th-century relic that has been slowly crumbling into its surrounding environs. Known as Pollepel Island, it measures just 6.5 acres and isn’t home to much: There’s just one structure, a decaying building that’s hidden amid the trees and other foliage that have overtaken the island. If you’ve ever taken the Metro-North along the Hudson line, you’ve likely noticed a petite and desolate land mass in the middle of the Hudson River, just a few miles north of Cold Spring.