Sites to Save
In 2009, the Preservation League of New York State is using its annual listing of endangered places, Seven to Save, to support and enhance the year-long commemoration of the voyages of Henry Hudson, Robert Fulton and Samuel de Champlain. The 2009 Seven to Save List gives voice to seven disparate sites which illustrate the heroic saga of the exploration and settlement of the Hudson and Champlain valleys.
The Quadricentennial gives us the opportunity to discover and celebrate the built and natural resources of our great Empire State. As we begin to envision a future for the region, we must work to protect these extraordinary resources – historic and architecturally significant buildings, downtown areas, archaeological sites, and cultural landscapes. These resources connect us to our past and are a lasting form of community development and a valuable economic tool for our future.
Are there endangered buildings, downtown areas, archaeological sites,
or cultural landscapes in your waterfront community?
What are you doing to save these treasures?
Fort Montgomery
LOCATION:
Rouses Point, Clinton County
PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE:
1844-1872
LANDMARK STATUS:
National Register
THREAT:
Deterioration, need for stabilization.
HISTORY AND QUADRICENTENNIAL CONNECTION:
Situated on the border between the United States and Canada, Island Point is where Lake Champlain enters the Richelieu River. The island was first fortified in 1818 as the Northern Gateway linking the St. Lawrence and Hudson Rivers. Fort Montgomery — often incorrectly called “Fort Blunder” — was built in the mid-19th century and seen as a crucial fortification by Civil War strategists. This site symbolizes the shared history of the United States and Canada.
HOW THE LEAGUE IS HELPING:
Currently in private hands, the
owners are looking to sell the property and current protections may
not prevent inappropriate development. The ruins are also
structurally deteriorating and in need of stabilization.
Conversations about the future of this site are ongoing among key
not-for-profit and state agency stakeholders. The League is
advocating for the preservation of this site with these entities.
The League is also helping to promote “Fort Montgomery Days” — an
opportunity for the public to tour the site in the fall. Publicity
generated through the Seven to Save Program will help raise the
public awareness and visibility of the site, highlight its historic
significance, and possibly attract a new owner who will commit to
enhanced protection and stewardship of the property.
LINKS:
America’s Historic Lakes - The Strange and Sad Tale of Fort Montgomery, by James P. Millard
Fort Montgomery – a video tour of the ruins, by Jim Millard
Editorial: Fort Montgomery Needs Saving, Plattsburgh Press Republican (October, 2008)
The Preservation League is a statewide not-for-profit organization based in Albany. For more information, please visit www.preservenys.org.
Burden Iron Works
Museum
LOCATION:
Troy, Rensselaer County
PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE:
1881-1882
LANDMARK STATUS:
Local, State and National Register
THREAT:
Deterioration, ongoing restoration challenges.
HISTORY AND QUADRICENTENNIAL CONNECTION:
This building is architect Robert Robertson’s best surviving work and an important reminder of the Hudson River’s industrial heritage. Robertson designed the building as the offices of the Burden Iron Company, a world famous 19th century iron firm best known for being the first in the world to manufacture horseshoes by machine. The site is now operated as a museum of commerce and industry, and houses the offices of the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway, the not-for-profit which owns the building.
HOW THE LEAGUE IS HELPING:
Seven to Save designation is
assisting the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway in its fundraising
efforts, as the organization continues to struggle to raise the
money to continue restoration of this building. While the group is
taking all the right steps and has received an award from NYS
Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Burden
Iron Works Museum will benefit from the enhanced visibility offered
by Seven to Save would provide.
The Preservation League can lend additional credence to the
Gateway’s work on this site, and highlight the building’s
architectural and historic significance as the premier property for
the interpretation of the Hudson Valley’s industrial heritage.
LINKS:
Burden Iron Works Museum - Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway
Designing Modern America in the Silicon Valley of the 19th Century, VP. Thomas Carroll, 1999
The Preservation League is a statewide not-for-profit organization based in Albany. For more information, please visit www.preservenys.org.
Gunboat Spitfire
LOCATION:
Lake Champlain, Clinton and Essex Counties
PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE:
1776
LANDMARK STATUS:
National Register
THREAT:
Natural and human forces, including non-native aquatic species and vandalism, threaten the structural stability and archeological integrity of this site. By necessity, its location in Lake Champlain is not publicized.
HISTORY AND QUADRICENTENNIAL CONNECTION:
The Spitfire is more than just the most significant underwater archeological site on the bottom of Lake Champlain; it exemplifies the interconnected history of the Hudson and Champlain valleys. This vessel was part of the American fleet that held the British at bay for a year and contributed to the American victory at Saratoga in 1777. Extensive underwater video recorded by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum shows that the Spitfire site is entirely intact.
HOW THE LEAGUE IS HELPING:
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum believes that recovering, conserving and interpreting this vessel is the best way to preserve it. The Maritime Museum is working to finalize the management strategy for this vessel, seeking permits from the United States Navy, Naval Historical Center, as owner of the Spitfire. A concern is that side-scan sonar now widely available could lead to the location of this resource by those who wish to exploit its artifacts. The Preservation League will bring attention to the site’s significance through this Seven to Save listing, highlight the historic value of the Spitfire, and help generate public support for its preservation and associated fundraising efforts.
LINKS:
The
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
History Under the Waves: The Gunboat Spitfire, Vermont Public Radio – 7/2009
The Study and Management of Benedict Arnold’s Gunboat the Spitfire, Department of Defense – Legacy Program
The Preservation League is a statewide not-for-profit organization based in Albany. For more information, please visit www.preservenys.org.
Van Hoesen House
LOCATION:
Claverack, Columbia County
PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE:
Early 18th century
LANDMARK STATUS:
National Register Individual Listing
THREAT:
Deterioration, potential for sale of lot to unsympathetic owner.
HISTORY AND QUADRICENTENNIAL CONNECTION:
Jan Van Hoesen, who built this house, was the grandson of Jan Franz Van Hoesen, original patentee of the area in the 1660s. The farmstead, while encroached upon by the adjacent, well-kept mobile home park, remains intact and undisturbed from the house, across the flood plain to the Claverack Creek, which then runs into the Hudson River. This site exemplifies the themes of Dutch settlement along the Hudson River.
HOW THE LEAGUE IS HELPING:
The Van Hoesen House Preservation Foundation seeks to acquire the house and some surrounding land, in order to preserve and protect the house, as well as gain site access. The Preservation League will offer technical assistance to this organization as they acquire the property and seek to determine the best future use. Through the League’s NYSCA-funded grant program, Preserve New York, the Foundation may also apply for funding for a Historic Structure Report. The Preservation League will bring attention to the site’s historic and architectural significance through this Seven to Save listing, and boost awareness of the site in the surrounding community.
LINKS:
The Van Hoesen House
Historical Foundation
National Register of Historic Places
A Dutch Past Worth Preserving, January 2007
The Preservation League is a statewide not-for-profit organization based in Albany. For more information, please visit www.preservenys.org.
Magdalen Island
LOCATION:
Red Hook, in Tivoli Bays, Dutchess County
PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE:
Late Archaic, 6,000-3,000 years ago, through post contact period
LANDMARK STATUS:
State and National Register, Hudson River National Historic Landmark District
THREAT:
Consistent looting over many years, monitoring challenges due to its location.
HISTORY AND QUADRICENTENNIAL CONNECTION:
Studies of Magdalen Island have shown that from the Late Archaic (6,000-3,000 years ago) through the post-European contact period, this site has been in use as a seasonal home. The Hudson River provided food for surrounding communities and the site was used as a workshop for tool-making. The site remains important for its teaching potential, as well as the additional archeological information the site could yield, according to small field tests.
HOW THE LEAGUE IS HELPING:
Unlike many archeological sites, this site and the associated looting has been well-publicized through the efforts of its chief advocate, Mary Burns. Burns has found that the site is so well-known locally, that only through publicity and obvious marking of looter pits, has the looting subsided. Burns seeks to systematize the monitoring of the site and engage DEC in looter pit marking, video surveillance, and site visitation. Site advocates hope that pending regulations accompanying a new, stronger anti-looting law will bring clarification to the penalties associated with archeological scavenging. The Preservation League will bring attention to the need for archeological site protection through this Seven to Save listing, and bolster efforts to seek legal protections with the assistance of Public Policy staff.
LINKS:
2009 Seven to Save
List Names Island in Hudson River National Historic Landmark
District
Potential for Environmental Information From A Heavily Looted Archaeological Site Bard Archaeology
Archaeological Investigations at the Goat Island Rockshelter: New Light from Old Legacies
The Preservation League is a statewide not-for-profit organization based in Albany. For more information, please visit www.preservenys.org.
© 2010 Created by Clay Hiles
