The Garrison Landing Historic District, also known as Garrison's Landing, is a small

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

and

residential area A residential area is a land used 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 resi ...

located between what is now the

Metro-North Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connectic ...

Hudson Line and the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

Garrison, New York Garrison is a hamlet in Putnam County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Philipstown, on the east side of the Hudson River, across from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Garrison Metro-North Railroad st ...

, United States. Its buildings were mostly erected in the 1850s, around the time the

Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

, 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 The word preserve may refer to: Common uses * Fruit preserves, a type of sweet spread or condiment * Nature reserve, an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or other special interest, usually protected Arts, entertainment, and media ...

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 () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...

, and made some improvements to the district that still exist. In 1982 the historic district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as part of the

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. It originally included 58 properties spread over the counties of Dut ...

. Until 2008 it was also home to Guinan's, an

Irish pub An Irish pub is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. Irish pubs are characterised by a unique culture centred around a casual and friendly atmosphere, hearty food and drink, Irish sports, and ...

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 station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing s ...

, on the south. That area includes 17 buildings and structures, most of them

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

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 A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th c ...

at the southwestern corner of the district. Views of the

U.S. Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

across the river are available from most of the district. Most of the buildings are

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

houses in the

Andrew Jackson Downing Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815 – July 28, 1852) was an American landscape designer, horticulturist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival in the United States, and editor of ''The Horticulturist'' magazine (1846–5 ...

-inspired

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures ...

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, sided in brick on the first story but

shiplap Shiplap is a type of wooden board used commonly as exterior siding in the construction of residences, barns, sheds, and outbuildings. Exterior walls Shiplap is either rough-sawn or milled pine or similarly inexpensive wood between wide with a ...

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 Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

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 may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

with molded wooden trim on the windows, brick drip moldings, a porch with paneled piers on the ground level and corner

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or ' ...

and railings, and

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

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 The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and Hudson River Bracketed styles, an eclecticism common in the Central's

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

stations. It is a one-story stone building with a

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

that curves at the end, roof finials, and wood brackets on corbel supports. The original 1850s frame station, which had been on the site, was relocated nearby. Hello, Dolly!6

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 In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall 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. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

to the train station (since removed) and built the

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.

Guinan's Pub

In 1959 an Irish immigrant, Jim Guinan, opened Guinan's, an

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 ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' 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-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

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 Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

the district in one of its two business classifications. There is no historic overlay district.Tim Miller Associates Inc.; ; Town of Philipstown; June 18, 2007; retrieved May 3, 2009.

References

External links