Cold Spring is at the southern end of the Hudson Highlands, mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland County, respectively. The highlands are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains.

North to south they fall between Newburgh Bay and Haverstraw Bay, the latter forming the northern region of the New York – New Jersey Highlands.

The Hudson River enters this region in the south at Dunderberg Mountain near Stony Point, and from the north in the vicinity of Breakneck Ridge and Storm King Mountain near Cornwall, New York. These highlands have played a significant role in America’s environmental, cultural, and military history.

Prior to European exploration, the Hudson Highlands were inhabited by Native American Lenape people. Henry Hudson and his crew on the Half Moon were the first Europeans known to see the Highlands when they explored the river in 1609.

The mountains became strategically important during the American Revolutionary War, when it was important for the Continental Army to hold the river valley and prevent the British from cutting New England off from the rest of the colonies. During the Revolutionary War, to prevent British shipping from using the river, the Hudson River Chain was forged at the Sterling Iron Works in Warwick, New York, a town in Orange County. From 1778 to 1782, the chain was stretched across the river from the Fort Clinton at West Point. The site of the fort is today the easternmost point of the grounds of the United States Military Academy. The only surviving piece of the boom and chain is currently on display at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh, New York.

Several decades after independence, Thomas Cole started an artistic movement by painting America’s wild and rugged landscapes— especially, at first, the Highlands— with the stark contrasts and shadows they offered, in a way that suggested raw nature, a world reborn. After the movement had faded, a critic derisively referred to the movement as the Hudson River School; the name stuck as the label for the new nation’s first homegrown artistic movement.

In the early 20th century, in response to damage caused by quarrymen and loggers in the Highlands, local conservationists began to press for public ownership of the area’s woods and mountains. Their efforts paid off in the first of several state parks that now blanket the chain.

Later that century, an ambitious power-generating plan that would have dug into Storm King Mountain led to a landmark lawsuit by environmental groups that made history when the judge ruled that aesthetic impacts of such large projects could be considered and that a coalition of citizen groups had legal standing. This landmark lawsuit formed the basis for a large body of case law concerning environmentalism. (Adapted from Wikipedia)

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV.

I decided to go to Cold Spring, NY the other day. When we had a house in Putnam Valley we used to go there often. It’s a picturesque river town, which happened to be the closest metro north station to where we lived. Wikipedia describes it as follows:

Cold Spring is a village in the town of Philipstown in Putnam County, New York, United States. The population was 1,986 at the 2020 census. It borders the smaller village of Nelsonville and the hamlets of Garrison and North Highlands. The central area of the village is on the National Register of Historic Places as the Cold Spring Historic District due to its many well-preserved 19th-century buildings, constructed to accommodate workers at the nearby West Point Foundry (itself a Registered Historic Place today). The town is the birthplace of General Gouverneur K. Warren, who was an important figure in the Union Army during the Civil War. The village, located in the Hudson Highlands, sits at the deepest point of the Hudson River, directly across from West Point. Cold Spring serves as a weekend getaway for many residents of New York City.

The Village’s website provides this information.

The historic Village of Cold Spring, New York, was incorporated in 1846 and is a small community of approximately 2000 residents located on the scenic banks of the Hudson River just 50 miles north of New York City. Easily accessible from major highways and the Hudson Line of Metro-North Railroad, Cold Spring offers a wide range of recreational and cultural diversion, as well as fine culinary choices from pizza and baked goods to some of the finest restaurants in the Hudson Valley. Visitors can browse through our unique shops, take historic tours or simply enjoy the breathtaking surroundings. Residents and tourists alike take advantage of a variety of outdoor activities such as boating, hiking, cycling and kayaking. For those seeking leisure and relaxation, there is plenty of quiet space at our picturesque waterfront and in our well maintained parks. It is easy to envision why a village was established here on the banks of the Hudson River. The abundance of natural resources and the ingenuity of Cold Spring’s first settlers put it on the map nearly 200 years ago, and we are still thriving today.

As early as the 1600s, the Hudson River was used as a major watercourse by Native Americans and continued to be a main mode of travel and transport until the nineteenth century. In addition, Cold Spring’s proximity to what is now Fahnestock State Park provided a cheap source of lumber and iron ore. Margaret’s Brook, a small creek located to the west of Route 9D which runs into the Hudson River, supplied hydro-power to the West Point Foundry, which helped propel Cold Spring from a tiny hamlet into a bustling village. Even the name of Cold Spring is linked to a natural resource. Myth has it that George Washington drank from a local spring and declared it to be refreshingly cold.

The first settler of Cold Spring was Thomas Davenport in 1730. A small trading hamlet grew alongside the river by the early 1800s, and in 1818, Gouverneur Kemble and others established the West Point Foundry. It became one of the major industrial sites in the United States and provided munitions (including the famed Parrott gun) for the Union Army during the Civil War. With the influx of workers at the Foundry, local housing, businesses and churches increased, and Cold Spring was incorporated as a village in 1846. During the last half of the nineteenth century, Cold Spring was a magnet for artists, writers and prominent families, all attracted to the extraordinary beauty of the Highlands. Great mansions were built along Morris Avenue, including Undercliff, the home of George Pope Morris, and Craigside, the home of Julia and Daniel Butterfield. After the Foundry closed in 1911, Cold Spring’s prominence faded; however, following World II, a rebirth began with an influx of businesses into the Hudson River Valley and commuters to New York City. In 1973, the Village was designated a Federal Historic District, and tourists have been visiting Cold Spring’s historic sites, shops, restaurants and hiking trails ever since.

Through the changing times since 1973, the Village of Cold Spring has been unique among the Hudson River communities in retaining its fundamental character. This is largely due to the steadfast loyalty of Cold Spring residents and their ingenuity in adapting to the needs of the present while carefully preserving their heritage and way of life.

Apart from it being a nice place to visit, I had a particular reason for going. We used to frequent a restaurant in Cold Spring. It’s called Le Bouchon, and I felt like having it’s Cassoulet again.

So off I went.

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV