This magnificent edifice looms over the intersection of routes 343 and 82 in the town of Millbrook, Dutchess County, New York. It’s Halcyon Hall, the main building of what was once a 200 room luxury hotel when it was built in 1893. In 1907 the Bennett School for Girls relocated here from farther south in Irvington, NY and so things remained until expensive updates and a shift towards co-educational schools caused the school to finally close down in 1978. It’s been abandoned since then. It’s reputed to be haunted by the ghosts of girls who committed suicide there and who still roam the halls. If it’s not a true story it should be.

It amazes me that a splendid building such as this can be allowed to decay and fall apart. I imagine it’s past renovation now, but once upon a time it wasn’t. I suppose that the economics were against it. After all what would you use a building such as this for in Milbrook, NY. I’ll let Wikipedia have the final word:

Halcyon Hall was never reopened and quickly fell into ruin. When the heat was turned off, water pipes burst, causing major water damage throughout the building. Large portions of the roof have collapsed and trees can be seen growing through parts of the building. Halcyon Hall remains in this state as of 2014. Halcyon Hall is a popular area for Urban Explorers, and Photographers, due to its structure and decay. Several attempts were made in the 1980s to develop the property but all failed and the title was taken over by Mechanics and Farmers Savings Bank.[3] The bank failed in 1991[4] and its assets were seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Halcyon Hall was scheduled to be demolished in 2012.

In April, 2014 it’s still there. I imagine that eventually it will fall apart by itself. Or some kids will break in and be injured or killed and then they’ll decide to demolish it.

The Old West Point Foundry. It was a wet day – not raining hard, but a constant drizzle. The kind that gets you wet. I almost didn’t go. It was about 3:30 by the time I was finished doing other essential things and the weather was grey and gloomy, but not yet raining. The dog needed his walk, so I thought – what else am I going to do? So off we went. Saw (and heard) some red headed woodpeckers. Jackson caught the scent of something in the ruins and I heard something moving. Sounded quite big – maybe a raccoon. On the way out we had an encounter with four deer. They didn’t rapidly disappear into the undergrowth as they usually do. Instead they would run away about fifteen feet and stop. We’d approach and they’d run away about 15 feet again. Of course Jackson liked this as they stayed around for quite a while. I tried to take a picture of them, but it was impossible while holding Jackson on the leash. He was running and jumping all over the place. I couldn’t hold the camera steady. I stopped in at ‘The Depot’ in Cold Spring for a pint afterwards and then we went home.

The Foundry Preserve as interesting. Wikipedia states:

The West Point Foundry was an early ironworks in Cold Spring, New York that operated from 1817 to 1911. Set up to remedy deficiencies in national armaments production after the War of 1812, it became most famous for its production of Parrott rifles and other munitions during the Civil War, although it also manufactured a variety of iron products for civilian use. The rise of steel making and declining demand for cast iron after the Civil War caused it to gradually sink into bankruptcy and cease operations in the early 20th Century.

It was large and most of the population of Cold Spring must have been employed there. After the Foundry closed the town almost died until it re-invented itself a picturesque riverside tourist destination.

Most of the pictures are of the old administration building, the only fairly intact structure still standing. There are bricks everywhere though showing how extensive the Foundry was in its heyday.