You can take the Metro-North train from New York City to Cold Spring, walk a path for a minute or so, and if not exactly go back in time, get a sense of what things looked like in 1830 along the eastern shore of the Hudson River.
The trick now is to get thousands to follow and, ideally, to fuel Putnam County”™s nearly $60 million tourist economy.
The trip is thanks to the efforts of the nonprofit group Scenic Hudson and its purchase of the 13-acre Campbell Property. It is part of Scenic Hudson”™s cooperative land preservation venture called Save the Land that Matters Most, a campaign to highlight and safeguard some 65,000 acres across hundreds of parcels in the Hudson Valley.
The lands are considered invaluable due to their scenic, historic, ecological or agricultural significance, or due to a combination of all those features. And, not incidentally, their preservation will help spark the economy through tourism.
It all adds up, supporters say, to a wise way strengthen the Hudson Valley”™s multibillion-dollar tourist economy, which Scenic Hudson views as “the cornerstone” of a sustainable economy for the region.
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The group last week announced the purchase of the 13-acre hilltop parcel in Cold Spring called the Campbell property. One of the largest primarily undeveloped parcels in the historic village, the property features a mix of lawn and woodlands. A home on the property was built circa 1830 for William Kemble, co-founder of the nearby West Point Foundry, whose ruins lie within the West Point Foundry Preserve. Both the house and its grounds are largely unmodified since the 19th century and boast impressive vistas.
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“It has an incredible view of the river,” said Rita Shaheen, director of parks for Scenic Hudson, as it overlooks the Hudson River, Constitution Marsh, and West Point and the Hudson Highlands across the water.
“If you come from New York City by train, you can be there within minutes from when you get off at the Cold Spring Metro-North stop,” said Shaheen, “And it is within walking distance of the village. We would like it to be a community asset.”
Scenic Hudson is creating a historic touch point with the Campbell property, which abuts the 87-acre West Point Foundry Preserve. Scenic Hudson purchased the preserve in 1996 and plans are to create an “outdoor museum” telling the story of the West Point Foundry, a 19th-century industrial site that manufactured some of America”™s first steam engines and locomotives and the famed Parrot Gun, a cannon instrumental in fighting the Civil War.
The owner of the foundry William Kemble lived in what is now the Campbell House. Scenic Hudson made preliminary purchase arrangements for the new parcel in 1996 when they purchased the foundry property. Now the two sites are again united.
“They are separate parcels, but there will be trails to connect one to the other,” said Shaheen. “The new site is important because that”™s where Kemble lived and also it is very beautiful. And there is a great story to tell about who lived here and how his foundry helped to spark and shape the industrial revolution here in the United States.”
Displays also will explore ecological renewal of this foundry property, which Scenic Hudson purchased to halt development of a hotel complex. The preserve is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized by the federal government”™s Preserve America program.
Scenic Hudson also owns Foundry Dock Park on Cold Spring”™s waterfront. Site of the foundry”™s wharf, it features a small-boat launch and viewing decks that provide spectacular Hudson Highlands views.
An appropriate use is being sought for the Kemble house, said Shaheen, such as a bed and breakfast. The result is a sort of scenic-historical cluster that can entice tourists to visit Cold Spring and serve as another source of economic activity in what is increasingly becoming a tourist region for millions of New Yorkers seeking travel ideas in tough economic times.
Scenic Hudson”™s Jay Burgess called wise land management “the cornerstone of a sustainable economy for the region” and pegged tourism spending in the 10-county region at $4.7 billion annually. In Putnam County alone, the tourism industry is reportedly responsible for $59 million in spending each year, generating $3.6 million annually in local taxes and employing nearly 1,300 people.
