Historic Environments

Scenic Hudson is an organization whose mission is to expand the public’s access to some of the most beautiful and at-risk land in the Hudson River Valley. At the West Point Foundry, one of the organization’s historic sites, we met with a member of their communications team named Reed Sparling. He shared with us that his organization, now employing a team of over 50, started as a group of 6 activists with a singular mission, protecting Storm King Mountain from a hydroelectric project. It was a grassroots effort striving to get the whole community involved, but always prioritizing science and experts to provide the most effective rhetoric possible. He highlighted the considerable ambition and bravery it required to challenge an energy company in the 1960s and how this courageous spirit has guided the organization to this day. Today Scenic Hudson’s properties are a mix of 60 parks, preserves and historic sites.

The old office of the West Point Foundry.

The West Point Foundry project is a good example of the expanded mission of Scenic Hudson and their diverse offerings to the community. Reed said the park was designed as an “outdoor museum” to simultaneously preserve the industrial history of the region, allow the land to recuperate from the major pollution that had once taken place there, and provide a place for locals to enjoy and celebrate their natural surroundings. As is a theme with almost all of the parks we’ve visited in this course, despite the grand aspirations of those who plan them, the most visible use of the land was for dog walking, but this in no way to disqualifies the way these sites enrich those who visit them (and their dogs).

A view of the old dam of the West Point Foundry.

After visiting the foundry, we drove into Cold Spring to explore the town and get some ice cream. As we walked to a paved riverfront park with our ice cream cones and sundaes, we were surprised to see a Scenic Hudson logo on the gazebo along the curb. Across from the park was the iconic Storm King mountain the organization was founded to protect. It dawned on us the overwhelming reach Scenic Hudson has on our local landscape and outdoor community. I for one am grateful we have people like Reed dedicating their professional lives to keeping the Hudson Valley beautiful and accessible to all. As is demonstrated by the fight for which they were founded, without organizations like Scenic Hudson we are often left to the whims of powerful people and corporate interests who don’t understand the aesthetic, environmental and historical values central to a communities health and prosperity.

Storm King Mountain from Cold Spring’s riverfront park.