Photo above: Fog over the Tarrytown Reservoir
This beautiful sign greets drivers along Route 9, also called Broadway, at the border between Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown. The two communities have been so closely linked throughout history that Sleepy Hollow acquired a new name, "North Tarrytown," when the village was incorporated in 1874. It did not recover its traditional name until 1996, following the success of a movement led by village historian Henry John Steiner. Concerning the name change, Steiner has written:
"...my reasons for favoring a renaming were many. Foremost was the idea that the name Sleepy Hollow would link our community to its famous heritage - a link which had been largely obscured by time. It was not just that folks from other areas were unaware of the connection between the village and the well-known Sleepy Hollow of Washington Irving, it appeared that a substantial number of our own residents were unaware of the tie. The village was entitled to reclaim this significant 19th century icon as its own and, in so doing, reclaim it for America and the world."
Just across the street from the welcome sign is Patriot's Park, a small public park featuring a monument to a significant event in the history of this area:
Near this location, local militiamen foiled a plot to undermine American defenses during the Revolutionary War. Major John Andre, a British spy, in collaboration with the notorious American traitor Benedict Arnold, was attempting to deliver documents from Arnold that would have compromised the security of the U.S. fort at West Point. With the documents hidden in his socks, Andre was travelling through Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, enroute to British-controlled territory to the south. By chance, he was detained by three local militiamen on watch that morning, who discovered the documents and took him into custody. Ultimately, this led to Andre's execution, and forced Benedict Arnold to hastily defect to Britain in order to avoid a similar fate.
Although in need of a new coat of paint, a sign near the monument gives a concise account of the story:
In "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Irving mentions Andre's capture in connection with a feature of the local landscape:
...a small brook crossed the road, and ran into a marshy and thickly-wooded glen, known by the name of Wiley's Swamp. A few rough logs, laid side by side, served for a bridge over this stream. On that side of the road where the brook entered the wood, a group of oaks and chestnuts, matted thick with wild grape-vines, threw a cavernous gloom over it. ...It was at this identical spot that the unfortunate Andre was captured, and under the covert of those chestnuts and vines were the sturdy yeomen concealed who surprised him. This has ever since been considered a haunted stream, and fearful are the feelings of the school-boy who has to pass it alone after dark.
Wiley's Swamp no longer exists, having been drained a long time ago, but the small stream that fed it can be found flowing through Patriot's Park, where the water is contained within a decorative stone aqueduct:
Aside from the story of Major Andre, this location is significant in Irving's Legend, because here Ichabod Crane first encounters the Headless Horseman while traversing the swamp:
As he approached the stream, his heart began to thump; he summoned up, however, all his resolution... Just at this moment a plashy tramp by the side of the bridge caught the sensitive ear of Ichabod. In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen and towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some gigantic monster ready to spring upon the traveller.
The place isn't very scary today, but it's still worth a visit for its historical, legendary and visual interest:
Beyond Patriot's Park, Route 9 (formerly called the Albany Post Road) soon leads to the Old Dutch Church and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, then continues north through a sort of natural tunnel formed by the overhanging branches of a great row of magnificent, old sycamore trees:
The Pocantico River is the primary waterway through Sleepy Hollow. The name Pocantico (pronounced po-CAN-tih-ko) is of Native American origin. As a teenager, Washington Irving used to fish in this stream, following its course "far in the foldings of the hills" - he described the river as flowing "sometimes silently and darkly, through solemn woodlands; sometimes sparkling between grassy borders, in fresh green meadows; sometimes stealing along the feet of rugged heights, under the balancing sprays of beech and chestnut trees." Today, the stream continues to flow through a landscape hardly any different than Irving found it in the 1790's.
Below, a reflecting pool that I discovered along the Pocantico:
The preservation of so much of Sleepy Hollow's peaceful, unspoiled setting is largely due to the Rockefeller family. The Rockefeller Preserve, a public park encompassing a huge percentage of the valley, is the legacy of John D. Rockefeller and his son. Around the turn of the 20th Century, they acquired some 3,000 acres of land in Sleepy Hollow to establish a private estate known as Pocantico Hills. They maintained most of this land in a rural, wooded condition, but built 55 miles of carriage roads to facilitate access to the outdoors. Although on private land, these roads were opened for public equestrian use as soon as they were completed (a conciliatory nod, perhaps, to the Headless Horseman).
Today, these paths are still used for the same quiet purpose - walking, jogging, and horseback riding are permitted, while bicycles are excluded. Although about half of the Rockefeller property has become a state park, public access is also still permitted on the carriage roads throughout the remainder of the private property, as well. As a result, one can walk or ride from one corner of Sleepy Hollow to nearly any other, among wooded land or open fields, with only brief glimpses of contemporary roads and houses along the way. More than any other single influence, the Rockefeller Preserve has managed to maintain the antique character and legendary atmosphere of old Sleepy Hollow.
The remainder of the photos on this page depict the beautiful territory of the Rockefeller property.
A stone retaining wall along Witch's Spring Trail.
Spook Rock, one of several reputedly haunted locations in the Hollow. In this case, the rock is associated with a Native American legend, involving a young Indian brave who discovers a group of spirit women, sometimes referred to as Star Maidens, dancing on the top of this flat stone. The young man impulsively snatches one of them to take as his wife. Despite such a questionable beginning, this arrangement works out well enough for awhile, and they have a child together. After a time, however, the woman is tempted to revisit her spirit family, and joins them for a night of dance on the haunted rock. But upon returning to her husband, she discovers that her single evening in the spirit realm had actually transpired during many years of earthly life. Her husband and child are gone. This tragic theme of time distortion is common in folklore throughout the world.
A house along Sleepy Hollow Road, as seen from one of the Rockefeller trails at twilight.
On to The Headless Horseman Bridge...
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