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PUTNAM COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & FOUNDRY SCHOOL MUSEUM
63 Chestnut St.,
Cold Spring, NY 10516
(845) 265-4010
www.pchs-fsm.org
Wed. - Sun. 11-5.
$5 adults, $2 seniors & children, free for members
Current Exhibit - West Point Foundry: Unearthing the Past, Forging a
Future. Through December 14, 2008
Sat. July 19 - 2008 Lawn Party at Cresci Estate, 5-7pm
Hold on to Your Hats! Win Hot Haute Couture Tickets at PCHS Lawn Party
Tip your hat to haute couture at the Putnam County Historical Society's 2008 lawn party on July 19, and haute couture could return the favor.
This year's party, with the theme of "A Day at the Races," features a red-hot contest for best boater, bonnet, bowler, fedora or lid. The prize is two VIP Platinum tickets for the September 5 fashion shows at the Couture Fashion
Week in New York City, a series of luxury fashion events featuring top designers from around the world. The VIP Platinum tickets include front-row seating, back-stage tour, limousine service to and from New York, catered dinner, and
the ability to photograph the show from your seat. The featured designers on September 5 are Cecilia Perez Couture, Sararose Krenger and Carolyn Botezatu.
Judges for the best hat contest include well-known milliner Monica Adler, whose clients include Barbra Streisand and Cher; Joann Feinstein, a leading fashion event coordinator; and PCHS board member Clea White, a collector
of vintage hats.
The lawn party will also feature a performance by world-class magician JB Benn, graduate of the Malcolm Gordon School in Garrison, who has performed for Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, among others.
The 2008 Putnam County Historical Society lawn party is being held at one of Garrison's grandest riverfront estates, the home of Mary Beth and Robert Cresci, 721 Route 9D, (1.3 miles south of the Route 403 intersection) on
Saturday, September 19, from 5 to 7pm. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the gate. Tickets and information are available from the Putnam County Historical Society, 63 Chestnut Street, Cold Spring, 265-4010, www.pchs-fsm.org.
Visit Grand Garrison Estate at Putnam County Historical Society's 2008 Lawn Party July 19
One of Garrison's grandest riverfront estates is the venue for the Putnam County Historical Society's 2008 lawn party, to be held the afternoon of July 19 from 5 to 7pm. Mary Beth and Robert Cresci will graciously host the
event at their historic home at 721 Route 9D.
Those traveling along Route 9D may have often wondered what lies behind the seemingly endless white picket fence that borders the river side of the road about a mile south of the intersection of Route 403. July 19 is your
chance to see for yourself and marvel at the elegant great lawn of the Cresci Estate as it rolls gently down to the Hudson River.
Part of the Philipse Patent in the seventeenthcentury, the estate was included in 1,000 acres purchased by Thomas Arden for $20,000 at a New York City auction in 1822. The property was divided by Mr. Arden's heirs, and
the Cresci Estate passed to Sarah Livingston. Maps of the period indicate she named her house "The Briars." Twentiethcentury owners included Clara Cheesman, a founder of the Philipstown Garden Club, Robert A.W. Carlton, a
well-known engineer who rebuilt the house on the property, and Columbia University. The grounds are gloriously landscaped with rolling lawns, gardens and Hudson River views.
The Cresci Estate is located 1.3 miles south of the intersection of Route 9D and 403. Tickets for the lawn party are $45 in advance and $50 at the gate. Tickets and information are available from the Putnam County Historical
Society, 63 Chestnut Street, Cold Spring, 265-4010, www.pchs-fsm.org.
Charlotte Eaton Awarded for Service at Putnam County Day
Charlotte Eaton received an award for her many years of work, leadership and stewardship for the Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum at Putnam County Day on Friday, June 13, 2008.
The ceremony was held at Cornerstone Park in Carmel, NY and celebrated the 196th Anniversary of the creation of Putnam County. The awards were presented by the County of Putnam and the Putnam County Historian's Office.
Charlotte has been involved with the historical society for over 25 years and served as the curator from 1988 to 2000. She can often be seen every Tuesday researching the glass plate negatives collection alongside volunteers
Jan Thacher and Minette Gunther as well as providing research support for the staff.
Two Centuries of Industrial History Unearthed at Putnam County Historical Society
Scenic Hudson and Michigan Tech partners in exhibition
Cold Spring resident Mike Armstrong with Rita Shaheen, Scenic Hudson's director of parks looking over the conceptual plan for the West Point Foundry Preserve. More than 80 people were in attendance at
the opening of the new exhibit
The full arc of American industrial history, from thriving manufacturing to malign neglect to rediscovery, is on display in a new exhibition which opened on March 30 at the Putnam County Historical Society's Foundry School
Museum. The West Point Foundry: Unearthing the Past, Forging a
Future tells the story of two centuries of industrial innovation and ecological destruction and renewal at Scenic Hudson's West Point Foundry Preserve in the Village of
Cold Spring.
The West Point Foundry opened in 1818 and was a pacesetter in America's Industrial Revolution. Best known for supplying the United States government with ordnance, including the Parrott guncannon whose accuracy
turned the tide of the Civil Warit also produced some of the nation's first steam engines, locomotives and ironclad ships. During its heyday, the foundry employed between 500 and 1,500 furnace men, blacksmiths, carpenters, office
and machine shop workers, and others. It achieved national, even worldwide renown. President Abraham Lincoln visited in 1862. Jules Verne immortalized the foundry in his 1865 novel,
From the Earth to the Moon.
After operations ceased in 1911, the site fell into disuse, the foundry buildings gradually were demolished, and the forest reclaimed the site, which also became a dumping ground and victim of industrial contamination. The
worst pollution occurred at Foundry Cove, where from the 1950s through the 1970s, a battery factory spewed up to 200,000 gallons of nickel and cadmium into the water daily. The Environmental Protection Agency mounted a $100
million cleanup and restoration under the Superfund law in the 1990s.
The property, which had been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, was acquired by Scenic Hudson, a pioneer in environmental preservation and restoration long active in the Hudson River Valley, in 1996.
Scenic Hudson has sponsored research at the site by faculty and students from Michigan Technological University's Industrial Archaeology Program since 2001.
Organized and funded by Scenic Hudson and Michigan Tech as well as the Putnam County Historical Society (PCHS), the exhibition uses Michigan Tech's discoveries to explore the three stages of the history of the foundry
site. Displays on three original buildings highlight major aspects of the foundry's operations and its workers' lives: the boring mill, casting shop, and East Bank House. Photographs and other materials illustrate the neglect and
contamination of the site during much of the 20th century and its renovation and renewal since 1992. Scenic Hudson's plans for a $3.5-million "outdoor museum" that explains the foundry's groundbreaking contribution to American industry as
well as the land's ecological rebirth are also on view.
The exhibition includes archaeological artifacts and interactive displays. Since the West Point Foundry Preserve is a short walk from the museum and open to the public, visitors can easily take in the exhibition and visit its source.
Additional funding for the exhibition, which continues through December 14, was provided by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, Kearney Realty Group and Stearns & Wheler, LLC, environmental engineers. Storage for
the West Point Foundry Collection is provided by the Village of Cold Spring.
PCHS's Foundry School Museum, located at 63 Chestnut Street in Cold Spring, is open Thursday-Sunday, 11am to 5pm. Admission is free for members and children under seven, $5 for non-members, and $2 for seniors.
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