Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Palisades (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Church of St. Barnabas, Christ Church, and South Presbyterian Church. Also, be sure to include Villa Lewaro in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Palisades (New York).
Table of Contents
Church of St. Barnabas
The Church of St. Barnabas is an Episcopal house of worship in Irvington, New York, United States. It is a stone Gothic Revival structure whose oldest sections date to the mid-19th century, with several expansions undertaken since then. The reputedly haunted church complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
At first the church was a small chapel modeled on St Martin's Church in Canterbury, the oldest church in continuous use in England. It was part of a school, but after six years that was abandoned and it became a parish church. An expansion into the present structure a decade later was designed by the firm of architect James Renwick, Jr. Among its members have been Washington Irving, Philip Schuyler and Jay Gould, all of whom lived in the area.
Since its construction it has been expanded several times. Most additions have been either sympathetic to the original architecture or unobtrusive. Its congregation plays a major role in the Irvington community, sponsoring several local programs including the village's only day care center.[1]
Christ Church
Episcopal church in Sparkill, New York. Christ Church, also known as Christ Episcopal Church, is a historic Episcopal church located at Sparkill in Rockland County, New York. It was designed by architect Charles Babcock and built in 1864–1865. It is a Gothic Revival style bluestone rubble church. The stone transepts and bell tower were added in 1892, and the stone entrance porch was added around 1900. It has a steeply pitched gable roof and Gothic arched openings. Also on the property is the contributing parish house and gatepost.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.[2]
Address: 14 Union St, 10976 Sparkill
South Presbyterian Church
Presbyterian church in Dobbs Ferry, New York. South Presbyterian Church, usually just referred to as South Church, is located along Broadway in Dobbs Ferry, New York, United States. Founded in 1820, it is currently in its second building, a stone Gothic Revival style structure dating to 1869. Members of the church have done much of the work on both buildings, and the church itself is actively involved in the community.
The main church building is the only known extant work of architect Julius Munckwitz. Two outbuildings, a manse and a house built by a former parishioner, were built around the same time and of similar materials but show traces of the Second Empire style, such as mansard roofs. They have changed very little since they were first opened, despite the conversion of one into a day care center. All three were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 as a well-preserved example of an urban Gothic Revival church.[3]
Villa Lewaro
Mansion in Irvington, New York. 'Villa Lewaro, is a 34-room 20,000-square-foot mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway in Irvington, New York, 30 miles north of New York City. It was built from 1916 to 1918, and was designed in the Italianate style by architect Vertner Tandy for A’lelia Walker, for her mother, Madam C.J. Walker. An additional site of residence with business occupancy was established in Harlem buttressing this Dark Tower thus completing the Walker property portfolio.[4]
Tallman Mountain State Park
State park in Rockland County, New York. Tallman Mountain State Park is a 687-acre state park in Rockland County, New York, located adjacent to the Hudson River in the Town of Orangetown just south of Piermont. It is part of the Palisades Interstate Park System.[5]
Ever Rest
Ever Rest is the home and studio of Jasper F. Cropsey, a painter in the Hudson River School. The historic house museum is located in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York and was built in 1835. Cropsey acquired the property in 1886 and built an artist studio addition which was completed in 1888. It is owned and managed by Newington-Cropsey Foundation which preserves the house and the work of Cropsey.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[6]
Address: 49 Washington Ave, Palisades
John William Draper House
Museum. The Henry Draper Observatory, also known as Draper Cottage and incorrectly as the John William Draper House, is a historic house and local history museum in Draper Park off US 9 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, United States. Its core is an astronomical observatory built about 1860 for Henry Draper. It was here that he made astrophotography history, taking some of the earliest photographs of the Moon to include identifiable features through a telescope in 1863.
The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975, on the mistaken belief the building was a residence of Henry Draper's father, John William Draper (1811-1882). The elder Draper was in his time a noted scientist, active in a variety of disciplines, who was best remembered for improvements he made to the daguerrotype process of photography. He was influential in his lifetime, and was one of the last generation of general natural scientists before specialization within fields became common.
The observatory was enlarged under Henry Draper's use with a second dome, and passed to his sister Antonia Draper Dixon after his death. The second dome was destroyed by fire in 1905, but was rebuilt by Dixon. The building was reconfigured in 1912 by Dixon for use as her residence, and it remained her home until her death in 1923. The building and the surrounding park, after protracted decision-making and legal issues, passed to the village of Hastings-on-Hudson, with the stipulation that the building be used as a museum. It is now home to the local historical society.[7]
Westchester Hills Cemetery
Cemetery in Westchester County, New York. The Westchester Hills Cemetery is at 400 Saw Mill River Road in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York, approximately 20 miles north of New York City. It is a Jewish cemetery, and many well-known entertainers and performers are interred there. It was founded by the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in 1919 when the synagogue acquired the northern portion of the Mount Hope Cemetery.[8]
Address: 400 Saw Mill River Rd, 10706-2104 Hastings on Hudson
First Reformed Church
Reformed church in Piermont, New York. First Reformed Church, also known as Piermont Reformed Church and First Protestant Dutch Church of Piermont, is a historic Reformed Church in America church located at Piermont, Rockland County, New York. It was built in 1946, and is a one-story, three-bay by four-bay, Wren-Gibbs Colonial Revival style church. It features a central square tower topped by a hexagonal steeple. Attached to the church is a side-gabled, I-shaped parish hall, completed in 1952. Also on the property is the contributing parsonage. Organized in 1839, it is home to oldest congregation in Piermont.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.[9]
Address: 361 Ferdon Ave, 10968-1203 Piermont
Piermont
Village in New York State. Piermont is a village incorporated in 1847 in Rockland County, New York, United States. Piermont is in the town of Orangetown, located north of the hamlet of Palisades, east of Sparkill, and south of Grand View-on-Hudson, on the west bank of the Hudson River. The population was 2,510 at the 2010 census. Woody Allen set The Purple Rose of Cairo, a fictional film within The Purple Rose of Cairo in Piermont.
The village's name, in earlier years known as Tappan Landing, was given by Dr. Eleazar Lord, author, educator, deacon of the First Protestant Dutch Church and first president of the Erie Railroad. It was derived by combining a local natural feature – Tallman Mountain – and the most prominent man-made feature of the village – the long Erie Railroad pier.[10]
Norwood
Presbyterian Church of Norwood is a historic church at 701 Broadway in Norwood, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The church was built in 1868 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 1, 2006.[11]
United States Post Office
Post office in Dobbs Ferry, New York. The United States Post Office in Dobbs Ferry, New York serves the ZIP Code 10522, which covers the village of Dobbs Ferry. It is a brick Colonial Revival structure located at the corner of Main and Oak streets, in the downtown section.
It was built in 1936, as part of a massive postal construction effort. Its architecture features a high level of detail and ornament for the Colonial Revival style. Only two other post offices in New York in that style share the same level of detail. For this reason it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.[12]
Address: 119 Main Street, Palisades
Sparkill Creek Drawbridge
Bridge in Piermont, New York. The Sparkill Creek Drawbridge is a historic Pratt Pony Truss drawbridge located at Piermont in Rockland County, New York. It was built in 1880 by the King Iron Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and is a single-leaf movable metal bridge. Chains can lift the bridge when an operator turns a crank, helped by counterweights. It spans Sparkill Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River.
The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in 1994.
A complete dismantling and restoration for $900,000 was completed in 2009 and the bridge now serves as solely a pedestrian bridge. The Rockland County Highway Department was responsible for this historic restoration.[13]
Haddock's Hall
Historical landmark in Piermont, New York. Haddock's Hall is a historic commercial building located at Piermont in Rockland County, New York. It was built about 1875 and is a two-story, three bay wide, brick commercial / civic building. It features a three-story tower. It was originally constructed for use as a store, warehouse, and village hall.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[14]
Steuben House
History museum in River Edge, New Jersey. The Steuben House is a noted example of Bergen Dutch sandstone architecture, located at New Bridge Landing on the Hackensack River in River Edge, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.
It was confiscated from Loyalist Jan Zabriskie, and served as a military headquarters through much of the Revolutionary War. General George Washington made it his headquarters, September 4 to 17, 1780. Following the war, it was given to Major General Baron von Steuben, who occupied it from 1783 to 1788.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1970, for its significance in architecture and military history. The Steuben Estate Complex, a 6-acre (2.4 ha) national historic district, was listed on December 9, 1980, for its significance in architecture, exploration/settlement, and invention. In addition to the Steuben House, the district includes three historic buildings moved from other sites. Named the Ackerman–Zabriskie–Steuben House, it was listed as part of the Early Stone Houses of Bergen County Multiple Property Submission (MPS) on January 10, 1983, for its significance in architecture and exploration/settlement. The Bergen County Historical Society opens the New Jersey State Historic site and two other sandstone houses and barn to the public for special events.[15]
Address: 1209 Main St, Palisades
McVickar House
The McVickar House is located at 131 Main Street in Irvington, New York, United States. It is a wooden frame house built in the middle of the 19th century in the Greek Revival architectural style with some Picturesque decorative touches added later. In 2004 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It was built by John McVickar, an Episcopalian minister who moved to the area to be close to his friend Washington Irving and establish a school, which later became the nearby Church of St. Barnabas. His son, the church's first pastor, lived in the house. It is the second oldest house on the village's Main Street.
Eventually it became the property of Consolidated Edison, the regional electric utility, which still runs a small facility in the backyard. It was rented out until the 1990s. Today, after extensive restoration, it is home to the Irvington Historical Society. It operates the house both as its offices and a museum whose exhibits include a section of the first transatlantic telegraph cable.[16]
Lord & Burnham Building
The Lord & Burnham Building, located at the corner of Main and Astor Streets in Irvington, New York, United States, is a brick building in the Queen Anne architectural style built in the 1880s. In 1999 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was added as a contributing property to the Irvington Historic District in 2014.
From 1870 on it had been home to Lord's Horticultural Works, a builder of boilers and conservatories that had relocated to Irvington to better serve the owners of the many Hudson Valley estates who were its main clients. A fire destroyed the original building; it was replaced by the current structure. As Lord & Burnham, it continued its business until 1988. The building currently houses condominium apartments and the village's public library.[17]
Dobbs Ferry
Village in New York State. Dobbs Ferry is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 according to the 2010 United States Census. In 2019, its population rose to an estimated 11,027. The village of Dobbs Ferry is located in, and is a part of, the town of Greenburgh. The village ZIP code is 10522. Most of the village falls within the boundaries of the Dobbs Ferry Union Free School District.
Dobbs Ferry was ranked seventh in the list of the top 10 places to live in New York State for 2014, according to the national online real estate brokerage Movoto. Dobbs Ferry is also the first village in New York State certified as a Climate Smart Community and was granted in 2014 the highest level given out in the state.[18]
Church of the Holy Communion
Episcopal church in Norwood, New Jersey. The Church of the Holy Communion is a historic Episcopal church building on Summit Street in Norwood, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.
It was designed by J. Cleaveland Cady in Late Gothic Revival style and Shingle Style and was built in 1886. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.[19]
Onderdonk House
Onderdonk House, also known as Haring House and Arie Smith-Onderdonk House, was a historic home located at Piermont in Rockland County, New York. It was built over three periods of construction: about 1737, about 1810, and about 1867. It consisted of a 1+1⁄2-story gable-roofed main block and a 1+1⁄2-story wing, both of sandstone construction. Also on the property was a 1+1⁄2-story frame dwelling built about 1840.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
It was demolished on May 22, 2013.
According to local residents, the new owners preserved the stone and various other portions of the historical structure, and planned to rebuild the exterior in the old footprint and as close to the historical facade as possible. In fact, the new home is a similar design, but has a larger footprint than the original and the ceilings of both floors were raised so that the entire structure is much larger.[20]