( Copy of Rockland Newspaper Article )

Stony Point Battlefield expands hours

By JULIENNE MARSHALL
SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: Sept. 04, 2001)

STONY POINT - Lighthouse lovers Tad and Linda Berg came to the Hudson Valley all the way from Virginia to see the remaining Hudson River lighthouses.

The Stony Point Lighthouse, built in 1826 and the oldest one on the Hudson, was the last one on their list. They were happy to be able to view it yesterday on the 87-acre grounds of the Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site.

"You forget your history. This helps you remember," Linda Berg said.

In the past, the Revolutionary War-era site has been closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The grounds, lighthouse and museum were open to the public yesterday because it was Labor Day. Historic site manager Julia Warger said increased public interest in additional hours has prompted a trial program to keep the grounds open two additional days through the end of October.

"This has been tried once before, a few years ago," Warger said, "but at that time, it wasn't worth the schedule change." The program will be evaluated in the winter to see if there is enough increased attendance to warrant the new program when the site reopens in April.

There is no additional funding from the state to support the extended hours, so more volunteers are needed to help out in the museum and lighthouse during regular site hours Wednesday through Sunday, Warger said. Then, in the future, perhaps interpretive staff in period costume could be reassigned to open the lighthouse and museum Mondays and Tuesdays.

There will be a specific day of training in the fall for volunteers for the lighthouse, Warger said. "We would like to keep it open more than the few hours it is now, and try to keep it open for much of the day."

Although, for now, the museum and the lighthouse itself will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, Revolutionary War and lighthouse aficionados can use the picnic areas and walk along the battlefield trail dotted with 16 historic markers. The signs detail the Stony Point Battle, when Gen. George Washington figured out a plan for Gen. Anthony Wayne and his Corps of Light Infantry to recapture the Stony Point peninsula from the British in 1779.

"You can't get a better view than from the lighthouse," said Warger, looking out at a panorama including Haverstraw Bay and the northern tip of the Palisades. She pointed out that the lighthouse beacon is now just decorative, and is not a navigational beacon.

Warger, who traces her lineage from the Mayflower, always visited and was intrigued by historic sites in the Hudson Valley when she was a youngster traveling with her family. She hopes to be able to reconstruct the fog-bell tower that once stood next to the lighthouse. Warger formerly was assistant site manager for the John Jay Homestead in Katonah.

Linda Aho said the added days at the site would allow her husband, Charles, to spend more time enjoying the views the area commands of the river.

"My husband loves to walk up here," said Aho, of Stony Point.

Sam and Donna Giannetti of Thiells have visited before. "It really gives you a feeling of history," Donna Giannetti said.

Scott Lowenthal, a history buff visiting from Pomona, thought the fall foliage would bring more people to the site on the newly opened days. Karen Gollop, also of Pomona, was glad to hear about the new hours since the site dovetails with her son Jonathan's fourth-grade curriculum, and after-school visits could be arranged.

The hours of the Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, in addition to regular site hours Wednesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is located off Route 9W in Stony Point, a half-mile north of Main Street. For information or to volunteer, call 786-2521.

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