Residents of Beacon; New York; are justifiably proud of a community that is rich in history and promise. In this exquisite collection of images; local historians Robert J. Murphy and Denise Doring VanBuren uncover the fascinating past of Beacon andthe people who have called it home. The communityrsquo;s earliest permanent European settler was Madam Catheryna Rombout Brett; whose c. 1709 home is preserved within the city as the the oldest building in Dutchess County. Within the vicinity of the Madam Brett Homestead; two distinct villages grew: Matteawan; a manufacturing community at the foot of the mountain; and Fishkill Landing; a Hudson River port. Both villages prospered and eventually merged in 1913. Through the decades; the community was hailed as a model of a successful manufacturing center and became the location for several significant Hudson River estates. It played host to one of the longestrunning ferries in American history and introduced one of the first electric streetcar systems in the Hudson River Valley. Perhaps its most well-known feature was the Mount Beacon Incline Railway; a feat of engineering documented as the worldrsquo;s steepest incline railroad.
#1815843 in eBooks 2005-02-23 2005-02-23File Name: B009A3KOZ4
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Chicopee 1950 - 1975By Kenneth A. SwieradBrought me back to my "YOUTH" Chicopee grad class of 1963. remember being rained upon at Szot Park. So many pictures and names I rememberKEN Swierad
