Bannerman's Castle, a significant landmark of the Hudson River, is now
a just a skeleton. Every major storm collapses a portion of its
structure. See it before it is too late. If you want to see what
Bannerman's Castle used to look like, check out the following website:
http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/bannerman/bannerman.html
It wasn't always a ruin. Here is an excerpt the the Hudson River
Cruising Guide:
Pollepel Island, about four miles north of Cold Spring, holds the
picturesque ruins of Bannerman's Castle. Bannerman was an arms dealer
who bought up much of the Union’s military supplies left after the
Civil War and all the military surplus of the Spanish American War. He
stored them in a warehouse in New York City and sold them out of a New
York storefront. Bannerman published a mail order catalog of the arms
holdings and became the Sears Roebuck of munitions. Most of the world's
rebellions from 1880 through 1910 were fought with Bannerman supplied
weapons. Eventually New York's city fathers became uneasy about having
a munitions store in mid-town and convinced Bannerman to move. He
relocated his warehouse to Pollepel Island. The warehouse was
constructed to look like a medieval castle, although it was made of
conventional brick and concrete. Bannerman and his family moved there.
Unfortunately the area is no stranger to lightning and the warehouse
was destroyed by a series of fires by the late 60s.
http://www.opacity.us/site54_bannermans_arsenal.htm
In the mid 70s my kids and I used to canoe the short distance to the
island and hunt for Civil War memorabilia in the ruins. All we found
was a few belt buckles and minnie balls, but a more fortunate neighbor
got a couple of single shot breech loading rifles and a small field
cannon. There is a fairly good anchoring ground to the south side of
the island but you need a chart to avoid a submerged stone causeway to
the shore on the north side. The whole place is now being developed as
a state park. For more information about the castle and tours of the
site see: http://www.bannermancastle.org/
Larry Z
Bannerman's Castle, a significant landmark of the Hudson River, is now
a just a skeleton. Every major storm collapses a portion of its
structure. See it before it is too late. If you want to see what
Bannerman's Castle used to look like, check out the following website:
http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/bannerman/bannerman.html
It wasn't always a ruin. Here is an excerpt the the Hudson River
Cruising Guide:
Pollepel Island, about four miles north of Cold Spring, holds the
picturesque ruins of Bannerman's Castle. Bannerman was an arms dealer
who bought up much of the Union’s military supplies left after the
Civil War and all the military surplus of the Spanish American War. He
stored them in a warehouse in New York City and sold them out of a New
York storefront. Bannerman published a mail order catalog of the arms
holdings and became the Sears Roebuck of munitions. Most of the world's
rebellions from 1880 through 1910 were fought with Bannerman supplied
weapons. Eventually New York's city fathers became uneasy about having
a munitions store in mid-town and convinced Bannerman to move. He
relocated his warehouse to Pollepel Island. The warehouse was
constructed to look like a medieval castle, although it was made of
conventional brick and concrete. Bannerman and his family moved there.
Unfortunately the area is no stranger to lightning and the warehouse
was destroyed by a series of fires by the late 60s.
http://www.opacity.us/site54_bannermans_arsenal.htm
In the mid 70s my kids and I used to canoe the short distance to the
island and hunt for Civil War memorabilia in the ruins. All we found
was a few belt buckles and minnie balls, but a more fortunate neighbor
got a couple of single shot breech loading rifles and a small field
cannon. There is a fairly good anchoring ground to the south side of
the island but you need a chart to avoid a submerged stone causeway to
the shore on the north side. The whole place is now being developed as
a state park. For more information about the castle and tours of the
site see: http://www.bannermancastle.org/
Larry Z
