Congers in Rockland County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
King's Highway and the Long Clove
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 23, 2019
1. King's Highway and the Long Clove Marker
Inscription.
King's Highway and the Long Clove. . Proclaimed by royal decree almost three centuries ago this onetime Indian trail wound its way northward through Long Clove to the Hudson River below. Kings Highway's original purpose was military as the English Crown feared invasion by the French and Indians. Then sides changed. During the Revolutionary War when the British fleet often controlled the Hudson, this pass through the South Mountain or Verdrietege Hook enabled the American military to transport troops and supplies to the strategic forts at Stony Point and West Point and Forts Clinton and Montgomery. General Washington frequently came this way when visiting the forts or crossing the Hudson at the Stony Point Kings Ferry to communicate with the New England colonies. By the 19th century wagons, heavily loaded with enormous quantities of farm produce, wood, sandstone and granite, passed through the clove to the docks at Snedekers Landing (later Waldberg Landing) and Haverstraw where ships vied to carry the cargo to the New York markets. In the 1800s the fledgling Jersey City and Albany Railroad Company (later the N. Y. Central and West Shore R. R.) decided to extend their tracks from Congers to Haverstraw and the north. Prior to tunneling under the mountain the temporary rail line was constructed through the pass. From this point it then descended more than 100 feet to the riverfront by a series of three switchbacks, each almost a mile long.
Town of Clarktown 1997
Proclaimed by royal decree almost three centuries ago this onetime Indian trail wound its way northward through Long Clove to the Hudson River below. Kings Highway's original purpose was military as the English Crown feared invasion by the French and Indians. Then sides changed. During the Revolutionary War when the British fleet often controlled the Hudson, this pass through the South Mountain or Verdrietege Hook enabled the American military to transport troops and supplies to the strategic forts at Stony Point and West Point and Forts Clinton and Montgomery. General Washington frequently came this way when visiting the forts or crossing the Hudson at the Stony Point Kings Ferry to communicate with the New England colonies. By the 19th century wagons, heavily loaded with enormous quantities of farm produce, wood, sandstone and granite, passed through the clove to the docks at Snedekers Landing (later Waldberg Landing) and Haverstraw where ships vied to carry the cargo to the New York markets. In the 1800s the fledgling Jersey City and Albany Railroad Company (later the N. Y. Central and West Shore R. R.) decided to extend their tracks from Congers to Haverstraw and the north. Prior to tunneling under the mountain the temporary rail line was constructed through the pass. From this point it then descended more than 100 feet to the riverfront
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by a series of three switchbacks, each almost a mile long.
Location. 41° 10.354′ N, 73° 56.778′ W. Marker is in Congers, New York, in Rockland County. Marker is on Old Haverstraw Rd., 0.1 miles south of New York State Route 304. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Congers NY 10920, United States of America. Touch for directions.
More about this marker. Town of Clarkstown, sponsor
The Historical Society of Rockland County
2. King's Highway and the Long Clove Marker
The Historical Society of Rockland County, October 1998
3. King's Highway and the Long Clove Marker with the Town Supervisor, Charles E. Holbrook
The Historical Society of Rockland County
4. King's Highway and the Long Clove Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on September 1, 2019. It was originally submitted on June 3, 2015, by The Historical Society of Rockland County of New City, New York. This page has been viewed 1,052 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on September 1, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 2, 3, 4. submitted on June 4, 2015, by The Historical Society of Rockland County of New City, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.