The
Hudson River, called
Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk in
Mahican or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami,
Muhheakantuck, is a
river that runs through the eastern portion of
New York State and, along its southern terminus, demarcates the border between the states of New York and
New Jersey. It is named for
Henry Hudson, an
Englishman sailing for the
Dutch East India Company, who explored it in 1609. The Hudson River was originally named the Mauritius River, which is claimed to be the name given by Hudson in honor of
Prince Maurice of Nassau. Alternatively, it's said to be the name given by Sixteenth century European adventurers, explorers, and fishermen who knew the river as River Mauritius, 'The River of Mountains'.
Early
European settlement of the area clustered around the river. The area inspired the
Hudson River school of painting, a sort of early American pastoral idyll.
Geography
The official
source of the Hudson is
Lake Tear of the Clouds in the
Adirondack Mountains. However, the waterway from the lake is known as
Feldspar Brook and the
Opalescent River, feeding into the Hudson at
Tahawus. The actual Hudson River begins several miles north of Tahawus at
Henderson Lake. The Hudson is joined at
Troy (north of
Albany) by the
Mohawk River, its major tributary, just south of which the
Federal Dam separates the
Upper Hudson River Valley from the
Lower Hudson River Valley or simply the
Hudson River Valley. South of Troy, the Hudson is tidal and widens and flows south into the
Atlantic Ocean between
Manhattan Island and the
New Jersey Palisades, forming
New York Harbor, at
New York Bay, an arm of the Ocean. The Hudson was originally named the "North River" by the Dutch, who named the
Delaware River the "South River." This name persists to this day in radio communication among commercial shipping traffic, as well as place names such as the
North River Sewage Treatment Plant. It was the English who originated the Hudson name, even though Hudson had found the river while exploring for the Dutch.
The lower Hudson is actually a tidal
estuary, with tidal influence extending as far as the Federal Dam at Troy.
(External Link
) Strong
tides make parts of
New York Harbor difficult and dangerous to navigate. During the winter, ice floes drift south or north, depending upon the tides. The Mahican name of the river,
Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, means "the river that flows both ways." The Hudson is often mistaken for one of the largest rivers in the United States, but it's an
estuary throughout most of its length below Troy and thus only a small fraction of water, about 15,000 cubic feet (425 m³/s) per second, is present. The mean freshwater discharge at the river's mouth in New York is approximately 21,400 cubic feet (606 m³) per second.
The Hudson and its tributaries—notably the Mohawk River—drain a large area. Parts of the Hudson river form
coves, such as
Weehawken Cove in
Hoboken and
Weehawken.
The Hudson is sometimes called a "drowned" river. The rising
sea levels after the retreat of the
Wisconsin glaciation, the most recent
ice age, have resulted in a
marine incursion that drowned the coastal plain and brought salt water well above the mouth of the river. The deeply-eroded old riverbed beyond the current shoreline,
Hudson Canyon, is a rich fishing area. The former riverbed is clearly delineated beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, extending to the edge of the
continental shelf.
Notable landmarks on the Hudson include
West Point, the
Culinary Institute of America,
Marist College,
Bard College, the
Thayer Hotel at West Point,
Bannerman's Castle,
Metro-North Railroad's
Hudson Line (formerly part of the
New York Central Railroad system), The
Tappan Zee, the
New Jersey Palisades,
Hudson River Islands State Park,
Hudson Highlands State Park,
New York Military Academy,
Fort Tryon Park with
The Cloisters,
Liberty State Park, and
Stevens Institute of Technology. Cities and towns on the
New Jersey side include
Tenafly,
Fort Lee,
Weehawken,
Hoboken, and
Jersey City. Cities and towns on the New York side include
Troy,
Albany,
Kingston,
Poughkeepsie,
Glens Falls,
Beacon,
Haverstraw,
Yonkers, and
New York City (
Manhattan,
The Bronx).
The natural beauty of the
Hudson Valley earned the Hudson River the nickname
"America's Rhine", being compared to that of the famous 40 mile (65 km) stretch of Germany's
Rhine River valley between the cities of
Bingen and
Koblenz. It was designated as one of the
American Heritage Rivers in 1997.
The Narrows
The Narrows, a tidal strait between the
New York City boroughs of
Staten Island and
Brooklyn, connects the upper and lower sections of New York Bay. It has long been considered the maritime "gateway" to New York City and historically has been the most important entrance into the harbor.
The Narrows were most likely formed about 6,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Previously, Staten Island and Long Island were connected, preventing the Hudson River from terminating via The Narrows. At that time, the Hudson River emptied into the Atlantic Ocean through the present course of the lower
Raritan River, by taking a more westerly course through parts of present day northern New Jersey, along the eastern side of the
Watchung Mountains to
Bound Brook, New Jersey and then on into the Atlantic Ocean via
Raritan Bay. A build up of water in the Upper Bay eventually allowed the Hudson River to break through previous land mass that was connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn to form The Narrows as it exists today. This allowed the Hudson River to find a shorter route to the Atlantic Ocean via its present course between New Jersey and New York City (Waldman, 2000).
Haverstraw Bay
Haverstraw Bay, just north of the Tappan Zee (the widest part of the river), is located between Croton Point in the Southeast and the town of Haverstraw in the Northwest. Haverstraw Bay is a popular destination for recreational boaters, and is home to many Yacht clubs and marinas including Croton Yacht Club, Croton Sailing School, and Haverstraw Marina.
Transportation
The Hudson River is
navigable for a great distance above mile 0 (at 40°42.1'N., 74°01.5'W.) off of
The Battery. The original
Erie Canal, opened in 1825 to connect the Hudson with Lake Erie, emptied into the Hudson at the city of Albany's basin, just three miles south of the
Federal Dam in
Troy (at mile 134). The canal enabled shipping between cities on the
Great Lakes and
Europe via the Atlantic Ocean. The
New York State Canal System, the successor to the Erie Canal, runs into the Hudson River north of Troy and uses the Federal Dam as the Lock 1 and natural waterways whenever possible. The first
railroad in New York, the
Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, opened in 1831 between
Albany and
Schenectady on the
Mohawk River, enabling passengers to bypass the slowest part of the Erie Canal.
The
Delaware and Hudson Canal ended at the Hudson at
Kingston, running southwest to the
coal fields of northeastern
Pennsylvania.
In northern Troy, the
Champlain Canal split from the Erie Canal and continued north along the west side of the Hudson to
Thomson, where it crossed to the east side. At
Fort Edward the canal left the Hudson, heading northeast to
Lake Champlain. A
barge canal now splits from the Hudson at that point, taking roughly the same route (also parallel to the
Delaware and Hudson Railway's
Saratoga and Whitehall Railroad) to Lake Champlain at
Whitehall. From Lake Champlain, boats can continue north into
Canada to the
Saint Lawrence Seaway.
The
Hudson Valley also proved attractive for railroads, once technology progressed to the point where it was feasible to construct the required bridges over tributaries. The
Troy and Greenbush Railroad was chartered in 1845 and opened that same year, running a short distance on the east side between Troy and
Greenbush (east of Albany). The
Hudson River Railroad was chartered the next year as a continuation of the Troy and Greenbush south to New York City, and was completed in 1851. In 1866 the
Hudson River Bridge opened over the river between Greenbush and Albany, enabling through traffic between the Hudson River Railroad and the
New York Central Railroad west to
Buffalo.
The
New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway ran up the west shore of the Hudson as a competitor to the merged New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Construction was slow, and was finally completed in 1884; the New York Central purchased the line the next year.
The Hudson is crossed at numerous points by
bridges,
tunnels, and
ferries. The width of the Lower Hudson River required major feats of engineering to cross, the results today visible in the
Verrazano-Narrows and
George Washington Bridges, as well as the
Lincoln and
Holland Tunnels and the
PATH and
Pennsylvania Railroad tubes. The
Troy-Waterford Bridge at
Waterford was the first bridge over the Hudson, opened in 1809. The
Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad was chartered in 1832 and opened in 1835, including the
Green Island Bridge, the first bridge over the Hudson south of the Federal Dam.
(External Link)
The
Upper Hudson River Valley was also useful for railroads. Sections of the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad,
Troy and Boston Railroad and
Albany Northern Railroad ran next to the Hudson between Troy and
Mechanicville. North of Mechanicville the shore was bare until
Glens Falls, where the short
Glens Falls Railroad ran along the east shore. At Glens Falls the Hudson turns west to
Corinth before continuing north; at Corinth the
Adirondack Railway begins to run along the Hudson's west bank. The original Adirondack Railway opened by 1871, ending at
North Creek along the river. In
World War II an extension opened to
Tahawus, the site of valuable
iron and
titanium mines. The extension continued along the Hudson River into
Hamilton County, and then continued north where the Hudson makes a turn to the west, crossing the Hudson and running along the west shore of the
Boreas River. South of Tahawus the route returned to the east shore of the Hudson the rest of the way to its terminus.
Political boundaries
The Hudson River serves as a
political boundary between the states of New Jersey and New York, and further north between New York
counties. The northernmost place with this convention is in southwestern
Essex County.
Tributaries
From north to south, moving downriver
Theodore Roosevelt's famous trip to the headwaters
On September 14, 1901, then-
Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was at Lake Tear of the Clouds after returning from a hike to the
Mount Marcy summit when he received a message informing him that
President William McKinley, who had been shot two weeks earlier but was expected to survive, had taken a turn for the worse.
Roosevelt hiked down 10 miles (16 km) on the southwest side of the mountain to the closest stage station at
Long Lake, New York. He then took a 40 mile (64 km) midnight stage coach ride through the twisting Adirondack Roads to the Adirondack Railway station at North Creek, where he discovered that McKinley had died. Roosevelt took the train to Buffalo, New York where he was officially sworn in as President.
The 40 mile (64 km) route is now designated the
Roosevelt-Marcy Trail.
Pollution
General Electric Corporation has been involved in a long lasting battle over the cleanup of
Polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of the Hudson. According to the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): "The General Electric Company discharged between 209,000 and 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the river from two capacitor manufacturing plants located in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward."
(External Link)
In 1983, the EPA declared a 200 mile (322 km) stretch of the river, from Hudson Falls to New York City, to be a
Superfund site. GE will soon commence dredging operations at its own expense to clean up the PCBs.
(External Link) Inspired by
Earth Day advocates, this action anchored the
Riverkeeper program that grew into a global umbrella organization, the
Waterkeeper Alliance. The
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater is an environmental education organization that promotes awareness of the river and its history.
Other pollution issues affecting the river include: Accidental sewage discharges, urban runoff, heavy metals, furans, dioxin, pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
(External Link)
The Hudson River estuary system is part of
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System.
Miscellanea
In 2004, Christopher Swain became the first person to swim the entire length of the Hudson River.
The
New Jersey Devils/
New York Rangers rivalry is known as the Hudson River Rivalry, due to the fact that the Devils play in
Newark and the Rangers play in
Manhattan which are across the Hudson River.
External results
Click here for more details on Hudson River
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://hudson_river.totallyexplained.com">Hudson River Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
We see you're using Internet Explorer. Try Firefox, we think you'll like it better.
· Firefox blocks pop-up windows.
· It stops viruses and spyware.
· It keeps Microsoft from controlling the future of the internet.
Click the button on the right to download Firefox. It's free.
NEW: Download the Totally