A Reason For Peekskill
Source:
Gems of the Hudson: Peekskill and Vicinity
Compiled
by G. M. Vescelius, Peekskill
NY (Book, Date Unknown- circa
1914)
Information
here is for archival purposes, and is not current.
EVERY man
ought to have a reason for his existence. If he has not he is only so much
cumbersome matter in the way of society. He is eating possibly good food that
ought to go to some useful person or occupying space that ought to be allotted
to another.
Every
town ought to have a reason for its existence along the same lines of argument.
Some towns are just towns and that is all. Their building was perhaps the
result of land boomers to begin with and their existence is of little
consequence. They have no reason for their existence. On the other hand some
other towns have innumerable reasons why they exist and why they continue to
grow. There are certain important facts upon which a town must grow and these
must constitute its reasons for existence. First, the geographical location of
the town must be logical. It must be on a line of trade and commerce. Second,
the town must be healthful. It must have good drainage. It must have abundance
of water both for its people and for its industries. Third, it must have the
right sort of environment. There must be a farming, or trading, or resort
country behind it. Fourth, it must have good roads and good transportation
facilities.
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| View from Bear Mountain, with Iona Island in foreground, Peekskill in the distance. |
These are
the great essentials, the great natural essentials, that a town must have. If
it, perchance, have other attractions, so much the better, but it must have
these fundamental reasons for its existence and its hope to grow.
Peekskill has these essentials. Peekskill was built on
the site of an Indian village. The Indians had chosen the site because of its
desirability. There were the hills sloping up from the Hudson—healthful hills,
good for drainage, sightly hills from which the grandeur of the Highlands stood
forth through the four seasons of the year. The Hudson
River was right at hand for transportation by canoe or raft. Out
of the rocks gushed the living waters, copious, abundant, refreshing. Is it any
wonder the Indian chose such a site for his village? Is it any wonder the early
Dutch settlers followed his example and loitered to build their homes on these
unsurpassed hills?
Those
times are long sped but the reasons for existence are here in Peekskill today in even greater force than
then. We have laid out miles of streets, have paved them, lighted them, filled
them with water mains, gas mains and sewer pipes, with telephone conduits and
with trolley tracks. We have brought all the elements of high civilization to
the very doors of our people. We have builded schools that are a pride and a
satisfaction to behold. We have offered all the inducements of comfort and
convenience—and here is Peekskill,
with a reason for its existence.
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| Peekskill's Water Front |
Geographically,
forty-one miles from New York City on the Hudson River Railroad—forty-one
miles, just a nice ride out of the city yet far enough to escape all of its
unpleasant features and to get the quiet of the country. Boats going north and
south add to the facilities for travel and shipping.
Physically,
high and dry, no swamps or meadows, hence no mosquitoes. Drainage good, hence
no fevers.
The water
supply of Peekskill
is its great asset. The village owns the watershed and the pump works. The
water is cheap and there is enough to supply ten Peekskills. This is a peculiar
advantage—peculiar to the location. Watersheds can-not be purchased at will at
a department store. Water is only where you find it and no town can grow
without water. This one reason, if no other, makes Peekskill a good investment.
If we go
into the realm of sentiment, there is where we shine. Who wants to look on any
better scenery than the Hudson River at Peekskill?
People come across continents and over seas to travel on this famous river and
see the self-same pictures that we enjoy daily from our porches.
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| Oscawana Lake |
A sharp
bend of the river forms a wide bay and Dunderberg, on the opposite side, looks
majestically over at the thriving village. Just beyond the village Annsville
creek empties into the river and across the creek is the State Camp of
Instruction, now used mostly as a rifle range for the state soldiery. To the
east and north of the village is the lake district of southern New York not to be
excelled anywhere for beautiful scenery or attractive outing grounds or summer
home sites. Oscawana, Clear, Indian, Mohegan, Osceola, Mohansic are a few of
the nearby lakes and there are innumerable smaller yet beautiful bodies in the
neighborhood.
A village
form of government has advantages, Peekskill
believes, over the city form and in that belief it has remained under the
former form until, with a population of more than 16,000, it is known as the
largest village in the country. The President of the Village and Board of
Trustees receive no compensation other than the honor the position gives and
with such management Peekskill
has moved steadily forward with a natural and healthy growth.
Not
rapidly but surely has it taken on the advancements of modern life and so it
has never had reason to take a step back in its progress. One of the later
municipalities in the county to have a trolley, its electric road is run more
regularly than most in the section and a person posted as to the schedule time
of the cars may set his watch by them. The same exactness may be seen in the
gas and electric lighting and power service. The same holds true of its
municipal constructions. Its streets are well graded and miles of them are
paved. Its sewerage system is excellent. Its schools—private and public —are of
the highest standard and the buildings, especially those of the public schools
remarkable structures, perfectly fitted for their purpose and also striking
examples of architecture.
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| View of the Highlands |
Every
normal requirement is met and provided for. There are churches of nearly all
denominations and these are situated in different sections, making it
convenient for one to reach a place of worship from any district. Of hotels and
theatres there is a good supply and the industries of the place are varied and
numerous. A manufacturing village, its industries are numerous and include the
manufacture of stoves, ranges and heaters, underwear and dress goods,
automobile parts, machines and engines, oilcloth, hats, cigars, yeast, vinegar,
whiskey and liquors, fire bricks, charcoal products, bricks, cement blocks and
reconstructed stone, besides planing mills that supply all local demands.
Newspapers
are plentiful and from some of the presses of Peekskill are turned out excellent specimens
of typographical art.
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| New Wicopee Dam |
Vacant
land is abundant about Peekskill.
In the residential sections many fine sites may be secured and especially is
this true of the suburbs where homes may be had with large or small tracts of
land, all quick of access to the business section. Industries are welcome, and
in the suburbs and along the water front are most attractive sites for
manufacturing plants. In this connection the reader will find elsewhere mention
of Verplanck's Point, which is now regarded by many as Peekskill's prospective
manufacturing center, and which has been long the home of the brick
manufacturing industry of the section.
