![]() And so does the existence of these amazing communities who rally, coordinate, and cooperate in order, with God’s help, to pull themselves from the raging waters. ![]() The Rotary Club helped to coordinate massive relief and fundraising efforts, to the extent that $12,000 still remains to be distributed, in 2012, to people who still need it. And the florist–he had only just reopened after the hurricane had taken its toll. Sure enough, the supermarket had been closed for eight weeks until the Irene waters that had flooded the store’s basement and main floor could be cleared. Wanting to support the local economy, I went into the market, bought some delicious rolls and deli meats, and began chatting with the locals. Why, I wondered, did the local florist display a sign that so insistently proclaimed that he was open? Then when I pulled up to the parking lot for the Boiceville IGA Market and other businesses and saw the huge signs thanking the community and the volunteers, the light bulb went off in my head. I’m not certain whether I found the exact spot for Durand’s painting, but I did find a Boiceville recently risen from the effects of Irene. We had located it at approximately the point at which Routes 28 and 28A meet, which happens to be where Boiceville begins. Durand painted his masterpiece High Point: Shandaken Mountains. Last week I drove out to Boiceville, chiefly in search of the viewpoint from which the nineteenth-century landscape artist Asher B. In August 2011 Hurricane Irene devastated towns from Phoenicia to as far west as Margaretville and Prattsville. The flooding of the Esopus Valley for the Ashokan Reservoir was not the last water threat to ravage this Ulster County area. Today when you drive along Route 28, you can see signs indicating the former sites of the Esopus Valley towns that either disappeared or were displaced. It was relocated, while several of the others were demolished without a trace. In a sense, Boiceville was one of the fortunate towns. A meticulously researched film by area resident and professional filmmaker Tobe Carey documents this event in heartbreaking detail. The valley would be flooded to create a water supply for the burgeoning population of New York City, 120 miles to the south. In the early twentieth century, the original site of Boiceville was one of several in the Esopus Valley that were moved or destroyed in order to make room for the Ashokan Reservoir. The entreaty that we read in more than one of the Psalms, “God, save me, pull me free from the raging waters,” could all too easily be applied to several towns and villages along Ulster County’s Route 28. Could he ever have envisioned the future history of this amazing city?įor my recent photograph uploads to my Hudson Valley Gallery, please visit my website. On the opposite side of the river in Newburgh, a statue of General Washington looks across and surveys Beacon and its mountain. ![]() Those interested in history and hiking have their choices of historic homesteads and hiking trails, including hikes up Mt. Just as the city of Hudson, some sixty miles north, arose from the doldrums to refashion itself as a destination for antiques aficionados, so Beacon has been transformed into a mecca for the arts.įriendly cafés and restaurants cater to visitors and residents alike. Hudson Beach Glass, founded by well-known glass artist John Gilvey with three partners, is located in a renovated former firehouse, itself a work of art. ![]() A variety of art galleries followed in Dia:Beacon’s wake, including Fovea, the Van Brunt Gallery, and Hudson Beach Glass. Residents of artistic enclaves downstate began relocating to Beacon. The arrival of Dia:Beacon, the largest museum of contemporary art in the country, in what had been a Nabisco cracker box factory generated both an artistic and a commercial renaissance in this Dutchess County city. During the following decade, the closing of many factories due to economic decline precipitated an economic downturn that lasted until the late 1990s.Įnter the artists and their visions. “Urban renewal” caused the demolition of important historic buildings in the 1960s. The city’s fortunes haven’t always been so upbeat. Once an important strategic point in the Revolutionary War-both town and mountain got its name from the signals lit atop the mountain to warn the Continental Army of approaching British troops-the city of Beacon now thrives as a center for the arts.
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