Overlooking a beautiful lake in New York’s Catskills is a large crumbling ruin. Painted completely white, its peeling paint, two wrap around porches and imposing grandeur wouldn’t look out of place in a Louisiana plantation. The vast lawns that stretch down to the lakeside are over grown, and it lies […]
One of America’s most charming railway journeys can be found in New York. The Hudson Line of the Metro North Railroad, speeds through the Hudson River Valley, passing through quaint small villages such as Cold Spring, Tarrytown and Beacon, the rail line hugging the riverbank, often just several feet outside […]
In this edition of the Fellow Explorer’s Club, we caught up with explorer, photographer, and author of the book ‘Abandoned New York – The Forgotten Beauties’, Jenn Brown. Based out of Long Island, Brown’s photography hauntingly captures the beauty of decaying houses, hospitals, factories and places of worship throughout the […]
We recently came across a wonderful postcard, printed by the Detroit Photographic Company in 1902, of a ‘Casino on Summit, Mount Beacon, NY’. It shows a charming, white wooden building, about the size of a large Victorian house, perched upon a clifftop, overlooking sweeping views of the Hudson River. In […]
Here at the SGE, we love coming across people or groups who share our passion for exploring, history and adventure. In this edition of The Fellow Explorer’s Club, we caught up with The Empire Explorer, which is fast becoming our favourite resource for discovering New York State. When most people […]
Ask any discerning New Yorker, “light or dark?”, and they will know straight away you’re talking about McSorley’s Old Ale House. Tucked away in the East Village, the venerable institution has quenched the thirst of everyone from Abraham Lincoln to the lower denizens of the Bowery since 1854. There’s only […]
As every local New Yorker knows, a visit to Times Square is about as appealing as a rush hour subway ride. But amidst the millions of visitors that throng here the year round, there is one tiny oasis where one can escape the maddening crowds. Hidden away on West 44th […]
In the Society Archives the other day, we were looking at a map of New York City from 1909, and noticed something unusual. The familiar Avenues ran up and down the island, from 1st to 12th, including some of the most famous streets in the world – Madison, Park, Fifth. […]
The Vanderbilts were once the richest family in America. Bankrolled by Cornelius Vanderbilt’s vast shipping and railroad empire, they spent money in an astonishing fashion during the Gilded Age, until it all disappeared, in what has become known as ‘The Fall of the House of the Vanderbilts’. The most storied […]
For an example of all that is wrong about modern America, look no further than the hulking Palisades Mall, in West Nyack, NY. One of the largest ‘mega malls’ in the US, the vast concrete complex opened in 1998, swiftly becoming known as one of the ‘ugliest malls’ in the […]