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| Pleasantville's Lost Cave?Last time I was up in New York one of Renfield's friends mentioned a cave up in Pleasantville near the Banks Cemetery. A little poking around on the internets revealed information on Pleasantville's "Lost Cave". I have a general idea of where it might be, and it's reportedly a huge cavern that nobody can find, even though the potential search area is pretty small.
The cave is (I'm assuming) located on east of the Banks Cemetery, next to a stream, and west of the Robbins Road residential area, based on information I've read. Renfield's friend claims he's been in it, so the entrance must have been found again.
More information on The Lost Cave:
So Called Old Poker Hole.
Probably very few living in this vicinity at the present time know of the existence of a cave within the corporate limits of Pleasantvillle. In a ravine on the west side of Mr. George Robbin's farm and a few rods southwest of Mr. Stephen R. Smith's residence is or was an entrance to a cave. About forty-eight years ago Mr. Charlton Millrose and others dug away the earth at the entrance so that a man could easily enter in an upright position. Abram See with another started with a lighted candle and followed the cave through what is now the Banks Cemetery 'till they reached a point under the roadway near the present horseshed. They said at the time they could hear a wagon passing overhead. They then retraced their steps, probably fearing to go further. About this time a young colt belonging to Mr. Benj. Hays wandered in there and never again appeared at the entrance. People for a long time after came miles to see the cave. As a small stream was running close by, the entrance soon began to fill up, and for many years it has been entirely hidden, but the writer and a few others can point out the exact spot. Mr. Elijah Montross remembers entering the opening for a short distance at that time. It would be of interest to the people of the community if the cave could be reopened.
Further information can probably be found at the Mount Pleasant Historical Society in Elmsford:
* DeVoe, Howard. 1957. Pleasantville's Lost Cavern: 1882-1957. The Westchester Historian, July, August, September, vol.33, no.3, pp72-74.
* DeVoe, Howard. Cave Notes, 1944-2004. Note: Research, correspondence, photographs, etc., of the author’s search for a lost cave in Pleasantville.
So I'm gonna go look for it next trip up to New York, which is potentially next weekend. There's also an old mill-type looking building along the power lines right-of-way west of Banks Cemetery which may be interesting to check out and get pictures of. (It's not abandoned, just old.)
In other news, here are some of my pictures from Anthrocon 2008. | | |
| Xydexx: Constantly Researching EverythingSo I'm taking a break from researching milestones and running off on all sorts of other wild tangents when I should be sleeping. There's the abandoned (maybe?) aqueduct on the east side of Kensico Reservoir... then there's the long-since-demolished Stefen's Music Box in Garrison, which was the site of a grisly murder circa 1980 (the owner shot his business partner and then burned the place down to hide the evidence IIRC)... they built a garden center on the ruins. Then there's always fun stuff like the abandoned Mt. Beacon Incline Railway and the countless iron-ore mines tucked away in the mountains up there.
Sunk Mine over in Fahnestock allegedly still has ore car tracks inside (once you get past the water). Although after watching The Descent tonight I'm not sure I want to go explore any of them soon. That was the one my older brother Xakor fell into back in the day when we were hiking with Dad. He stepped on some leaves which had ice underneath, and slid a good distance down into the mine, stopping right before the water. It was a long climb back out.
In other news, I've signed up on a new furry social networking site, MyFursona. It's like a furry version of MySpace I guess. I'm also on InsaneJournal, but there isn't much there at the moment. Perhaps later. | | |
| Xydexx: Getting Drunk On HistoryAs I mentioned over on my LiveJournal, I'm researching the locations of former milestones along the Albany Post Road in New York. It is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle.
Milestone 26 I was already familiar with back from my high school days. The milestone is fairly easy to find on the campus of Mercy College on the Irvington-Dobbs Ferry border.
Rob Yasinsac of Hudson Valley Ruins found Milestone 27 in Irvington, which is embedded in a wall just north of Station Road. He also found Milestone 28, which is currently located in front of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow. That's a big jump from its original location, which according to the 1789 atlas A Survey of the Roads of the United States of America by Christopher Coller, would have been located less than a quarter mile north of a road to White Plains (marked "A" on the atlas). This would be present-day East Sunnyside Avenue, on the Tarrytown-Irvington border.
Milestone 29 is going to be tricky to find, if it still exists at all. According to the 1789 atlas, it was located at an intersection marked "C", which I have determined to be White Plains Road. Just south of there is an intersection marked "B" (which I have determined to be Sheldon Avenue) and a bridge across a small stream immediately south of it. Two houses, on the west side of the road north and south of Milestone 29, are marked "Van Weart". On the east side of the road near "B" is a symbol for a blacksmith's shop.
It's interesting how many details remain after 200 years. Albany Post Road, aside from being straightened out here and there, still uses much of the same route. The small stream that passed under the bridge is still there, although re-routed a bit due to the office parks that have sprouted up on either side of it. Also of note is what appears to be an old bridge on Google's satellite view (west side of Route 9, across from the apparent car dealership). And the Van Weart estate has yielded to a group of single-family homes located along "Van Wart Avenue."
As to Milestone 29, I suspect it will be difficult to find. The area surrounding the intersection with White Plains Road has been heavily developed over the past two centuries. The corners of the intersection have been disturbed by a bank and shopping center, a gas station, and the New York State Thruway and associated entrance ramps.
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| Xydexx: The Pony Everybody WantsLiving in Eden has its advantages. As a marginalized member of a spectator democracy, you choose your own dependencies. Lust. Hate. Blood. Love. Don't think of it as manufactured consent. Think of it as the candy everybody wants. 
Xydexx continues to be the squeakiest and silliest inflatable unicorn in the galaxy. Please join Xydexx and his army and robot ponies to help spread cute and weird across the internet. Long live the cause of offensive cuteness!
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