The Newark Lime & Cement Company was once the largest employer in Kingston, and yet few of those who live here are even aware of its existence. A drive around Hasbrouck Park is an excellent means of learning about not only the history of the cement company and the cement industry but also about the Industrial Revolution. In fact, a lap of the park also requires mentioning the pre-colonial, Dutch and the Revolutionary War eras of Kingston's history.

The Vleightburg is the name that was given to a prominent geographical feature at the confluence of the Hudson River and Rondout Creek in Kingston by the city's 17th century Dutch settlers. It is now the location of Hasbrouck Park, which provides a panoramic vista of the creek, river and lighthouse. It is also the site of a mine that was operated by Newark Lime & Cement Co. from 1850 to1929.

The mine follows a convex bed of the cement rock from Rondout Garden Apartments to the Delaware Ave mine opening, a distance of nearly 3,000 feet (almost a kilometer) (Figure 1). The sedimentary rock that includes the cement layers was laid-down on the bottom of a shallow sea 400 million years ago. They were laid-down horizontally, but up thrusting of the Taconic Mountains to the east deformed these strata. The thrusting compressed the layers to create an undulating topography consisting of a series of peaks and valleys. The NL&C mines, and most area cement mines, are situated in the "peaks" because they are more accessible. However, for each and every "A" shaped anticline there is a "U" shaped syncline.

Surviving above ground aspects of the N L & C Co. These include 23 kilns, a building at the corner of East Strand and Tompkins St, The Ponckhockie Union Church, the shell of another church, and a hoist house. The ruined church was converted from a cement company building, while the larger church on Abruyn Street was a purpose-built gift from NL&C to the community. The first three structures mentioned above are visible in Figure 2, an engraving from JW Beers & Co Atlas of Ulster County (circa 1875). Figure One has been highlighted in purple to show the location of the surviving buildings that appear in both figures.

The earliest operations at the Vleightburg occurred in the outside arm of the "A" shaped anticline immediately behind the cement plant. They worked up toward the apex and dropped blasted rock down to the mill. They left floors of native rock at intervals to allow the blasted material to be carted toward the centrally located plantFigure 3. Ultimately, work was being commenced on multiple fronts and traffic increased as you approached the plant. Above ground haulage routes were a means of avoiding this congestion.

Horse-drawn carts were utilized on above ground routes. Cut and fill was utilized to create a berm road with a gentle, continuous gradient from the mine to the plant. Once started, it was relatively easy to keep a heavily loaded cart moving. Steep inclines were operated as gravity railroads, where loaded mine cars traveling down grade would pull empty cars up a parallel track. Figure 4 shows the Brigham Plant in East Kingston. A gravity railroad is evident just left of the chimney. Railroad Avenue in East Kingston and part of Ulster Landing Road follow the grades of former mine railroads. Girard Street in Connelly (just across the Rondout Creek from Kingston) follows the route of a former gravity railroad from a mine down to the top of a kiln. Cost-effective haulage was critical and these reciprocal railroads (in parallel or in series) were utilized even after the introduction of the steam engine. Figure 5 shows a mine railroad where Railroad Avenue now is; it emerges from the tunnel visible in the background of Figure 4.

Efficiency was especially important when raising cement rock up the inside arm. It became ever more difficult as these operations progressed and this probably explains the absence of mines in deep synclines. Beneath the pavilion atop Hasbrouck Park, a gravity railroad was built to hoist stone up from inside arm of the anticline. The berme that was built to create a contiguous arc for that railroad remains a prominent feature of this mine (visible in Figure 3). It also allowed the company to use the outside of the hill from this point on (the hill behind the plant is traversed by many haulage roads). They could then shut off the pumps that had operated continuously to evacuate water from the outside arm. Figure 3 also shows two working level floors, one with a drop chute cut in it for dropping stone down to the lower floor behind the plant.

The inside arm of the anticline has since filled with water also. These two flooded arms hold at least 80 million gallons of water. The 8.8-acre Delaware Mine (the right half of the mine shown in Figure One) is merely the above-water area situated at the apex of the anticline. In 1995, this mine, and the construction of the Kingston Business Park on the ridge above it, was the subject of a lawsuit. The effect of the run-off from the industrial park upon the water quality of the mine lakes was the point of contention.

A drive around Hasbrouck Park gives an impression of the size of the mine contained within. It also ties together other aspects of local history. For instance, the Ulster & Delaware Railroad that wraps around the park carried tourists from the landing at Kingston Point to the Catskill Resorts and Oneonta. A section is still operated as a tourist railroad. The Dayliner terminal was once the main point of entry for visitors to Kingston, but now the festivals that are hosted at the foot of Broadway are more likely to be. Therefore, this short driving tour will begin between the Rondout Creek bridges at the bottom of Broadway hill.

The 1,145-foot suspension bridge that connects Kingston and Port Ewen was built in 1921. It crosses Island Dock, a manmade island operated by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company. The completion of the canal in 1828 made the Rondout section of Kingston a bustling hub of commercial activity. Although the D&H Canal ceased operating in 1899 (and the canal company had already divested into a railroad interest) the completion of the bridge confirmed the end of an era (and the advent of the era of the motorcar).

The attractive blue building at One Broadway that is currently home to Mariner's Harbor Seafood Restaurant is still referred to by many locals as The Daily Freeman Building. However, this structure had had several incarnations (and two fires) before becoming the home of Kingston's daily newspaper. Formerly known as The Sampson Opera House, the landmark building was constructed in 1874. On the corner across from this is The Mansion House, which was built in 1854 and operated as a luxury hotel.

Drive up Broadway to the light at Garraghan Drive and turn right, passing the police station and firehouse to reach Koenig Boulevard. Turn left onto Koenig Blvd and travel uphill to the first left. If you miss this exit (it comes fast) then you can take the Delaware Ave exit further up the hill. It is worth noting that the Ulster & Delaware Railroad ascends the hill in two sweeping arcs all the way to the level of Delaware Avenue at the Koenig Blvd overpass. The name "Ulster & Delaware" is routinely shortened to U&D, but locals call it the Up & Down Railroad because this is the first of many grades that had to be ascended to reach the heart of the Catskills.

If you made the first exit, then continue on Murray St to Delaware Ave (if you took the Delaware Ave exit, turn left and travel four blocks to return to the tour route). The industrial park entrance quickly follows. Its driveway is not a public street, but passing this spot is an opportunity for another historical reference. The environmental review submitted prior to the construction of the industrial park mentions an archeological site where ancient Indians mined chert and worked it into arrowheads.

Right after the industrial park driveway comes the Hasbrouck Park entrance on the right. It's a worthwhile diversion to drive to the pavilion at the top for the panoramic vista it affords. The Rondout Lighthouse that stands at the confluence of the Rondout Creek and Hudson River is actually the third to stand below the Vleightburg. The first of these was built in 1837 and the current structure was built in 1915. Across the river can be seen the Rhinecliff Train Station. It was built in 1903 by John Jacob Astor for then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and later donated to New York State.

Before leaving the park, you may wish to stop at the hoist house at the bottom of the hill to examine the numerous 400 million year old marine fossils that created the sedimentary rock that makes up the building stones (and formed the basis of the local cement industry). Continuing down Delaware Avenue, we descend a steep sweeping turn. We are crossing the roof of the Delaware Mine. As we emerge from the bend we can see the spire of a cement church on the right. The Ponckhockie Union Church was, in its time, the largest continuous pour of cement ever attempted. It was a gift from the N L&C Co. to the community of Ponchkockie. At the bottom of the sweeping hill, on the left is the opening to the Delaware Mine.

Two blocks further along on Delaware Avenue are two historic homes. The white house on the left side of Delaware Ave at the intersection of Lindsley Avenue is the Yoemans House. It is a Dutch colonial home built in 1742. It is also, as the sign outside says, the place where British soldiers who had landed at Kingston Point stopped to ask for directions. Their objective was the (then) state capital of Kingston. On October 16th, 1777 those British troops put Kingston to the torch. The event is subject to an annual re-enactment. On the hill above the corner of Lindsley Ave and Delaware Ave is the Cordts Mansion, which is currently a bed & breakfast. Brickyard magnate JH Cordts built it in 1873. His son, JN Cordts, went on to become a US Senator.

If you continue to the bottom of Delaware Avenue you will find North Street. If you were to turn left onto North Street, it would, if it were passable, take you to the abandoned brickyards. Cordt's brick was but one of four manufacturers that operated locally. They have not operated in decades, but immense piles of broken bricks remained for years. These bricks, reduced to coarse dust, were the last product of these sites. They were used on the warning track at Yankee Stadium.

Driving straight through the intersection of North Street takes us to Kingston Point Beach. From the beach parking lot you can see the immense drying sheds that remain from one of the brickyards. Behind the derelict commercial site is a massive cliff that Dutch shipper called "Steep Rocks". Archeological sites beneath the cliff have produced Dutch clay pipes and Indian arrowheads and fishhooks.

The gray tower beyond the brickyards marks the site of a recent Portland cement plant. That company was called the Hudson Cement Plant and it might be the successor of the Hudson River Cement Works at the foot of Railroad Avenue in East Kinston (not visible). The cement mines closed down for the winter, but many idled employees found seasonal work in the icehouses that lined the Hudson River. In fact, the Hudson Cement Works operated several icehouses itself(Diagram Four).Clearly visible beyond East Kingston is the 7,000 foot (2 km) long Kingston /Rhinecliff Bridge that was built in 1957.

If you had been gazing out upon the river from Kingston Point on August 18th, 1807 you might have seen Robert Fulton's steamboat Clermont usher in an era by undertaking history's first significant steam voyage from New York to Albany. In our century, aircraft flying from Albany to New York are often made visible by their jet contrail, or by a favorable angle of the sun. If you'd been standing here on the morning of September 11, 2001 you might have seen a jet airliner that turned left at Albany and was flying low enough to use the Hudson River to navigate to the World Trade Center.

You may also wish to visit Rotary Park, which was the site of the Dayliner Terminal where many Catskill-bound tourists disembarked. Return to the intersection of Delaware Avenue and North Street and take a left. A little way along on the left is a tidal lagoon with a derelict barge marooned within it. Strings of such barges towed by tugboats plied the river early in the last century. The road bends to the right and North Street becomes East Strand Street and we see a junkyard and a fuel oil tank farm. They represent the types of industries that dominated this neighborhood in the latter half of the Twentieth Century.

At the corner of East Strand and Tompkins Street, we find the building shown in the right foreground of Figure Two. From here we can see the bank of kilns and the ruins of the second cement church. Immediately after the railroad crossing we find two buildings that belonged to the Cornell Steamboat Company. These boiler and repair shops were built in 1892 and 1901 and the larger of these is now home to the Steelhouse Restaurant. The Cornell Company used to convey passengers, but abandoned this to concentrate on its fleet of tugboats. Thomas Cornell's son-in-law took over the company and went on to build the most impressive house on West Chestnut Street. Then known as, "Shipper's Hill", it was favored by the local captains of industry because it overlooks the Rondout (although it is not on the map, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is worth of a visit).

A great deal of money was made on commerce that passed through the Rondout and the Newark Lime & Cement Company was the largest employer in Kingston, in its day. Our commercial legacy exists side-by-side with our revolutionary past and a drive around Hasbrouck Park is an excellent means of connecting every era of the area's history. I recommend visiting either the Trolley Museum or the Maritime Museum to learn more about the commerce of the area. The Visitor's Center opposite the Mansion House can provide directions to the Chestnut Street Historic District.

This tour, which travels eight miles to Rosendale and back, (Figure One)begins at the foot of Broadway in Kingston. From the very bottom of the hill, we have to drive uphill one block to Abeel Street. Turn left onto Abeel and soon pass a brick synagogue (now a restaurant/bar) and the Port Ewen Bridge. Right after the bridge, we find a gapping chasm on the left. The Forst Meat Packing Plant stood here until very recently. However, a developer whose reach exceeded his grasp razed the building to prepare the lot for new construction only to have his financing deal fall apart. It was said that the biggest catfish used to be caught where the packing plant flushed its trimmings into the creek. Abeel Street (misspelled in Fig 1) bends right then left to take us past a city park and the entrance to Island Dock. Emerging from the second bend, we see the West Shore Railroad Trestle, built in 1905. Even before the completion of the highway system of which the Port Ewen Bridge is part, the completion of this interstate freight line spelled the doom of the D&H Canal.

Figure Two shows the West Shore trestle circa 1928. Visible on the left bank of the Rondout Creek just past the bridge is a building belonging to the Wallkill Portland Cement Company. Just as the trains would displace the canals, fast-setting Portland cement would make natural cement obsolete. A brick chimney from this plant still stands.

Just past the trestle on the left is the office of S&W Fitch(Figure Three). They shipped bluestone flagstones and curbing for the sidewalks of New York City. The material was shipped from quarries on the other side of Kingston by way of Wilbur Avenue. This street follows Twaasfskill Brook, which cuts deeply into the shoulder of Fly Mountain. The cleft in the terrain that it creates makes a suitably gradual gradient for descending to the banks of the Rondout Creek. Further, the creek is still tidal at this point so bluestone shipped from here did not need to utilize the canal.

Continuing along Abeel Street past the intersection of Wilbur Avenue we will now be flanked on our right by Fly Mountain. There is evidence of mining at frequent intervals, which implies that its entire three-mile (5 km) length has been mined.

Immediately after Wilbur Ave, we see a vestige of the region's shipbuilding past. On the opposite side of the creek, a steep ridge of rock conceals an open-pit rock and gravel quarry. Its operation predates the practice of leaving a screen to block the view and I think they avoided the ridge because the tunneling of the Wallkill Portland Company had undermined it.

Less than a half-mile (nearly a kilometer) further along, on the right, we find a pair of kilns – the first of many that you will see on this short round trip. In fact, if you had turned right back at Wilbur Avenue you would have passed two mines and a bank of kilns AND at Hamilton Street, halfway between Wilbur Ave and here, there is a kiln and a mill foundation. Inefficient pot kilns were replaced by these draw kilns. Built in-series against a hillside, alternating layers of pea coal and cement rock were loaded in the top. Every day, ¼ of the contents were drawn from the bottom and an equal volume was added at the top.

Behind the kiln is a mine that local folks call "The Blue Water Cave". We often do forget the manmade origin of these sites and refer to them as caves, but blue water certainly rings true. The lakes that were created when the pumps were turned off are shielded from wind and shaded from sun, making them ideal settling chambers. Therefore, mine lakes are incredibly clear. The short wavelengths of light are more prone to interference and therefore blue light has much greater penetration than red, orange and yellow. The water is so clear that standing at the edge of a mine lake and looking down into its depths can cause a fear of heights. These characteristics make mine lakes ideal for cave divers and a diver that I am acquainted with informs me that the Blue Water Lake is 150 feet (46m) deep. A tunnel at the farthest back corner of the flooded mine appears to head off toward the sole stretch of the mountain where I have seen no evidence of mining. It is for this reason that I believe that the whole length of Fly Mountain has been worked-out.

Continuing along Abeel Street, which has now become Route 213, we come to a sweeping left turn. Against the hillside on the right immediately before the turn are two foundations. In 1850 the Lawerence Cement Company and the Newark & Rosendale Lime and Cement Company collaborated on a 3 ½ mile (5.8 km) plank road from their mines in Whiteport to their mills in Eddyville. In 1869, the route was converted to a horse-drawn railroad. Emerging from the sweeping left turn we can see the Eddyville Bridge straight ahead. We want to turn right onto Creek Locks Road just before the bridge. Almost immediately after making our turn, we see a roadside ditch on the left. The first lock of the Delaware & Hudson Canal was somewhere very near this surviving section of canal bed.

The Rosendale Cement industry began in 1824 when engineers working on the D&H Canal found cement rock. The canal that brought it coal from Pennsylvania to fire the cement kilns and the means by which its product was shipped to New York and beyond was also the industry's first customer. Natural cement, also known as hydraulic cement, was the preferred building material for canals.

Rosendale Cement, which was renowned for it strength, was used for the lower 152 feet (47m) of the Washington Monument, the US Patent Office and the wings of the Capital Building in Washington as well as a dozen state capital buildings. It was also used in the Brooklyn Bridge, the American Museum of Natural History, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, and Grand Central Station in New York, and most canal projects, costal forts and light houses built between 1825 and 1900. At its prime, the Rosendale District employed 5,000 men and produced 4 million barrels a year (half of all the natural cement produced in the United States).

Rock was quarried by setting charges in holes drilled with hand-held steel bits driven by sledgehammers. Laborers further reduced the blasted rock with sledgehammers before loading it onto horse or mule drawn carts. At the industry's inception, the burnt clinker was ground into cement at the same mills that ground wheat into flower. Then they developed their own milling process, and later switched from water-driven to stream-powered mills. Sledges initially reduced burned rock, which was chalky and crumbly. As the industrial revolution progressed, mechanical crackers replaced manual reduction

Two miles (3.3 km) along Creek Locks Road we find Lock Two and Lock Three. Lock Four is less than a mile (more than a kilometer) from these and Lock Five just a bit further still. Just past the Thruway Overpass, on the left, is Hardenburg's Basin. This extension of the canal was utilized by the two cement companies that operated at La Fever Falls (Figure Four). Figure Five shows the Martin & Clearwater Cement Company plant and Figure Six, the New York Cement Company.

Climbing the hill beyond the basin, we can see a steep drop down to the Rondout Creek. Beyond that is the New York State Thruway bridge over the creek (the cliff is clearly visible from the left lane of the thruway (southbound) 6 miles [10 km] south of Kingston). A mixture of Portland and natural cement was used to build the Thruway. As we descend the hill, some of the canal bed is visible first on the left and then on the right.

Cross Route 32 to the village of Rosendale. Drive down Main Street until you reach the Rosendale Theatre. Turn right at the theatre, onto a small side street. At the back of the parking lot behind the theatre, there is a bank of kilns that were operated by the New York & Rosendale Company. In 1905, the ski jumping world championships were hosted here by Williams Lake Resort. The ski jump itself was on the flank of Joppenburgh Mountain high to the left of the kiln bank.

The canal passed between Main Street and these kilns, but only a small ditch remains here now. Sheds on top of the kilns prevented heavy rains from cooling the burn. Building kilns side-by-side-by-side permitted heat sharing making the burn, which took a matter of several days, more efficient. If you examine the masonry of some of the kiln banks in the Rosendale area, you will see that some kilns were built separately from the others. Their stonework isn't dovetailed into the one that it stands beside. It was built later, as an addition to the ones that preceded it/them.

Returning to Main Street and turning right, we resume our course. As we are leaving the village, we see several mine openings on the right. This water-filled mine has been fitted with a hydrant and now stands ready to fill volunteer fire department pumper trucks, if needed. As we emerge from a bend in the road, we see a mine opening well below the level of Rt 213. Turco Brothers Company draws commercial quantities of cold, clear water from this water-filled mine. A little further along, we find another large mine. But this one is not filled with water and cannot be seen. In the summer it makes its presence known by the cold air that it spews, chilling the bare legs of strollers and cyclists.

Gazing up, we see that Joppenburgh Mountain is strewn with massive boulders. These big rocks came crashing down during the 1899 collapse of the New York & Rosendale Company mine. The collapse of Joppenbergh Mountain not only buried the road and the D&H Canal, but also twisted the rails on the Wallkill Valley Railroad Trestle. One hundred and fifty men, who were working in a different part of the vast mine, were uninjured. The 975 foot long trestle is formerly called the Wallkill Valley Railroad Viaduct and was built in 1872 to further a rail line that would bring agricultural products from the farms of the Wallkill Valley to market. However, it became the workhorse of the Rosendale Cement District.

If we follow the tour exactly as mapped, we should take a right turn at Binnewater Road immediatelt after passing under the trestle. However, if you wish to learn more about the cement industry, you are encouraged to visit the Century House Historical Society. Housed within the Snyder Estate behind a gate framed by scale replicas of the piers of the Brooklyn Bridge, The Century House is just a quarter mile past the intersection of Binnewater Road, on the right.

If you would like to know much more about the Delaware & Hudson Canal, the perhaps you should continue along Route 213 for two more miles and visit the D&H Canal Museum in High Falls, NY.

Ascending Binnewater Road we find what appears to be a milldam on the left. However, it is actually a feeder dam- one of an extensive system of feeder dams that supplied water for the operation of the canal locks below. A little further along on the left, we find an impressive bank of kilns. What is less obvious is that both sides of Binnewater Road have been mined. The Iron Mountain record management company operates in a mine behind the kiln bank. A dozen two-story buildings behind a seven ton steel door offer Armageddon-proof storage. The opposite side of the road has been mined all the way up to Breezy Hill Road, but the Wallkill Railroad conceals most of the openings. On the left, several mill foundations line a steam.

Continuing along Binnewater Road, we come to a four-corners intersection. The tour will turn right onto Breezy Hill Road, but you may wish to deviate a little. The four corners was known as Keator's Corners (Figure Seven)and driving just a quarter mile (1/2 km) further will give you a glimpse of the brick chimney of the former FO Norton Cement Works (Figure Eight). Figure Nine shows two cross sections of Norton cement mines. There are two beds of natural cement rock separated by a single layer of conventional limestone. In Rosendale, the intervening layer is eight feet (2.5m) thick and this led to two tier mines. At the Newark Lime & Cement operation in Kingston, the middle layer is only four feet (1.2 m) thick. Natural cement is so strong that it was already standard practice to cut it with Portland cement. Newark Lime & Cement killed two birds with one stone by mining the conventional limestone at the same time as the natural cement rock that sandwiched it. They created a single tier mine with twenty-two foot (6.8m) ceilings and the percentage of natural to Portland cement in the combined burn was nearly identical to the percentage that cement engineers had determined ideal.

The pillars left to hold up the ceilings of the two-tier Rosendale mines line up so that the pillars of the upper mine don't stand in the center of an unsupported ceiling. At the nearly horizontal apex of an anticline, miners left 10% of the cement rock as pillars. Halfway between the peaks and valleys of the undulating strata, the pitch is nearly vertical. In steep mines, where the layers have been stood on-end, there is little vertical load and the pillars are smaller.

If we follow the tour exactly as mapped, we should take a right turn at Binnewater Road shortly after passing under the trestle. However, if you wish to learn more about the cement industry, then you are encouraged to visit the Century House Historical Society. Ahead of us is the Fifth Binnewater Lake, home to Williams Lake Resort (private property). In 1996 The Kingston Business Park was nearly delayed by the discovery of an Indiana bat. Once numbering in the millions, they sank to a population low of 400,000 A subsequent field survey of the area revealed three large populations of the federally endangered species in three mines on the 700 acre Williams Lake property. In 1999, the resort set aside 426-acres to conserve critical Indiana Bat habitat. If you detoured by going straight through the four-way intersection, return to Keator's Corners and turn left onto Breezy Hill Road.

Travel 7/8 of a mile (1.5 km) and turn left onto Whiteport Road. Travel another 3/4 mile (1.2 km) to find a cement kiln on the right side of the road. It is the first of three that have been circled in blue in both figures Figure 10BandFigure 11. A little further along, the other two kilns are on the left side. The drawing from Beers 1875 Atlas shown in Figure 10A has been transcribed onto the USGS Map in Figure 12 (it comes after the Thurway Underpass). Figure 10A shows an impressive bank of kilns not visible from the road and the Greenkill. "Kill" is Dutch for stream and green is the color that is characteristic of the Binnewater Lakes (and most karst, or limestone drainages). These three figures may help you imagine how such a prodigious industry would have transformed the now-quiet countryside. Notice how the railroads of the Newark & Rosendale Company tie-in to the Wallkill Valley Railroad.

A little more than half a mile (1 km) past the Thruway Underpass, we reach Beyersdorfer Road, where we turn left. We are immediately confronted with Route 32. We turn left onto Rt 32 (northbound) and turn left again at the bottom of the hill, 100 yards (100m) later. DeWitt Mills Road is the road that opposes the road that we have just turned onto. The Greenkill flows along the right side of our route, here. The former location of the Dewitt Mill, which ground floor for the Continentals during the Revolution, is upon the Greenkill on the opposite side of the intersection. Continuing along, passing a pond we look to our left to see a section of mine railroad that ran atop a manmade berme that created a continuous gradient along its course. It is part of the 3 1/2 mile (5.8 km) horse-drawn railroad from the mines in Whiteport to the joint venture mills in Eddyville.

We ascend a hill now, and immediately after the apex, there is an intersection. We bear left, to follow Mountain Road. Another section of bermed railroad is visible on the side of the hill to our left just after the intersection. Two mining companies situated right against the base of a mountain of cement rock would not build a mile railroad unless it was necessary. It was necessary because the whole length of Fly Mountain had been worked-out. In fact, all the hills that our little sojourn wound its way around are all hollow.