1.
State park
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State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use state as a political subdivision. State parks are established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U. S. state, some of the Mexican states, the term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, in general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. As of 2014, there were 10,234 state park units in the United States, there are some 739 million annual visits to the countrys state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles of trail,217,367 campsites, many states include designations beyond state park in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas, state beaches, some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, however several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by the state of Georgia as a park since 1825. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its forests as The State Park but, needing money. The first state park with the designation of state park was Mackinac Island State Park in 1895, list of U. S. state parks National Association of State Park Directors Wilderness preservation systems in the United States Ahlgren, Carol. The Civilian Conservation Corps and Wisconsin State Park Development, the State Park Movement in America, A Critical Review excerpt and text search Larson, Zeb. Silver Falls State Park and the Early Environmental Movement, oregon Historical Quarterly 112#1 pp, 34-57 in JSTOR Newton, Norman T. When Forests Trumped Parks, The Maryland Experience, 1906-1950, Maryland Historical Magazine 101#2 pp, 203-224
2.
Valley Cottage, New York
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Valley Cottage is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located northeast of West Nyack, northwest of Central Nyack east of Bardonia, south of Congers, the population was 9,107 at the 2010 census. Valley Cottage is located at 41°7′4″N 73°56′33″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.3 square miles, all land. At the census of 2000, there were 9,269 people,3,347 households, the population density was 2,168.7 per square mile. There were 3,410 housing units at a density of 797. 9/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 82. 16% White,3. 59% African American,0. 09% Native American,9. 81% Asian,0. 13% Pacific Islander,1. 89% from other races, and 2. 34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6. 71% of the population,23. 8% of all households were made up of individuals and 6. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the family size was 3.20. In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 20. 9% under the age of 18,6. 5% from 18 to 24,29. 0% from 25 to 44,28. 8% from 45 to 64, the median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 91.7 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $75,828, males had a median income of $51,718 versus $41,653 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $33,181, about 1. 4% of families and 2. 7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2. 5% of those under age 18 and 1. 7% of those age 65 or over. The first known resident of Valley Cottage was John Ryder, who owned a farm which comprised all or most of the areas school district. The post office was first opened at the Valley Cottage Station in 1892, on Sunday, May 16,2010, a dedication ceremony and celebration was hosted by the Town of Clarkstown for the Valley Cottage Hamlet Green. The town hopes the park become the focal point of the hamlet. On December 7,2010, The Valley Cottage Indians Junior Midgets Small Novice Cheerleading team won the championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando. On March 17,2014, the Valley Cottage Fire Department celebrated its 100th anniversary, according to George H. Burkes book Rockland County during the American Revolution, 1776–1781, Valley Cottage was once known as Storms Corner. Valley Cottage Animal Hospital have been an AAHA-accredited hospital since 1989 and is the animal hospital to earn this prestigious designation in the New York metropolitan area. S
3.
Congers, New York
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Congers is an affluent, suburban hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Valley Cottage, east of New City, across Lake DeForest, south of Haverstraw and it lies 19 miles north of New York Citys Bronx boundary. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 8,363, Congers is located at 41°8′47″N 73°56′39″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 3.9 square miles. Congers is adjacent to Rockland Lake State Park, along the Hudson River, as of the census of 2000, there were 8,303 people,2,695 households, and 2,244 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,635.9 per square mile, there were 2,743 housing units at an average density of 870. 8/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 85. 2% White,1. 8% African American,0. 2% Native American,8. 6% Asian,0. 1% Pacific Islander,2. 1% from other races, and 2. 0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7. 6% of the population, estimated median household income in 2008, $99,833 making it one of the highest earning CDPs in the county. 13. 3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 3.05 and the average family size was 3.36. In the CDP, the population was out with 26. 1% under the age of 18,6. 9% from 18 to 24,29. 7% from 25 to 44,26. 6% from 45 to 64. The median age was 38 years, for every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.6 males, conger, was settled in the late 17th century by Dutch, German and English settlers and was known as Cedar Grove Corner and then Waldberg, which in German means forest mountain. In the 19th century the Congers railroad station, three churches, a school, the firehouse and the Central and Globe hotels were built, the first floor of the then Globe hotel on the southeastern corner of Congers Road is presently the Last Chance Saloon. The Clarktown Dutch Reformed Church still stands at the corner of Congers Road, Kings Highway was the first major road in the county and for many years the only road from New York to Albany. DeForest Lake, built in 1955/6, was named after Henry L. Deforest, President of the Spring Valley Works, several roads are named after Union Civil War generals, including Grant, Burnside, Sheridan, Sherman, and Rosecrans Avenues. Catholics in Congers were initially attended from St. Peters Church in Haverstraw, Rev. Thomas McGare of St. Peters built St Pauls Church on Lake Road built in the early 1890s. It was Clarkstowns first Catholic church, in 1901 Rev. John A. Nageleisen built mission stations in Rockland Lake, Bardonia, and New City. Gilchrest Road, New York crossing accident Congers has two schools, Congers Elementary and Lakewood Elementary
4.
Rockland County, New York
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Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U. S. state of New York, part of the New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat is New City, the name derives from rocky land, as the area was described by early Dutch and English settlers. Rockland County is the smallest county by area in New York State outside of New York City and it comprises five towns and nineteen incorporated villages, with numerous unincorporated villages and hamlets. Rockland County is designated as a Preserve America Community, and roughly one-third of the county is parkland, the county has the largest Jewish population per capita of any U. S. county, with 31. 4%, or 90,000 residents, being Jewish. Rockland also ranks 9th on the list of counties by median household income in the United States with $75,306 according to the 2000 census. In 2015, Suffern was named as the best place to start a business in New York by NerdWallet, NerdWallet also included the villages of Haverstraw, West Haverstraw and Spring Valley in their report. On February 14,2017 Edwin J. Day, County Executive of Rockland County proclaim February 14,2017 as Rockland County Local History Day, the area that would become Rockland County was originally inhabited by Algonquian-speaking Aboriginals, including Munsees, or Lenni Lenape. The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle in the area and these settlers, eager to escape city life, moved from Manhattan to Rockland. A number of unique Dutch-style red sandstone houses still stand, when the Duke of York established the first twelve counties of New York in 1683, present-day Rockland County was part of Orange County known then as Orange County South of the Mountains. Orangetown was created at the time under a royal grant. Around this time, as the English began to colonize Nyack and Tappan, the natural barrier of the Ramapo Mountains and the size of the county made it difficult to carry out governmental activities. At one point there were twin governments, one on side of the Ramapo Mountains. For this reason, Rockland split off from Orange in 1798 to form its own county and that same year the county seat was transferred from Tappan to New City, where a new courthouse was built. Haverstraw was separated from Orangetown in 1719 and became a town in 1788, it included the present-day Clarkstown, Ramapo, Clarkstown and Ramapo became towns in 1791, followed by Stony Point in 1865. George Washington had headquarters for a time at John Sufferns tavern, British Major John André met with American traitor Benedict Arnold near Stony Point to buy the plans for the fortifications at West Point. André was captured with the plans in Tarrytown on his way back to the British lines, he was brought to Tappan for trial in the Tappan church, found guilty, two days later Washington visited Sir Guy aboard a British war vessel. On this day the Kings Navy fired its first salute to the flag of the United States of America, in the decades following the Revolution, Rockland became popular for its stone and bricks. These products, however, required quarrying in land that many believed should be set aside as a preserve
5.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
6.
Hudson River
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The Hudson River is a 315-mile river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York in the United States. The river originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York, flows through the Hudson Valley, the river serves as a political boundary between the states of New Jersey and New York, and further north between New York counties. The lower half of the river is a tidal estuary occupying the Hudson Fjord, tidal waters influence the Hudsons flow from as far north as Troy. The river is named after Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch East India Company, who explored it in 1609, and after whom Canadas Hudson Bay is also named. The Dutch called the river the North River – with the Delaware River called the South River –, during the eighteenth century, the river valley and its inhabitants were the subject and inspiration of Washington Irving, the first internationally acclaimed American author. In the nineteenth century, the area inspired the Hudson River School of landscape painting, the Hudson was also the eastern outlet for the Erie Canal, which, when completed in 1825, became an important transportation artery for the early-19th-century United States. The source of the Hudson River is Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondack Park at an altitude of 4,322 feet, the river is not cartographically called the Hudson River until miles downstream. From that point on, the stream is known as the Hudson River. Popular culture and convention, however, more often cite the photogenic Lake Tear of the Clouds as the source, South of the confluence of Indian Pass Brook and Calamity Brook, the Hudson River flows south into Sanford Lake. South of the outlet of the lake, the Opalescent River flows into the Hudson, the Hudson then flows south, taking in Beaver Brook and the outlet of Lake Harris. After its confluence with the Indian River, the Hudson forms the boundary between Essex and Hamilton counties, in the hamlet of North River, the Hudson flows entirely in Warren County and takes in the Schroon River. Further south, the forms the boundary between Warren and Saratoga Counties. The river then takes in the Sacandaga River from the Great Sacandaga Lake, shortly thereafter, the river leaves the Adirondack Park, flows under Interstate 87, and through Glens Falls, just south of Lake George although receiving no streamflow from the lake. It next goes through Hudson Falls, at this point the river forms the boundary between Washington and Saratoga Counties. At this point the river has an altitude of 200 feet, further south the Hudson takes in water from the Batten Kill River and Fish Creek near Schuylerville. The river then forms the boundary between Saratoga and Rensselaer counties, the river then enters the heart of the Capital District. It takes in water from the Hoosic River, which extends into Massachusetts, shortly thereafter the river has its confluence with the Mohawk River, the largest tributary of the Hudson River, in Waterford. Shortly thereafter, the river reaches the Federal Dam in Troy, at an elevation of 2 feet, the bottom of the dam marks the beginning of the tidal influence in the Hudson as well as the beginning of the lower Hudson River
7.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
8.
Golf course
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A golf course is the grounds where the game of golf is played. It comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a ground, a fairway, the rough and other hazards. A standard round of golf consists of 18 holes, most courses contain 18 holes, some share fairways or greens, and a subset has nine holes, played twice per round. Par-3 courses consist of nine or 18 holes all of which have a par of three strokes, many older courses are links, often coastal. Courses are private, public, and municipally owned, and typically feature a pro shop, many private courses are found at country clubs. Although a specialty within landscape design or landscape architecture, golf course architecture is considered a field of study. While golf courses often follow the landscape, some modification is unavoidable. This is increasingly the case as new courses are likely to be sited on less optimal land. Bunkers and sand traps are almost always artificial, although other hazards may be natural, the layout of a fairway follows certain traditional principles, such as the number of holes, their par values, and the number of holes of each par value per course. It is also preferable to arrange greens to be close to the tee box of the next hole, to minimize travel distance while playing a round. Combined with the need to all the fairways within what is frequently a compact square or rectangular plot of land. In complex areas, two holes may share the same tee box, fairway, or even green and it is also common for separate tee-off points to be positioned for men, women, and amateurs, each one respectively lying closer to the green. Eighteen-hole courses are traditionally broken down into a front 9 and a back 9. On older courses, the holes may be out in one long loop, beginning and ending at the clubhouse, and thus the front 9 is referred to on the scorecard as out. More recent courses tend to be designed with the front 9, a successful design is as visually pleasing as it is playable. Most golf courses have only par-3, -4, and -5 holes, typical distances for the various holes from standard tees are as follows. Terrain can also be a factor, so that a long downhill hole might be rated par 4 and this compensates for the generally longer distance pro players can put on tee and fairway shots as compared to the average bogey golfer. The game of golf is played in what is called a round and this consists of playing a set number of holes in an order predetermined by the course
9.
United States Geological Survey
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The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its resources. The organization has four science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology. The USGS is a research organization with no regulatory responsibility. The USGS is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior, the USGS employs approximately 8,670 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The USGS also has major offices near Lakewood, Colorado, at the Denver Federal Center, the current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is science for a changing world. The agencys previous slogan, adopted on the occasion of its anniversary, was Earth Science in the Public Service. Prompted by a report from the National Academy of Sciences, the USGS was created, by a last-minute amendment and it was charged with the classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain. This task was driven by the need to inventory the vast lands added to the United States by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the legislation also provided that the Hayden, Powell, and Wheeler surveys be discontinued as of June 30,1879. Clarence King, the first director of USGS, assembled the new organization from disparate regional survey agencies, after a short tenure, King was succeeded in the directors chair by John Wesley Powell. Administratively, it is divided into a Headquarters unit and six Regional Units, Other specific programs include, Earthquake Hazards Program monitors earthquake activity worldwide. The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines detects the location, the USGS also runs or supports several regional monitoring networks in the United States under the umbrella of the Advanced National Seismic System. The USGS informs authorities, emergency responders, the media, and it also maintains long-term archives of earthquake data for scientific and engineering research. It also conducts and supports research on long-term seismic hazards, USGS has released the UCERF California earthquake forecast. The USGS National Geomagnetism Program monitors the magnetic field at magnetic observatories and distributes magnetometer data in real time, the USGS operates the streamgaging network for the United States, with over 7400 streamgages. Real-time streamflow data are available online, since 1962, the Astrogeology Research Program has been involved in global, lunar, and planetary exploration and mapping. USGS operates a number of related programs, notably the National Streamflow Information Program. USGS Water data is available from their National Water Information System database
10.
Saratoga National Historical Park
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Saratoga National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in the Town of Stillwater in eastern New York, forty miles north of Albany. The park preserves the site of the Battles of Saratoga, the park preserves the site of the Battles of Saratoga, the first significant American military victory of the American Revolutionary War. The Visitors Center offers a 20-minute orientation film, fiber-optic light map, timeline, a brochure is available for a self-guided tour of sites in the four-square-mile battlefield in Stillwater. General Philip Schuylers Schuyler House is located eight miles north in Schuylerville and it is a restored house museum open by tour. The Saratoga Monument is in the village of Victory. The park is located on the upper Hudson River southeast of Saratoga Springs and it contains the famous Boot Monument to Benedict Arnold, the only war memorial in the United States that does not bear the name of its honoree. The Marshall House, on the National Register of Historic Places, lies eight miles north of the entrance to the park on U. S. Route 4. It was made famous by Baroness Frederika Riedesel in her Letters and Journals relating to the War of the American Revolution, and this house was built in 1770-1773. During the closing days of the Battles of Saratoga, Baroness Riedesel sheltered there together with the wives of officers of the British army, the Marshall House was bombarded by the Americans who supposed it an enemy headquarters. Within are conserved cannonballs and other reminders of the ordeal suffered by those who took refuge there, the Marshall House is the sole surviving structure in the battles area. Lossing, Benson J. Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, I, Letters and Journals relating to the War of the American Revolution, and the Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga, by Mrs. General Riedesel. National Park Service, Saratoga National Historical Park Saratoga, The Tide Turns on the Frontier, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places lesson plan The Marshall House website
