MID HUDSON

Bannerman's Island

http://www.bannermancastle.org/

The Bannerman Castle Trust, Inc.

Dock Located at: 2 Red Flynn Drive, Beacon, NY

Hours: The BCT’s 44-passenger tour boat, the RV Estuary Steward, is in operation on weekends, most holidays, and many Friday evenings from late spring through early fall each year.  All tours depart from the Beacon, NY Hudson River dock located across from the Metro-North Train Station.

Admission: Tickets must be purchased through the website. $45. Tours are about 2.5 hours long.

 Phone: 845-831-1001

 

Historical Description: 

Pollepel Island, now known as Bannerman’s Island was suspected of being haunted by the local Indians and became a refuge for early Dutch settlers. It also marked the end of the difficult navigational passage through the Hudson Highlands. Francis Bannerman, an ammunition and government surplus dealer bought the island, from the Taft Family, in 1900, while looking for safe storage after being forced to leave Manhattan. Built as a Scottish Castle at the height of the Gilded Age, the island was a storage site for equipment of every description as well as ammunition. In addition, the Bannerman Family used the island for their summer residence. In 1967, the island was sold to the Taconic Park Commission.

 

The Site: 

Bannerman Castle was built on Pollepel Island which sits like a sentinel in the gap between Breakneck Ridge and Storm King Mountain and can only be reached by a boat with a shallow draft due to the depth of the water surrounding the island even at high tide. The tour includes a new film featuring renowned stage and screen actress, Jane Alexander, who narrates the early history of the Bannerman Island. The Bannerman Island – Hudson Highlands State Park walking tour requires walking up and down 72 steps, steep inclines and sometimes rough trails.