“The rock quarry workman’s shed is seen on top of Hook Mountain and the Rockland Lake lighthouse is visible in the Hudson River. The rock formation in this picture is a good example of the Palisades Sill which was formed from the solidified magma during the Triassic period.”
Source: Robert C. Maher, author “Images of America: Rockland Lake, Hook Mountain and Nyack Beach” Acadia Publishing
Those “peaceful places to walk, bike, swim, fish, hawk watch, observe nature” are just up the road form Nyack. But for 100 years preceeding 1930, Rockland Lake, Hook Mountain and Nyack Beach were major producers of natural ice and traprock. A new book by Robert C. Maher Jr., founder of The Friends of Rockland Lake and Hook Mountain, chronicles the history of three New York State Parks through a collection of vintage images.
Maher will be hosting the first book release with ice sculptures, ice tools and other memorabilia at Rockland Lake State Park Championship Golf Course Club House on Sun Jan 26 at 1p.
Rockland Lake, the only natural spring-fed lake located entirely in Rockland County, was world famous “back in the day” for its pure “blue ice.” Circa 1910, the now-extinct village of Rockland Lake became a popular day-trip destination for steamboats from New York City and an active summer community.
In 1965, following its decline as a resort community and with the advent of refrigeration, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission purchased and developed the area into what is now known as Rockland Lake State Park. Today, the PIPC parks of Nyack Beach, Hook Mountain, and Rockland Lake are some of the most visited in New York.
Maher’s book, “Images of America: Rockland Lake, Hook Mountain and Nyack Beach,” is a collection of images provided by private collections, the Nyack Library archives, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, and the Rockland County Historical Society. For more information and to read an except from the book, visit Acadia Publishing.
See also:
- Ghost Town: The Lost Village of Rockland Lake, 10/23/2011
- The Long and Winding Trail: Nyack Beach State Park, Post-Sandy, 9/2/2013
- Lights, Camera, Action in Nyack, Piermont and Rockland, 8/2/2011
