Pollepel Island. Today we traveled to an anchorage that is tucked behind an island in the river. What makes this special is a cool ruined “castle” on the island. I don’t know the history of the castle but as soon as I get internet I plan on checking it out. The view is spectacular.
We have discovered the cruising guides of the Erie Canal and Hudson River are really lacking. They give you some information but it never seems to be enough. We have generally worked off 2-3 guides, a nautical chart and a road map!

Here's a little history:

Francis Bannerman (Frank) was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1851 and came to the United States to live in Brooklyn, at the age of three. His father took up the business of selling goods at Navy auction. Young Frank, while still in school, began to collect scrap from the harbor, then full of sailing ships. He was so successful at this that it soon became a business. At the end of the Civil War he increased his wares by buying surplus stock at government auctions. This source continued even after the Spanish American War. In 1872, on a buying trip to Ireland, he met and married Helen Boyce. Subsequently they had three sons; Francis Vll and David Boyce joined him in the business, and Walter became a doctor.

The business, known everywhere as "Bannerman's" was founded in 1865 in Brooklyn. As more and more material was acquired, it moved several times, it finally arrived at 501 Broadway, in Manhattan. From the Spanish War so much equipment and ammunition was bought that the laws of the city forced them to look for storage outside the city limits.

By Chance while canoeing on the Hudson, David Bannerman noted the island. The Bannermans purchased it from the Taft family in 1900 as a safe storage site. Mr. Bannerman began construction on a simulated Scottish castle and simple residence in 1901.

Equipment of every description as well as ammunition were shipped there for storage until sold. Although Frank Bannerman was a munitions dealer, he titled himself to be a man of peace. He wrote in his catalogues that he hoped that his collection of arms would someday be known as "The Museum of the Lost Arts". He was a devoted church goer, a member of the St. Andrews Society, founder of the Caledonian Hospital, and active in a boy's club - often taking them on trips to the island in the summer months. In W.W.I he contributed cannons; uniforms, and blankets, to the U.S. government. Frank and Helen Bannerman used the house on the island as a summer residence. Mrs. Bannerman, a successful gardener, enhanced the paths and terraces with wonderful flowers and shrubs, some which still exist today.

Many tales both serious and comic have been told about this place over the years, some recounted in a pamphlet by Frank's grandson Charles, who wrote prophetically in 1962 - five years before the island was sold to the Taconic Park Commission, and seven years before the great fire that caused such destruction

"No one can tell what associations and incidents will involve the island in the future. Time, the elements, and maybe even the goblins of the island will take their toll of some of the turrets and towers, and perhaps eventually the castle itself, but the little island will always have it's place in history and in legend and will be forever a jewel in it's Hudson Highland setting."