In the late 18th-century, before the Revolutionary War and before the Proprietors founded Hudson, what is now the part of the city nearest the river was known as Claverack Landing. There were two wharves at the river, and a road known as the "waggon-way," which followed the path of the present-day Partition Street, connected the river to Claverack and the farms to the east. Wagonloads of agricultural and manufactured goods came from those farms and were transferred to river sloops that sailed from Claverack Landing downriver to markets in New York City.
On Friday morning, Gossips came upon a 21st-century scene that recalled those early days at Claverack Landing. Malt, produced by Hudson Valley Malt, from grains grown locally and organically, using techniques not commonly employed since the 19th-century, was being unloaded from the back of a pickup truck parked at Rick's Point in Henry Hudson Riverfront Park. The malt was in 50-pound bags, each labeled with the name of the brewery where it was bound, as well as the variety of malt and the name of the farm where the grain had been grown. On Friday, most of the malt was heading to breweries in Queens, although one shipment was going to Sing Sing Kill Brewery in Ossining.
Once all the bags of malt had been unloaded from the truck, they were reloaded onto a kind of flatbed trailer attached to a bicycle and thus were transported to the dock, where the cargo sailboat Apollonia was waiting.
At the dock, the bags were released, one by one, down a sailcloth slide onto the schooner.
Yesterday, more goods were loaded onto the Apollonia before the wind-powered schooner set off on its downriver journey.
Today, the Apollonia is making its first delivery in Kingston, at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. The entire schedule of its current voyage, downriver to New York City and back, can be found here. COPYRIGHT 2021 CAROLE OSTERINK
Beautiful! Good going Sam.
ReplyDeletethe wave of the future - and the least consuming way to transport goods. bravo
ReplyDeleteI don’t understand why this sentimental re-enactment is so great. In the old days, food in general was very expensive.
ReplyDeleteThis was caused in part by poor economics of scale in farming, and bad transportation. Granola hooey!
The reenactment will not do anything to effect farming or food production, but it helps people to feel better who otherwise feel helpless, so you could say that's what is good about it. It may also help to inspire others to make small changes in lifestyle that cumulatively may have some miniscule impact. The documentation may also help the managers of the project to collect donations and grant money that can be use to create more projects that will make more people feel better and/or provide an income stream for the sentimental sailors, organic beer drinkers and granola eaters. It's a form of social protest that does not crimp a privileged upscale lifestyle. Like a pseudo hippie with a trust fund, who lives on an organic hemp farm in a prefabricated solar mini house.
DeleteJust so you know, this is not a "reenactment." The comparison between the 18th-century Claverack Landing and this 21st-century enterprise was mine alone.
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