Kenridge Farm
Cornwall, Orange County, NY
178 acres
No pets.

Saved from development by The Scenic Hudson Land Trust, Inc., and leased to the Museum of the Hudson Highlands.

Directions:

From intersection of Angola Road and Route 9W, follow Route 9W south for 0.25 miles. Entrance on right.

Or driving north on Route 9W make a left turn across the highway at mileage marker 1107 (in other words, 10.7 miles above the Bear Mountain traffic circle). (You will pass West Point, Crow's Nest parking, Storm King parking, and Black Rock Forest.)

Geology:

Canterbury Brook begins as a pure mountain spring along the upper trails.  It flows into Muskrat Pond and then spills over the dam and down into the Kenridge Farm Meadows.  It then flows under Route 9W and Continental Road.  It passes along a golf course and through Cornwall and then past West Point, through a rocky glen, and then into a tidal marsh of Moodna Creek. 

History:

1684 -- Patrick McGregorie, a Scotsman, settled with a fellow countryman on land they had purchased from the Indians. Unfortunately, they failed to perfect the title by patent and the land was given to Captain John Evans. After that the tract reverted to empty land.

early 1700's -- the land used as pasture land for sheep.

1812 -- land used extensively for farming.

1850's -- original farmhouse and barn built.

1859 -- Justus Sackett, a farmer, was owner of the land.

1863 -- Alonzo A. Alvord sold the land to Lewis Beach, a lawyer and a legislator in the House of Representatives. He was also author of the first history of Cornwall. He built a racetrack fro horses and held horse competitions here.

1879 -- 80 acres of the land was sold to Cornelius Van Ness.

1885? -- Mrs. Van Ness died; her husband renamed the two-story mansion here "The Angel House" in her memory.

1889 -- a young woman by the name of Alice Woods fell from her bike in front of the mansion and was brought to the house for recuperation; Cornelius Van Ness married her. The much younger new wife was ostracized by the neighbors and the couple soon left the house.

1890's -- financier-banker James Stillman (1850-1918) transforms Kenridge Farm into a breeding ranch for Black Angus and Jersey cattle. Stillman was a banker and financier who formed partnerships with industrialists such as William Rockefeller of Standard Oil. He became president of the National City Bank in 1891. The financial institution he left at his death was the foremost commercial bank in the country with assets to the $1 billion mark. His son, Dr. Ernest Stillman, was a noted conservationist (see Black Rock Forest entry on this website).

after 1912 -- son, Charles Chauncey Stillman, develops the farm into a horse farm. He begins raising prize-winning Morgan Horses. 

1920's -- Storm King Kennel Club dog show held at Kenridge Farm.

1926 -- Charles Chauncey Stillman dies; Elizabeth Stillman inherits the land from her father.

1930 -- Elizabeth marries Langbourne M. Williams.

1963 -- Stillman donates the land to the Archdiocese of New York. After 1963 the farm was known as the Spanish Mission.

1983 -- the farm was bought by the Canterbury Brook Development Company for the purpose of development.

1993 -- Scenic Hudson purchases the farm. Later leases it to Museum of the Hudson Highlands for education in cultural and natural history and the natural sciences.

Habitats:

meadows, wetlands, Muskrat Pond, woodlands, mountains

Facilities:

Nature trails, picnicking.

Trails:

The place reminds me a bit of Muscoot Farm (without the farm animals that is). There are fields and woods trails. A plus is that the area is beautifully framed by Sackett Ridge.

There are two main ponds on the property: Goose Pond (the front pond) and Muskrat Pond (the back pond). The old road takes one past both ponds. Behind the main buildings is a trail named in memory of Esty Stowell, who loved and hiked the Hudson Highlands.

7/31/03. I go via the Esty Stowell trail south through a cut in the field; go southwest along a stone wall on the left; fork in the path off to the right (I go straight), now southeast; a huge number of Ailanthus trees here; go west over two bridges; come to a T-intersection, go right, northwest; path on the left which I ignore; go downhill to an alley between stone walls on both sides of the path; come to Muskrat Pond on the right; there is a small building with the name "sugar shack" on it; continue north/northwest through fields; come to a sign "Birthplace of the Environmental Movement" about the movement to save Storm King (to the left of the sign in the background); path forks; I go left; come to Angola Road (Route 9) near the Cromwell Manor Historic Inn, 1764-1820; head back to Muskrat Pond; head around the pond on a rough path, but is abruptly comes to an end; go back to Muskrat Pond; head south; field on the right; ignored a path off to the left; come to Goose Pond (should be Goose Ponds) with its many viewing platforms; here is the wetlands trail around the area; head back to the main buildings.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = 7/31/03, date plant found in bloom

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula nigra (river birch) planted?
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Catalpa sp. (catalpa)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubrum (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (willow)
Salix sp. (weeping willow)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Berberis thunbergii (purple-leaved Japanese barberry)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Forsythia sp. (golden bells)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Juniperus sp. (Juniper bushes) planted
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rosa palustris (swamp rose) *
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Salix discolor (pussy willow)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)

Vines:
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed)
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed) *
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Menispermum canadense (moonseed)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Polygonum scandens (climbing false buckwheat) *
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow) *
Alisma sp. (water plantain) * waning
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) *
Allium vineale (field garlic) *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (ragweed)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp) *
Arctium minus (lesser burdock)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) *
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) *
Asparagus officinalis (asparagus)
Bidens sp. (beggar tick)
Callitriche sp. (water starwort)
Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed) *
Centaurea sp. (hybrid knapweed) *
Chelidonium majus (celandine) *
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy) *
Cichorium intybus (chicory) *
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle) *
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle) *
Conyza canadensis (horseweed)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) *
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) *
Echium vulgare (viper's bugloss)
Erigeron annua (common daisy fleabane) *
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset) *
Euphorbia cyparissias (cypress spurge)
Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge) *
Euphorbia maculata (spotted spurge)
Euphorbia nutans (upright eyebane)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod) *
Gallium mollugo (wild madder) *
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens) *
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Hypericum perforatum (common St. Johnswort) *
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) *
Iris sp. (Blue or yellow flag)
Lapsana communis (nipplewort) *
Lemna sp. (duckweed)
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort) *
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) *
Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco) *
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil) *
Ludwigia palustris (water purslane)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) *
Matricaria matricarioides (pineapple weed) *
Medicago lupulina (black medick) *
Mentha spicata (spearmint) *
Mimulus ringens (monkey flower) *
Nepeta cataria (catnip) *
Nuphar variegata (spatterdock) *
Nymphaea odorata (fragrant white water lily) *
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed) *
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) *
Plantago major (common plantain)
Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum hydropiper (water pepper) *
Polygonum sagittatum (arrowhead tearthumb)
Portulaca oleracea (common purslane) *
Potentilla argentea (silvery cinquefoil) *
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) *
Rubus odoratus (purple flowering raspberry) *
Rudbeckia pulcherrima (black-eyed Susan) *
Rumex orbiculatus (broad dock)
Saponaria officinalis (bouncing bet) *
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil) *
Scutellaria lateriflora (mad-dog skullcap) *
Silene latifolia (white campion) *
Sisymbrium officinale (hedge mustard) *
Solanum carolinense (horse nettle) *
Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) *
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod) * soon
Solidago spp. (goldenrod)
Sparganium sp. (burreed) *
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Teucrium canadense (American germander) *
Thlaspi sp. (pennycress)
Trifolium aureum (yellow clover)
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *
Trifolium repens (white clover) *
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail
Verbascum blattaria (moth mullein) *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein) *
Verbena hastata (blue vervain) *
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain) *
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)
Vicia cracca (cow vetch) *
Viola sp. (Violet)
Wolffia sp. (Water meal) ?

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex crinita (sedge)
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered sedge type)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Carex sp. like lurida, but shorter, thicker infl
Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge)
Eleocharis sp. (spike rush)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)
Scirpus validus (soft stem bulrush)

Grasses:
Bromus tectorum (downy chess)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Eleusine indica (goose grass)
Elytrigia repens (quack grass)
Holcus lanatus (velvet grass)
Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass)
Phleum pratense (timothy grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purpletop or grease grass)

Ferns:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris intermedia (fancy woodfern)
Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern)