We first learned about the old Putnam Railroad (the “Old Put”) from MatthewCat's Tarrytown Lake Chasm geocache. As avid train lovers and geocachers, we started digging.
We learned about the interesting history of the long-gone single-track Putnam train line, its “Tarrytown loop”, the Tarrytown Heights train station, and its demise by the Rockefellers. Now, the train tracks have been converted to amazing rails-to-trails paths around Tarrytown’s beautiful lakes and forests.
More history:
1: Tarrytown Heights to Tower Hill – Old Putnam Line (local historian)
2: Tarrytown Lakes Trails (guide and history of the trails)
On an old map, we noticed something unexplored in our online readings: a trail track leading to an “ice house” on the Tarrytown lakes. Long ago in the winters, ice was cut from frozen Tarrytown Lakes tops and stored in hay in the ice house. The Putnam line brought the ice to Eastview Station for people to use in their home ice boxes (before electric refrigerators). The Eastview Station served the small town of Eastview, now only an exit on the Saw Mill River Parkway. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., bought the town's properties for $700-850,000 in 1929, and demolished them. He relocated the rail line, sending it north and closing down the Tarrytown loop. The Tarrytown Heights station site is now the parking area at the south end of the upper reservoir, used by hikers and bikers to access the trail on the Old Putnam Line.
The area looked a little different at the beginning of the 20th century:
Upon exploring the area in person, we found an old railbed and a dirt path diverting from the North County Extension Trail (formally the Tarrytown loop railbed)...it was the old railbed leading to the old ice house!...Let’s follow it! At the end, we didn't notice anything of note. As we backtracked, we discovered something unusual...a clear old stone foundation. Could it be the northeast corner of the Old Put’s Ice House?! We think so!
Enjoy the history and views, and tell us what you think!
The cache is NOT in any rock wall or rock foundation.