Research

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, memoranda, working papers, and supporting documents relating to the purchase of the Bear Mountain Bridge by the Bridge Authority. The legislature authorized the Authority to purchase the bridge from the Bear Mountain Hudson River Bridge Company in 1840.

These records were maintained by the law firm retained as counsel to the Authority, Osborn, Bloodgood, Wilbur and Fray of Catskill, New York. They provide information on meetings of the Authority to approve purchase of the bridge, title searches conducted for the bridge and land under and around it, the bond issue that financed the purchase, closing of the sale, and settlement of the issue of many documents dating back to 1922 when the Bear Mountain Hudson River Bridge Company was incorporated and authorized to construct and operate the bridge.

A3162-97: A curious apparent subset of the series is a group of 23 black-and-white photographs of views from the Perkins Memorial Drive and the Perkins Memorial Tower on Bear Mountain, New York. Although most of the views are labeled, the photos are undated and unattributed, and the reason they were taken is unknown. They may have provided documentation of the existing road and overlook for planning or maintenance work on the scenic drive.