Files relating to acquisition of the Bear Mountain Bridge

A3162-85:Arranged by subject.

A3162-97:Numerical.

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.

Collation date ca. 1939-1942.

A3162-85: Series received from Greene County Historical Society after it acquired the records of the law firm that represented the Bridge Authority.

A3162-97: This accretion resulted from a project undertaken by Archives staff in 1997 to accession or reintegrate estrayed or unidentified records. Provenance is unknown, but views of the Bear Mountain Bridge suggest attribution to this series.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.