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Around The World: A Sleepy Hollow Halloween
Jennifer Merin
"Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who
have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts
concerning this spectre, allege that the body of the trooper, having
been buried in the church-yard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of
battle in nightly quest of his head; and that the rushing speed with
which he sometimes passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is
owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the
church-yard before daybreak." - Washington Irving in The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow
Anyone who’s read Washington Irving’s haunting tale can imagine that Halloween floats into Sleepy Hollow with a rich array of ghostly tourist events, many of them based on or located at sites associated with the story of the Headless Horseman and the author who penned his tale.
Using the story as a guide map, you can experience a wonderfully entertaining and spooky road tour. Most of the tale’s locations are located within a radius of a few miles, some are in such close proximity that they’re within walking distance of each other.
For starters, you can easily trace Ichabod Crane's famous ride up the Albany Post Road (it’s now Route 9, Broadway). There are at present several suggested sites for the Van Tassel farm, but the most popular assumption is that it Washington Irving was thinking of the former Elizabeth Van Tassel house, which was located at what is now the northeast corner of Hamilton Place and North Broadway in Tarrytown. The site is now occupied by the Landmark Condominium building.
If you continue walking (or driving) north from site of the Elizabeth Van Tassel house, for about 0.3 mile on Route 9 (North Broadway), you get to the André Captors' Monument in Patriots Park, the spot where Ichabod Crane was met by the Headless Horseman.
Actually, the marshy terrain described by Washington Irving has been drained, but there is still a stream that flows through Patriot Park. André Captors' Monument marks the historic place where on John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart captured British spy John André and exposed Benedict Arnold's treasonous attempt to turn over West Point to the British. That was on September 23, 1780, years before Washington Irving wrote “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,“ but it is the same location where Ichabod encountered the sentry. The place isn’t all that spooky now--well, not in daylight--but you can, if you want to exercise your imagination, make a mad dash, as did Ichabod, along Broadway until you reach the Old Dutch Church. It‘s about 0.6 mile away.
The yard of the Old Dutch Church is where Ichabod sought refuge from the Headless Horsemen. The adjacent Sleepy Hollow Cemetery had not been established at the time Washington Irving wrote this famous tale. The historic burying ground is the final resting place for actual historic figures who were probably role models for Washington Irving’s characters--Katrina Van Tassel, Brom Bones and others in the story--and is also believed to be the main haunting place of a headless Hessian soldier--or the Headless Horseman. You can learn all about the graveyard‘s real and ethereal inhabitants while taking interpretive tours guided by the Friends of the Old Dutch Burying Ground, offered free from Memorial Day Weekend through the end of October, on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. (meet in the churchyard). Or you can take a self-guided tour using the fold out map at the center of “Tales of the Old Dutch Burying Ground,” which you can buy at Philipsburg Manor, just across the road from the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow and Old Dutch Burying on Route 9 in Sleepy Hollow, NY.
Philipsburg Manor, a manor house and grist mill, was built by Frederick Philipse, who also constructed the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow. Philipsburg Manor, now serves as a living history museum with wonderful exhibits about Sleepy Hollow's agrarian past. The millpond beside the typical Dutch manor house is where Ichabod Crane strolled.
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which actually surrounds the Old Dutch Burying Ground, is where you’ll find author Washington Irving’s grave, located in the southern end of the cemetery in a plot overlooking the old church and its burying ground. In addition to Irving, more modern celebrities buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery include Andrew Carnegie, Walter Chrysler, William Rockefeller, and Elizabeth Arden. You can locate their graves on a map of the grounds that’s distributed free of charge at the cemetery office, which is located about .a quarter of a mile north of the Old Dutch Church on Route 9 (North Broadway).
The map will also point you to the Headless Horseman Bridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Nobody knows the exact location of the old timber bridge where Ichabod Crane was unseated by a pumpkin, but locals say it would probably have been located to the east of the current Route 9 Bridge (on Sleepy Hollow Avenue), which crosses Pocantico River inside Sleepy Hollow Cemetery about 0.3 mile inside the cemetery's south gate. Like the original bridge, the newer version is constructed of rough-hewn boards that creak and clatter eerily when vehicles pass over them.
Nobody is suggesting that Washington Irving’s own home, located on West Sunnyside Lane, off Route 9 (South Broadway) in Tarrytown, is haunted, but it is beautifully restored and furnished with the author's writing desk, books and other possessions. The property was built as a Dutch farmer’s house, but it is now owned and maintained by Historic Hudson Valley, a nonprofit historic association, which offers tours to the public and offers annual celebrations, including a wonderful candlelight tour at Christmas time.
Fascination with “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” hasn’t been overlooked by local tourist operators, either. The popular Headless Horseman Hayrides attraction in the Hudson River Valley’s Ulster Park is in full gallop around Halloween. This entertaining family-oriented experience includes a one-mile hayride, corn maze and three haunted houses--and several gift shops, of course. It’s very touristy, and a lot of fun. You can learn more about it at http://www.headlesshorseman.com.
You can learn more about Hudson River Valley tourism--both Halloween-related and general at www.travelhudsonvalley.org.
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COPYRIGHT 2008 JENNIFER MERIN
Copyright 2008 Jennifer Merin
This news arrived on: 09/28/2008
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