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118-455: Writer Washington Irving , who lived in the area for most of his life, was inspired by the undeveloped area above the river's mouth to write his classic " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ". Later in the 19th century much of the land was purchased by the Rockefeller family as part of their Kykuit estate; today much of that land has become Rockefeller State Park Preserve . A former reservoir used by

236-492: A Traveller —including the short story " The Devil and Tom Walker "—under his Geoffrey Crayon persona. "I think there are in it some of the best things I have ever written", Irving told his sister. But while the book sold respectably, Traveller was dismissed by critics, who panned both Traveller and its author. "The public have been led to expect better things", wrote the United States Literary Gazette , while

354-464: A certain number of months, in which a plenary pardon is assured in advance for all kinds of crimes, among which, several of the most gross and sensual are specifically mentioned, and the weaknesses of the flesh to which they were prone. Clancy wrote to Irving, who "promptly aided the investigation into the truth, and promised to correct in future editions the misrepresentation complained of". Clancy traveled to his new posting by way of England, and bearing

472-512: A copy to Irving. Whether this was done is not clear as the disputed text remains in the 1849 edition. Irving also championed America's maturing literature, advocating stronger copyright laws to protect writers from the kind of piracy that had initially plagued The Sketch Book . Writing in the January 1840 issue of Knickerbocker , he openly endorsed copyright legislation pending in Congress. "We have

590-551: A fallen hero in his eyes, Irving began to view Spanish affairs more realistically. However, the politics and warfare were exhausting, and Irving was both homesick and suffering from a crippling skin condition. I am wearied and at times heartsick of the wretched politics of this country…. The last ten or twelve years of my life, passed among sordid speculators in the United States, and political adventurers in Spain, has shewn me so much of

708-503: A generally northeasterly track away from the town line to the hamlet of Chappaqua , a community just 2 miles (3.2 km) from the center of Pleasantville. NY 117 serves as Chappaqua's main north–south street, passing by commercial and residential neighborhoods ahead of an intersection with NY 120 (King Street) in Chappaqua's center. NY 120 turns north here, overlapping with NY 117 for one block before splitting off to

826-519: A letter of introduction from Irving, stopped at Newstead Abbey and was able to view the document to which Irving had alluded. Upon inspection, Clancy discovered that it was, in fact, not an indulgence issued to the friars from any ecclesiastical authority, but a pardon given by the king to some parties suspected of having broken "forest laws". Clancy requested the local pastor to forward his findings to Catholic periodicals in England, and upon publication, send

944-518: A lifelong personal and professional friendship. Irving composed the short story "Rip Van Winkle" overnight while staying with his sister Sarah and her husband, Henry van Wart , in Birmingham, England , a place that inspired other works as well. In October 1818, Irving's brother William secured for Irving a post as chief clerk to the United States Navy and urged him to return home. Irving turned

1062-636: A number of manuscripts dealing with the Spanish conquest of the Americas had recently been made public. Irving left for Madrid and enthusiastically began scouring the Spanish archives for colorful material. With full access to the American consul's massive library of Spanish history, Irving began working on several books at once. The first offspring of this hard work, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus ,

1180-515: A regular contributor to The Knickerbocker magazine in 1839, writing new essays and short stories under the Knickerbocker and Crayon pseudonyms. He was regularly approached by aspiring young authors for advice or endorsement, including Edgar Allan Poe, who sought Irving's comments on " William Wilson " and " The Fall of the House of Usher ". In 1837, a lady of Charleston, South Carolina brought to

1298-593: A result, the Rockefeller family looked into having the route realigned as early as 1932. The family suggested that a new highway be built along the northern end of the estate. In 1965, Rockefeller unveiled plans for the Pocantico Expressway, a connector from the to-be-constructed Hudson River Expressway ( NY 9A ) to the Taconic State Parkway . Some opposition to the idea arose on the grounds that

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1416-456: A reward for his safe return. Irving then published A History of New York on December 6, 1809, under the Knickerbocker pseudonym, with immediate critical and popular success. "It took with the public", Irving remarked, "and gave me celebrity, as an original work was something remarkable and uncommon in America". The name Diedrich Knickerbocker became a nickname for Manhattan residents in general and

1534-473: A series of more than 50 loosely connected short stories and essays. While some reviewers thought Bracebridge to be a lesser imitation of The Sketch Book , the book was well received by readers and critics. "We have received so much pleasure from this book", wrote critic Francis Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review , "that we think ourselves bound in gratitude... to make a public acknowledgement of it". Irving

1652-428: A severe trial to absent myself for a time from my dear little Sunnyside, but I shall return to it better enabled to carry it on comfortably". He hoped that his position as Minister would allow him plenty of time to write, but Spain was in a state of political upheaval during most of his tenure, with a number of warring factions vying for control of the 12-year-old Queen Isabella II . Irving maintained good relations with

1770-514: A single volume by John Miller in London. Irving appealed to Walter Scott for help procuring a more reputable publisher for the remainder of the book. Scott referred Irving to his own publisher, London powerhouse John Murray , who agreed to take on The Sketch Book . From then on, Irving would publish concurrently in the United States and Britain to protect his copyright, with Murray as his English publisher of choice. Irving's reputation soared, and for

1888-499: A small watercolor painting which continues to hang in his home. The Irvings lived at 131 William Street at the time of Washington's birth, but they later moved across the street to 128 William Street. Several of Irving's brothers became active New York merchants; they encouraged his literary aspirations, often supporting him financially as he pursued his writing career. Irving was an uninterested student who preferred adventure stories and drama, and he regularly sneaked out of class in

2006-485: A surveying mission, along with companions Charles La Trobe and Count Albert-Alexandre de Pourtales, and they traveled deep into Indian Territory (now the state of Oklahoma). At the completion of his western tour, Irving traveled through Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, where he became acquainted with politician and novelist John Pendleton Kennedy . Irving was frustrated by bad investments, so he turned to writing to generate additional income, beginning with A Tour on

2124-459: A taste to suit my dinner". While visiting Rome in 1805, Irving struck up a friendship with painter Washington Allston and was almost persuaded into a career as a painter. "My lot in life, however, was differently cast". Irving returned from Europe to study law with his legal mentor Judge Josiah Ogden Hoffman in New York City. By his own admission, he was not a good student and barely passed

2242-727: A young literature", he wrote, "springing up and daily unfolding itself with wonderful energy and luxuriance, which … deserves all its fostering care". The legislation, however, did not pass at that time. In 1841, Irving was elected to the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. He also began a friendly correspondence with Charles Dickens and hosted Dickens and his wife at Sunnyside during Dickens's American tour in 1842. President John Tyler appointed Irving as Minister to Spain in February 1842, after an endorsement from Secretary of State Daniel Webster . Irving wrote, "It will be

2360-404: Is a habitat for brown trout . The river is stocked each spring; 540 brown trout were stocked in 2013, and 630 were anticipated to be stocked in the river in 2014. After a bacteria test completed on October 4, 2014, the river was found to have an Enterococcus bacteria count of greater than 2420, indicating high amounts of fecal matter in the water. Other tests of the river quality at the mouth of

2478-467: Is again impounded, creating the mill pond at the Philipsburg Manor House , another NHL. From that outlet, it meanders northwest past the former Tarrytown Truck Assembly plant, widening into a flood plain as it does. It bends north to pass another village park on the east, then north around that to divide the park from the residential area of Philipse Manor to its north. After flowing under

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2596-490: Is so much in the popular heart". By 1859, author Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. noted that Sunnyside had become "next to Mount Vernon, the best known and most cherished of all the dwellings in our land". Irving died of a heart attack in his bedroom at Sunnyside on November 28, 1859, age 76—only eight months after completing the final volume of his Washington biography. Legend has it that his last words were: "Well, I must arrange my pillows for another night. When will this end?" He

2714-565: The Astor Library , a forerunner to the New York Public Library . Irving continued to socialize and keep up with his correspondence well into his seventies, and his fame and popularity continued to soar. "I don't believe that any man, in any country, has ever had a more affectionate admiration for him than that given to you in America", wrote Senator William C. Preston in a letter to Irving. "I believe that we have had but one man who

2832-608: The Moors . Irving served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s. Irving was born and raised in Manhattan to a merchant family. He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle , written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle . He temporarily moved to England for the family business in 1815, where he achieved fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. which

2950-648: The New-York Mirror pronounced Irving "overrated". Hurt and depressed by the book's reception, Irving retreated to Paris where he spent the next year worrying about finances and scribbling down ideas for projects that never materialized. While in Paris, Irving received a letter from Alexander Hill Everett on January 30, 1826. Everett, recently the American Minister to Spain, urged Irving to join him in Madrid, noting that

3068-519: The Old Croton Aqueduct , a National Historic Landmark (NHL), and leaves the preserve, continuing straight through a steep, narrow wooded ravine in a slightly southwesterly direction. As it flows between Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to the west and the village's Douglas Park to the east, the river drops below 50 feet (15 m) in elevation. On the north edge of another residential neighborhood, it bends eastward. After flowing under U.S. Route 9 , it

3186-703: The Saw Mill River Parkway just south of Interstate 684 (I-684), south of Katonah , a hamlet in the town of Bedford . NY 117 meets the Taconic State Parkway in Pleasantville and parallels the Saw Mill Parkway from Pleasantville to Bedford. NY 117 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and originally extended from Tarrytown to Katonah. The Tarrytown–Pleasantville portion of NY 117 passed through Kykuit ,

3304-459: The Saw Mill River Parkway would have provided an alternate route to I-684 from NY 117, commercial traffic was prohibited from using the highway. The trucks that used NY 117 would shake the historic homes as it passed through the hamlet, causing small amounts of damage to the structures. A study analyzing the issue of truck traffic along NY 117 in Katonah began in 1976 at the request of

3422-448: The town of New Castle between Saw Mill River Road ( New York State Route 100 ) and the Taconic State Parkway , just southwest of the unincorporated hamlet of Millwood . The lake is 325 feet (99 m) above sea level, in a narrow valley between Cabin Ridge to the east and a similarly steep ridge on the west. Its surrounding terrain is primarily wooded and lightly developed outside of

3540-471: The town of Bedford . The study was completed in 1978, at which time the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) concluded that traffic would never become heavy enough along NY 117 to bring about a need for a bypass. However, the state continued to keep abreast of the situation and eventually performed a second study in 1983. Unlike the first study, this one found traffic along

3658-620: The 20th century Mad magazine. Salmagundi was a moderate success, spreading Irving's name and reputation beyond New York. He gave New York City the nickname "Gotham" in its 17th issue dated November 11, 1807, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "Goat's Town". Irving completed A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809) while mourning

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3776-483: The Briarcliff– Peekskill Parkway (also State Route 9A ). After flowing under the parkway, it passes just east of downtown Briarcliff Manor and then crosses Saw Mill River Road and the parkway again, meandering a little further to the east into residential neighborhoods, then turning south through the village's Jackson Road Park. After that it flows due south to the immediate east of the parkway, itself to

3894-503: The Conquest of Granada was published a year later, followed by Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus in 1831. Irving's writings on Columbus are a mixture of history and fiction, a genre now called romantic history. Irving based them on extensive research in the Spanish archives, but also added imaginative elements aimed at sharpening the story. The first of these works is

4012-512: The History of Letters". New York State Route 117 New York State Route 117 ( NY 117 ) is a 15.23-mile (24.51 km) state highway in Westchester County , New York , in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 9 (US 9) north of the village of Sleepy Hollow . The northern terminus is at an interchange with

4130-513: The Mount Pleasant village line to View Street and from Pleasantville Road to NY 141. The portion of NY 117's original routing between Tarrytown and Pleasantville passed through the center of Kykuit , the estate of the Rockefeller family , and was designed to handle 1,900 cars per day. The actual volume of traffic on the roadway was much higher as the actual average annual daily traffic reached upwards of 5,000 vehicles per day. As

4248-560: The New York Morning Chronicle in 1802 when he was 19, submitting commentaries on the city's social and theater scene under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle . The name evoked his Federalist leanings and was the first of many pseudonyms he employed throughout his career. The letters brought Irving some early fame and moderate notoriety. Aaron Burr was a co-publisher of the Chronicle , and was impressed enough to send clippings of

4366-551: The Oldstyle pieces to his daughter Theodosia . Charles Brockden Brown made a trip to New York to try to recruit Oldstyle for a literary magazine he was editing in Philadelphia. Concerned for his health, Irving's brothers financed an extended tour of Europe from 1804 to 1806. He bypassed most of the sites and locations considered essential for the social development of a young man, to the dismay of his brother William who wrote that he

4484-501: The Oregon border that newly elected president James K. Polk had vowed to resolve. Irving returned from Spain in September 1846, took up residence at Sunnyside, and began work on an "Author's Revised Edition" of his works for publisher George Palmer Putnam . For its publication, Irving had made a deal which guaranteed him 12 percent of the retail price of all copies sold, an agreement that

4602-876: The Pocantico River in the area of the Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow . As well, Washington Irving makes frequent mention of the Pocantico River in Chronicle III of his short story anthology Wolfert's Roost . The delighted historian pursued his explorations far into the foldings of the hills where the Pocantico winds its wizard stream among the mazes of its old Indian haunts; sometimes running darkly in pieces of woodland beneath balancing sprays of beech and chestnut: sometimes sparkling between grassy borders in fresh green intervals; here and there receiving

4720-468: The Pocantico was blocked by fallen trees and almost washed away the Philipsburg Manor historic site; about 70 employees of the parent organization Historic Hudson Valley assisted in its protection, along with the site's curators and security guards, and other village residents. The organization Riverkeeper collects samples in three Pocantico River tributaries. The river downstream of Pocantico Lake

4838-507: The Pocantico's river valley and later to the village of North Tarrytown in particular; the village changed its official name to Sleepy Hollow in 1996. Frederick Philipse moved to the area and started purchasing land in the late 1600s, his properties would become known as Philipsburg Manor . He established his country seat at what was then known as North Tarrytown, at the mouth of the Pocantico River. A small community had already been established there when he arrived in 1683. A ship called

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4956-517: The Prairies which related his recent travels on the frontier. The book was another popular success and also the first book written and published by Irving in the United States since A History of New York in 1809. In 1834, he was approached by fur magnate John Jacob Astor , who convinced him to write a history of his fur trading colony in Astoria, Oregon . Irving made quick work of Astor's project, shipping

5074-504: The Roebuck, which transported cargo to and from New York City, ended up in the river, where its keel was scavenged by the miller at the mill of the Philipsburg Manor House site. Around the late 1890s, Walter W. Law and Briarcliff Farms deepened the river for a length of 2 miles (3 km), taking out the rifts so the stream would flow and the swamps adjacent to the river would drain. The workers also cut rock and took out trees that lined

5192-559: The United States Senate had refused to confirm him as the new Minister. Consoling Van Buren, Irving predicted that the Senate's partisan move would backfire. "I should not be surprised", Irving said, "if this vote of the Senate goes far toward elevating him to the presidential chair". Irving arrived in New York on May 21, 1832, after 17 years abroad. That September, he accompanied Commissioner on Indian Affairs Henry Leavitt Ellsworth on

5310-452: The United States, particularly A Tour on the Prairies , though British critics accused him of "book-making". In 1835, Irving purchased a "neglected cottage" and its surrounding riverfront property in Tarrytown, New York, which he named Sunnyside in 1841. It required constant repair and renovation over the next 20 years, with costs continually escalating, so he reluctantly agreed to become

5428-668: The area had been known as Slapershaven or "Sleeper's Haven" by the Dutch. Irving made several other trips up the Hudson as a teenager, including an extended visit to Johnstown, New York , where he passed through the Catskill Mountains region, the setting for " Rip Van Winkle ". "Of all the scenery of the Hudson", Irving wrote, "the Kaatskill Mountains had the most witching effect on my boyish imagination". Irving began writing letters to

5546-502: The atmosphere. Irving is largely credited as the first American Man of Letters and the first to earn his living solely by his pen. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow acknowledged Irving's role in promoting American literature in December 1859: "We feel a just pride in his renown as an author, not forgetting that, to his other claims upon our gratitude, he adds also that of having been the first to win for our country an honourable name and position in

5664-463: The attention of William Clancy , newly appointed bishop to Demerara , a passage in The Crayon Miscellany , and questioned whether it accurately reflected Catholic teaching or practice. The passage under "Newstead Abbey" read: One of the parchment scrolls thus discovered, throws rather an awkward light upon the kind of life led by the friars of Newstead. It is an indulgence granted to them for

5782-407: The bar examination in 1806. He began socializing with a group of literate young men whom he dubbed "The Lads of Kilkenny", and he created the literary magazine Salmagundi in January 1807 with his brother William and his friend James Kirke Paulding, writing under various pseudonyms, such as William Wizard and Launcelot Langstaff. Irving lampooned New York culture and politics in a manner similar to

5900-507: The basis for his 1837 book The Adventures of Captain Bonneville . These three works made up Irving's "western" series of books and were written partly as a response to criticism that his time in England and Spain had made him more European than American. Critics such as James Fenimore Cooper and Philip Freneau felt that he had turned his back on his American heritage in favor of English aristocracy. Irving's western books were well received in

6018-538: The biography were published between 1855 and 1859. Irving traveled regularly to Mount Vernon and Washington, D.C., for his research, and struck up friendships with Presidents Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce . He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1855. He was hired as an executor of John Jacob Astor's estate in 1848 and appointed by Astor's will as first chairman of

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6136-404: The city of New Rochelle has likewise been converted into county-run Pocantico Lake Park. While the river runs predominantly through those parks and suburban land, it is still one of the most polluted tributaries of the Hudson. In the past the Pocantico was considered to have two different sources, but today it is acknowledged that it rises from Echo Lake in the eponymous state park located in

6254-549: The city's merchant class. Washington was born on April 3, 1783, the same week that New York City residents learned of the British ceasefire which ended the American Revolution . Irving's mother named him after George Washington. Irving met his namesake at age 6 when George Washington came to New York just before his inauguration as President in 1789. The President blessed young Irving, an encounter that Irving had commemorated in

6372-560: The commercial center of the community, NY 117 serves the Bedford Hills Metro-North station before widening to four lanes as it crosses the railroad tracks and connects to exit 39 of the Saw Mill River Parkway. For the next mile (1.6 km), NY 117 runs alongside the northern edge of the Saw Mill River Parkway as it heads through another residential part of Bedford Hills as a two-lane road. At Harris Road,

6490-518: The community's central business district. As Manville Road, the highway heads past five residential blocks, connecting to the southbound direction of the Saw Mill River Parkway before entering Pleasantville's commercial center at Memorial Plaza. Within Memorial Plaza is Metro-North Railroad 's Pleasantville station , located on the south side of NY 117. After crossing the Metro-North tracks,

6608-551: The conductivity of the water failed state standards with conductivity levels averaging about three times the recommended levels. American eels enters the river from the Hudson every spring, moving upstream over the course of one to three years. The eels often accumulate under a dam in Sleepy Hollow, and approximately 10% make it past the dam. The eels move upstream where the habitat is preferable, with lower polychlorinated biphenyl pollution, fewer parasites, faster growth rates for

6726-409: The dark side of human nature, that I begin to have painful doubts of my fellow man; and look back with regret to the confiding period of my literary career, when, poor as a rat, but rich in dreams, I beheld the world through the medium of my imagination and was apt to believe men as good as I wished them to be. With the political situation relatively settled in Spain, Irving continued to closely monitor

6844-495: The death of his 17-year-old fiancée Matilda Hoffman. It was his first major book and a satire on self-important local history and contemporary politics. Before its publication, Irving started a hoax by placing a series of missing person advertisements in the New York Evening Post seeking information on Diedrich Knickerbocker , a crusty Dutch historian who had allegedly gone missing from his hotel in New York City. As part of

6962-651: The death of his brother William—Irving worked slowly, finally delivering a completed manuscript to Murray in March 1822. The book, Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists, A Medley (the location was based loosely on Aston Hall , occupied by members of the Bracebridge family, near his sister's home in Birmingham) was published in June 1822. The format of Bracebridge was similar to that of The Sketch Book , with Irving, as Crayon, narrating

7080-512: The development of the new government and the fate of Isabella. His official duties as Spanish Minister also involved negotiating American trade interests with Cuba and following the Spanish parliament's debates over the slave trade. He was also pressed into service by Louis McLane, the American Minister to the Court of St. James's in London, to assist in negotiating the Anglo-American disagreement over

7198-483: The early 19th century. He wrote the short stories " Rip Van Winkle " (1819) and " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " (1820), both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith , Muhammad , and George Washington , as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain that deal with subjects such as the Alhambra , Christopher Columbus , and

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7316-456: The east end of NY 133 . Main Street turns northwest onto NY 133 while NY 117 splits to the northeast along Bedford Road. As the route heads away from Main Street, it proceeds through a brief wooded, residential area before entering a commercial district surrounding Mount Kisco Commons. Several businesses and an industrial complex follow after as NY 117 continues northeast through

7434-494: The eels, and a higher percentage of females in the population. Other species in the river include white perch , white sucker , yellow perch , golden shiner , and alewife , only in small numbers. Adjacent to the river is a protected area known as Pocantico Lake Park. The park contains hiking trails as well as an abandoned water treatment plant from the New Rochelle Water Company. Nearby land fronting Pocantico Lake

7552-554: The entirety of Manville Road through Pleasantville was given to the state of New York from Westchester County. NY 117 was rerouted to follow Manville Road while NY 141 was extended one block north along NY 117's former routing to intersect Manville Road. The remainder of NY 117's former routing is now County Route 27A (CR 27A) from Manville Road to the Pleasantville village line, part of CR 106 from View Street to Pleasantville Road, and CR 27 from

7670-534: The estate of the Rockefeller family . Construction on a new expressway bypassing the estate to the north began in the late 1960s and was completed in November ;1970, at which time NY 117 was realigned to follow the highway. Another highway bypassing Katonah was built in the early 1990s and opened c.  1992 as a realignment of NY 117. NY 117 begins just north of the village of Sleepy Hollow at an interchange with US 9 (Broadway) in

7788-640: The evenings to attend the theater by the time he was 14. An outbreak of yellow fever in Manhattan in 1798 prompted his family to send him upriver, where he stayed with his friend James Kirke Paulding in Tarrytown, New York . It was in Tarrytown where he became familiar with the bucolic beauty of the region with its Dutch customs and local ghost stories. Though the town of Sleepy Hollow did not exist in Irving's time (North Tarrytown changed its name to Sleepy Hollow in 1996),

7906-503: The fawning biographical account Astoria in February 1836. In 1835, Irving, Astor, and a few others founded the Saint Nicholas Society in the City of New York . During an extended stay at Astor's home, Irving met explorer Benjamin Bonneville and was intrigued with his maps and stories of the territories beyond the Rocky Mountains . The two men met in Washington, D.C., several months later, and Bonneville sold his maps and rough notes to Irving for $ 1,000. Irving used these materials as

8024-447: The highway to be on the rise. As a result, the state began making plans to construct a bypass that would divert truck traffic away from Katonah. Over the next three years, NYSDOT proposed a total of nine different routings for the bypass. The route selected by the town of Bedford would begin at Harris Road and head north and east to the Saw Mill Parkway, which it would merge into. An exception would then be made to allow commercial traffic on

8142-406: The immediate east of a steep slope. After a slight swing east towards the Taconic, the river crosses under the parkway for the last time and continues on a more southwesterly course past 420-foot (130 m) Beech Hill into 164-acre (66 ha) Pocantico Lakes Park . It widens amid swampy areas on either side as it receives Caney Brook from the north and then becomes Pocantico Lake. Midway along

8260-403: The lake, the municipal boundary leaves the river, putting it entirely within the town of Mount Pleasant. The dam at the lake's south end is at 219 feet (67 m) above sea level, a loss of 106 feet (32 m) from the Pocantico's source at Echo Lake. From there, it flows southwestward again. At Old Sleepy Hollow Road it enters Rockefeller State Park Preserve , at over 1,400 acres (570 ha)

8378-466: The largest of the three protected areas the river flows through. The road continues to parallel it on the east as it turns south; on the west it is paralleled by the preserve's Pocantico River Trail, which follows it for a mile and a half (2.4 km). All three cross under Phelps Way ( State Route 117 ) and turn south. Within the preserve, the river meanders between hills amidst woodland interrupted by large clearings. Small stone bridges carry several of

8496-505: The legation's chargé d'affaires until the arrival of Martin Van Buren , President Andrew Jackson 's nominee for British Minister. With Van Buren in place, Irving resigned his post to concentrate on writing, eventually completing Tales of the Alhambra , which would be published concurrently in the United States and England in 1832. Irving was still in London when Van Buren received word that

8614-411: The new highway would only benefit the Rockefeller estate and not the residents. Nonetheless, construction began on the Pocantico Expressway (now known as Phelps Way) in 1969. When the highway was completed in November 1970, it became part of a rerouted NY 117. NY 117's former alignment along Bedford Road became NY 448 . The Hudson River Expressway project was cancelled in 1971, and

8732-499: The next two years, he led an active social life in Paris and Great Britain, where he was often feted as an anomaly of literature: an upstart American who dared to write English well. With both Irving and publisher John Murray eager to follow up on the success of The Sketch Book , Irving spent much of 1821 traveling in Europe in search of new material, reading widely in Dutch and German folk tales. Hampered by writer's block—and depressed by

8850-567: The next year to negotiate a trade agreement between the United States and the British West Indies , finally reaching a deal in August 1830. That same year, Irving was awarded a medal by the Royal Society of Literature, followed by an honorary doctorate of civil law from Oxford in 1831. Following McLane's recall to the United States in 1831 to serve as Secretary of Treasury, Irving stayed on as

8968-442: The northbound direction of the Taconic State Parkway near Graham Hills County Park. From here, the highway passes south of Pace University 's Pleasantville campus on its way into the village of Pleasantville , where it narrows to two lanes and initially serves mostly commercial neighborhoods. NY 117 remains on Bedford Road for its first few blocks in Pleasantville; however, it veers northeast onto Manville Road just southwest of

9086-526: The northeastern tip of the park, where NY 117 intersects with the northern terminus of NY 448 at Bedford Road. While NY 448 ends here, Bedford Road continues on as part of NY 117. After NY 448, NY 117 becomes a four-lane surface road as it heads northeast through a residential area of Mount Pleasant. Just past the NY ;448 junction, NY 117 enters adjacent interchanges with Saw Mill River Road ( NY 9A and NY 100 ) and

9204-401: The northernmost part of Mount Kisco and into the town of Bedford . Across the town line, the development along the route remains commercial as the road parallels the nearby railroad tracks and the Saw Mill River Parkway to the northwest. About 2 miles (3.2 km) from Mount Kisco, NY 117 enters the hamlet of Bedford Hills , where the route initially serves residential neighborhoods. In

9322-506: The offer down, opting to stay in England to pursue a writing career. In the spring of 1819, Irving sent to his brother Ebenezer in New York a set of short prose pieces that he asked be published as The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. The first installment, containing "Rip Van Winkle", was an enormous success, and the rest of the work was equally successful; it was issued in 1819–1820 in seven installments in New York and in two volumes in London ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" appeared in

9440-562: The parkway between the Katonah Bypass and I-684. The routing of the highway, projected to cost $ 8.7 million (equivalent to $ 23.3 million in 2024), was approved in November 1987. In October 1990, NYSDOT accepted a low bid of $ 8.5 million (equivalent to $ 19.8 million in 2024) for the project, clearing the way for construction to begin on the bypass by the following month. The Katonah Bypass opened c.  1992 and became part of

9558-512: The preserve's trails across the river. About 600 feet (180 m) after entering the preserve, the Pocantico crosses into the village of Sleepy Hollow . A short distance to the south, it receives Rockefeller Creek from the Pocantico Hills to the east. It bends north, away from the road, to receive its last named tributary, Gory Brook , from the north, where it turns abruptly south again. After another quarter-mile (400 m) it crosses under

9676-540: The railroad tracks used by Metro-North 's Hudson Line and Amtrak 's Empire Service , it flows under the entrance road to the county's Kingsland Point Park and empties into the Hudson River . The Pocantico's 16-square-mile (41 km) watershed covers areas of Ossining , Mount Pleasant , and New Castle, including Briarcliff Manor and Sleepy Hollow. It includes 436 acres (176 ha) of mapped freshwater wetlands and eleven dams. Approximately 14,866 people live within

9794-425: The river in Sleepy Hollow also contain high levels of Enterococcus bacteria. In fact, the high bacteria counts throughout the river were taken both after wet and dry weather. Dry weather tends to result in lower bacteria counts because less flooding results in less overflow from sewage treatment plants . The high levels of bacteria in the river resulted in beach advisories for the entire river. In 2014, $ 9.9 million

9912-515: The route continues east along several commercial blocks before turning to the northeast and entering another residential section of Pleasantville. The highway eventually reaches the northern edge of the village, where it rejoins Bedford Road at a junction with the northern terminus of NY 141 . NY 117 turns north here, following Bedford Road out of Pleasantville and into the nearby town of New Castle . Upon crossing into New Castle, NY 117 changes names to South Bedford Road. The road takes

10030-487: The route ends at the southbound-only exit 43 of the Saw Mill River Parkway, just south of the parkway's northern terminus at I-684 . NY 117 northbound feeds into the northbound direction of the parkway, while exit 43 serves as the start of NY 117 southbound. NY 117 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York . It initially began at the junction of Bedford and County House Roads in Tarrytown (both part of NY 9A at

10148-435: The route turns southeastward, crossing the parkway and the adjacent railroad tracks again as it intersects with the parkway's exit 42. NY 117's southeastward run on Harris Road ends just past the railroad crossing, where the highway turns northeast onto an unnamed road leading to a commercial and industrial area south of the hamlet of Katonah . After turning onto the highway, NY 117 serves various businesses before

10266-400: The ruse, he placed a notice from the hotel's proprietor informing readers that, if Mr. Knickerbocker failed to return to the hotel to pay his bill, he would publish a manuscript that Knickerbocker had left behind. Unsuspecting readers followed the story of Knickerbocker and his manuscript with interest, and some New York city officials were concerned enough about the missing historian to offer

10384-497: The sixth issue of the New York edition and the second volume of the London edition). Like many successful authors of this era, Irving struggled against literary bootleggers. In England, some of his sketches were reprinted in periodicals without his permission, a legal practice as there was no international copyright law at the time. To prevent further piracy in Britain, Irving paid to have the first four American installments published as

10502-581: The source of the durable myth that medieval Europeans believed the Earth was flat . According to the popular book, Columbus proved the Earth was round. In 1829, Irving was elected to the American Philosophical Society . That same year, he moved into Granada's ancient palace Alhambra, "determined to linger here", he said, "until I get some writings under way connected with the place". Before he could get any significant writing underway, however, he

10620-730: The south, the river crosses back under Saw Mill River Road and receives its first tributary , the unnamed outlet of Campfire Lake to the northeast, as it, Route 100 and the North County Trailway diverge from the Taconic. The river, road and trail continue heading to the southwest as the Pocantico begins to form the Briarcliff Manor village line at the Chappaqua Road crossing. Another 1,200 feet south of that crossing, it recrosses Saw Mill River Road just north of where it merges with

10738-461: The spring of 1823. He returned to Paris and began collaborating with playwright John Howard Payne on translations of French plays for the English stage, with little success. He also learned through Payne that the novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was romantically interested in him, though Irving never pursued the relationship. In August 1824, Irving published the collection of essays Tales of

10856-401: The swamps to reclaim land for farming. The North Tarrytown Assembly , a large automobile factory in Sleepy Hollow, was owned and operated by General Motors for much of its history; a 1923 expansion of the facility involved land-filling the river; two-thirds of the factory site was land formerly occupied by the river. The river was rerouted south of the site. During 1999's Hurricane Floyd ,

10974-461: The time) and followed Bedford Road northeast to NY 132 (now NY 35 ) at Jay Street in Katonah . NY 9A was realigned c.  1939 to follow Sleepy Hollow Road instead, bypassing Tarrytown completely. The former routing of NY 9A on Bedford Road to US 9 became a short extension of NY 117. The route was also extended on its northern end in the mid-1970s after NY 35

11092-520: The town of Mount Pleasant as a continuation of Kendal Way. The route proceeds generally northeastward along Phelps Way, a four-lane expressway , bypassing of Sleepy Hollow and Kykuit , the Rockefeller family's estate. For its first 2 miles (3.2 km), the highway runs through a wooded area along the northern edge of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve , crossing under several of the park's hiking and walking trails. Phelps Way ends at

11210-463: The tributes of silver rills which came whimpering down the hill sides from their parent springs. In a remote part of the Hollow, where the Pocantico forced its way down rugged rocks, stood Carl's mill, the haunted house of the neighborhood. Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of

11328-433: The two roads. The river begins at a dam on the lake's south end. Shortly after draining the lake, the Pocantico flows under Route 100, which it remains closely parallel to for the next few miles. About 1,200 feet (370 m) from its source, the stream crosses the town line from New Castle into neighboring Ossining , soon forming the boundary between that town and neighboring Mount Pleasant on its west. A short distance to

11446-546: The various generals and politicians, as control of Spain rotated through Espartero , Bravo, then Narváez . Espartero was then locked in a power struggle with the Spanish Cortes. Irving's official reports on the ensuing civil war and revolution expressed his romantic fascination with the regent as young Queen Isabella's knight protector, He wrote with an anti-republican, undiplomatic bias. Though Espartero, ousted in July 1843, remained

11564-505: The village limits, NY 117 meets the north end of NY 128 at Park Avenue. Past Park Avenue, NY 117 continues north through Mount Kisco, changing names to Main Street ahead of the village's central business district. Here, the route enters a junction with the western terminus of NY 172 (South Bedford Road) at the main entrance to Northern Westchester Hospital. The commercial surroundings continue north for another eight blocks to Jeff Feigel Square, where NY 117 connects to

11682-440: The village of Mount Kisco . Roaring Brook Road also connects NY 117 and the Saw Mill River Parkway to the global headquarters of Reader's Digest , which comprises a large complex bounded by NY 117 to the east and the Metro-North tracks to the west. From here, NY 117 takes on a more pronounced northeasterly alignment that takes the route past Mount Kisco Country Club and into the village of Mount Kisco. Just inside

11800-462: The watershed. It is largely suburban, but also contains parks, forests and wildlife, highways, utilities, and institutions. The Weckquaesgeek Native American tribe, who established their primary settlement around the mouth of a river in present-day Dobbs Ferry , also had a village at the mouth of the Pocantico River called Alipconck, meaning "place of elms". The river historically set the dividing line between Mount Pleasant and Ossining. The river

11918-423: The west. NY 117 continues north from this point as North Bedford Road, passing a strip mall before leaving Chappaqua. Outside of Chappaqua, NY 117 loosely parallels the Saw Mill River Parkway as it winds its way northeastward across residential parts of New Castle. The two parallel roads connect again by way of Roaring Brook Road, located midway between Chappaqua and the next community along NY 117,

12036-472: The western stub of the expressway now serves Phelps Hospital. The easternmost portion of NY 117 in Katonah passed through a historic district containing several homes dating back to the late 19th century. Following the construction of nearby I-684 in 1968, this segment of NY 117 became a truck route between the Interstate Highway and industrial areas along NY 117 south of Katonah. While

12154-474: Was adopted by the New York Knickerbockers basketball team. After the success of A History of New York , Irving searched for a job and eventually became an editor of Analectic Magazine , where he wrote biographies of naval heroes such as James Lawrence and Oliver Hazard Perry . He was also among the first magazine editors to reprint Francis Scott Key 's poem "Defense of Fort McHenry ", which

12272-514: Was also admired by some British writers, including Lord Byron , Thomas Campbell , Charles Dickens , Mary Shelley , Francis Jeffrey , and Walter Scott . He advocated for writing as a legitimate profession and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement. Washington Irving's parents were William Irving Sr., originally of Quholm , Shapinsay , Orkney , Scotland, and Sarah (née Saunders), originally of Falmouth, Cornwall , England. They married in 1761 while William

12390-533: Was buried under a simple headstone at Sleepy Hollow cemetery on December 1, 1859. Irving and his grave were commemorated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1876 poem "In the Churchyard at Tarrytown", which concludes with: How sweet a life was his; how sweet a death! Living, to wing with mirth the weary hours, Or with romantic tales the heart to cheer; Dying, to leave a memory like the breath Of summers full of sunshine and of showers, A grief and gladness in

12508-446: Was disastrous for many American merchants, including Irving's family, and he left for England in mid-1815 to salvage the family trading company. He remained in Europe for the next 17 years. Irving spent the next two years trying to bail out the family firm financially but eventually had to declare bankruptcy. With no job prospects, he continued writing throughout 1817 and 1818. In the summer of 1817, he visited Walter Scott , beginning

12626-622: Was immortalized as " The Star-Spangled Banner ". Irving initially opposed the War of 1812 like many other merchants, but the British attack on Washington, D.C. , in 1814 convinced him to enlist. He served on the staff of Daniel Tompkins , governor of New York and commander of the New York State Militia, but he saw no real action apart from a reconnaissance mission in the Great Lakes region. The war

12744-423: Was moved onto a new highway that bypassed Katonah to the north. On September 1, 1980, ownership and maintenance of NY 117 between Manville Road southwest of the Pleasantville village limits and Broadway within Pleasantville was transferred from the state of New York to Westchester County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government. In return, ownership and maintenance of

12862-484: Was notified of his appointment as Secretary to the American Legation in London. Worried he would disappoint friends and family if he refused the position, Irving left Spain for England in July 1829. Arriving in London, Irving joined the staff of American Minister Louis McLane . McLane immediately assigned the daily secretary work to another man and tapped Irving to fill the role of aide-de-camp. The two worked over

12980-719: Was once called by the English as "the Mill river", while the Native Americans called it Pocanteco, a derivative of the Algonquin term Pockóhantès, meaning a "run between two hills". The Dutch called it the Sleepy haven kill. Dutch colonist Adriaen van der Donck 's Beschrijvinge van Nieu Nederlandt , published in Amsterdam in 1655, referred to the Pocantico River as "Slapershaven" (Sleepers' Haven). The anglicized term "Sleepy Hollow" grew to apply to

13098-438: Was pleased that his brother's health was improving, but he did not like the choice to " gallop through Italy … leaving Florence on your left and Venice on your right". Instead, Irving honed the social and conversational skills that eventually made him one of the world's most in-demand guests. "I endeavor to take things as they come with cheerfulness", Irving wrote, "and when I cannot get a dinner to suit my taste, I endeavor to get

13216-487: Was published in January 1828. The book was popular in the United States and in Europe and would have 175 editions published before the end of the century. It was also the first project of Irving's to be published with his own name, instead of a pseudonym, on the title page. Irving was invited to stay at the palace of the Duke of Gor , who gave him unfettered access to his library containing many medieval manuscripts. A Chronicle of

13334-405: Was purchased by a housing developer in 2020; local residents subsequently began a campaign to prevent the land from being used for more housing and protect the environment, including its supply of fresh water, and wildlife. As of 2023, a number of residents had pointed out flaws in the draft environmental impact statement . The dénouement of " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " is set at a bridge over

13452-503: Was put aside to repair the Tarrytown sewage treatment plant in order to improve water quality in the region. A Westchester County water quality study of the Pocantico River found that the chemical pollutants in the water met most of New York State Standards. The river met state standards on nitrate and phosphate levels, resulting in little cultural eutrophication in the water. Dissolved oxygen levels also met state standards with an average concentration of 9.853 milligrams per liter. Only

13570-606: Was relieved at its reception, which did much to cement his reputation with European readers. Still struggling with writer's block, Irving traveled to Germany, settling in Dresden in the winter of 1822. Here he dazzled the royal family and attached himself to Amelia Foster, an American living in Dresden with her five children. The 39-year-old Irving was particularly attracted to Foster's 18-year-old daughter Emily and vied in frustration for her hand. Emily finally refused his offer of marriage in

13688-442: Was serialized from 1819 to 1820. He continued to publish regularly throughout his life, and he completed a five-volume biography of George Washington just eight months before his death at age 76 in Tarrytown, New York . Irving was one of the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and he encouraged other American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne , Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Herman Melville , and Edgar Allan Poe . He

13806-484: Was serving as a petty officer in the British Navy. They had eleven children, eight of whom survived to adulthood. Their first two sons died in infancy, both named William, as did their fourth child John. Their surviving children were William Jr. (1766), Ann (1770), Peter (1771), Catherine (1774), Ebenezer (1776), John Treat (1778), Sarah (1780), and Washington. The Irving family settled in Manhattan, and were part of

13924-473: Was unprecedented at that time. As he revised his older works for Putnam, he continued to write regularly, publishing biographies of Oliver Goldsmith in 1849 and Islamic prophet Muhammad in 1850. In 1855, he produced Wolfert's Roost , a collection of stories and essays that he had written for The Knickerbocker and other publications, and he began publishing a biography of his namesake George Washington which he expected to be his masterpiece. Five volumes of

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