The Icy Hudson: A Tale from the Past

“Even in winter, when the frost has bridged the entire river, Newburgh Bay presents a lively scene almost everyday, for ice-boats and skaters are then in great abundance.” The Hudson: From Wilderness to the Sea by Benjamin Lossing, 1866. [Illustration above also from Lossing’s book.]

A century and more ago the month of January most often brought about a frozen Hudson River, closed to all north-south river traffic and open only as a frozen road to iceboats, sleighs and skaters. One winter’s tale, recorded in the Fishkill Standard newspaper of January 19, 1884, likely will never be repeated in our lifetimes.

185 miles in Two Days-- Robert Henry of this village [Fishkill Landing] left Peekskill on Friday morning at 7 o’clock and skated to Albany, arriving there at 5:12 pm the same day; the time 10 hours and 12 minutes. The wind was favoring. The distance is set down in the guidebooks as 101 miles. On Sunday, he left Albany at 6 am and skated to this village, arriving at the Fishkill Landing dock at 4:20 pm, just 10 hours and 20 minutes. Three times he was obliged to take off his skates and pass around ferry tracks. The wind was against him, and at Poughkeepsie he met a snow squall. The distance, as laid down on the railroad table is 84 miles, and the entire distance skated both days is 185 miles. Mr. Henry did not do this feat on a wager or to make a record, but simply to see if he could actually skate the distance mentioned.