Increasing the number of travelers on the Hudson River once more will help to raise awareness of the need to protect the riverscape. Travelers on the Hudson have played an important role in advocating for the preservation of the Hudson River’s magnificent scenery since the early 19th c. Travelers on the river ( the vast majority of whom traveled by steamboat as the 19th progressed) were best placed to note the negative impacts of quarrying and development on the landscape.

The public tends to think of conservation in terms of a mid to late 20th century concept.
In actuality public concern over the destruction of the world-famous Hudson River
scenery had been building among travelers on the river during the length of the preceeding 19th C..

The author Frances F. Dunwell in her books, HUDSON RIVER HIGHLANDS, 1991
And THE HUDSON, AMERICA’S RIVER, 2008, tells the story of one prominent scenic feature of the Hudson Valley that was lost to quarrying called “Turk’s Face.”

“One of the first Highlands landmarks to go was the “Turks Face,” a famous promontory on the ridge of Breakneck mountain which took its name from its resemblance to a human face. One of the many points of interest for travelers, the Turk’s Face was humorously described by John Maude in his 1800 journal of travels aboard a Hudson River sloop. “The profile of the Face Mountain so strongly resembles the human face, that I had for some time my doubts whether art had not assisted in improving the likeness. I have seen other blockheads which did not possess
so sensible a countenance.”

“In 1846 Captain John Deering Ayers blew Turks Face to pieces. With a single blast,
10,000 tons of scenery crumbled into an undistinguished heap of rocks. The onlyconsolation to the public was that the Captain was himself blown to bits a few years
later when checking out an explosive which failed to go off, an event that was noted with some satisfaction in guidebooks.”

The volume of quarrying activity actually increased after the introduction of dynamite in
the 1870s. Public opposition to quarrying started to solidify at the turn of the century. Public concern surged after an 1894 article in The New York Times but initial efforts focused on the Palisades. As the Palisades Interstate Park Commission purchased more land the quarries moved further north. This put more pressure on the Highlands. The purchase of Mt. Taurus in 1931 jarred the public consciousness. Fortunately By mid 20th century the remaining quarrying had all moved inland from the river banks.