The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-09-30
The Weehawken Loop the
Most Picturesque Drive
in This Vicinity.
OPENS UP MAGNIFICENT SCENERY
Work Being Pushed Rapidly and
the Road Expected 10 Be Fin
ished by November 1.

hokan North Hudson is associated with
beer gardens goats. abandoned quarry
holes. filled with stagnant water. and ola
tumbied-down rookeries. This, however
is q most erroneous idea. for the northern
part of this county, especially along the
Hudson River, is one of the most PIC
: turesque sections of picturesque New
Jersey. The inaccessibility of this portion
IF the county until very recently no doubt
as had everything to do with the growth
# this calumny upon North Hudson. UP
. within a few years ago 1t could oniy
lie reached by horse cars and these never
lent beyond Gutenberg In fact Gutten-
lerg could be reached only at long inter
,als and then by a one horse '1igger
pr which ran on a sort of dissoiute scneo-
lie in which no one could place the slight
st reliance. Even then these cars ira
Isrsed the western edge of the nil ana all
aat beautiful section on the eastern SIDE
fld skirting the Palisades was a seaieo
-bok to the majority of the residents OF
llis part of the county.
..But all this has been opened up to the
.ilblic by the new branch of the county
= bad which is now rapidly nearing COM
eletion and which will run from the
orthern boundary of Hoboken to the
1 Heights The new branch strictly begins
| lust as you cross the tracks of the Erie
| Railroad about at the boundary of Ho-
loken and Weehawken. Instead of con-
Nnuing up the hill on continuation OF
he line of Willow avenue, you turn to the
light and enter a broad macadamized
soad This winds picturesquely up the
sill shaded on both sides with thick
Irowth of trees, through what is called
rfighwood Park This section between
ele river and the road of this tract. would
saake magnificent park Astounding as
lit does in SO many naturally wild features
fit would require very little labor to trans
form it into breathing spot for the
people About all the work that would
Ibe required would be to clear q y the
underbrush, lay out paths and erect
benches.
The roads winds up the hill for some
distance, then swerving to the right
comes out on top of the hill face to face
with magnificent view of New York
and the river which flows along hundred
and fifty feet below. Here at this turn
is the famous dueling ground where
Alexander Hamilton fell under the pistol
of Aaron Burr. This is considered by
many the most interesting point in Hud-
son county Here it was in the early
years of the century the galiants and
politicians of the great city on the other
side of the river could come to wash out
with blood, asults real and imaginary,
A small monument inclosed with rail-
ing now marks the spot where Hamilton
fell
From this point the new county road
r.,- lr long distance along the brink
Palisades, winding around the edge
he steep rocks as they follow the
peffds of the historic Hudson. broad
sidewalk enables pedestrians to follow at
1sisure the trend of the road and drink
IN to their hearts content the magnificent
scene which opens up before them.
Across the river is the metropolis, with
it's great buildings and the imposing
spiers and towers of its upper section the
busy river crowded with crafts of every
description, from the big French gun
boat now at anchor close into the Jersey
shore to the little mutton sail sloop of
the ubiquitous junkman Beneath, almost
at the very foot Of the cliff is the ter
minus OF the West Shore Railroad and
the freight piers of the Erie Railroad,
with its tiny, locomotives, midget cars
!, nd men looking at that distance like
t,liputian colony hard at work. A sturdy
,stone wall in some places forty-five feet
inigll and at twenty-three feet at its base
Els built all along the Eastern edge OF the
hcliff, as for most of the distance the
road is built out into air, one might say,
so closely does it hug the extreme edge
/ of the high rocks.
After leaving the spot and driving Slow
" along the road with the great pana-
rama of the Hudson continually en- the
right and the monotony of the left brok-
eli here and there by the residences Wnlcn
have been. erected there since the road
was cut through or by the remains of
Eldorado, you come in q short time to an
other historical point, Block House Point.
Below this point on the rlyer BANK is tne me
the steep incline. to the summit OF the
Palisades came the winding Bulls Ferry
Road Il was to protect tnis qnrJ roaa nefgse ana
and wood cutters who worked in this
neighborhood that the Block House was
t was s stabon t. pe ampy any
such artificial means as abattis and stock
ades It's only entrance was large enough
tu admit only one person at time. On
the AFTERNOON of September 20. 1850, Gen
erai Washington sent General Wayne,
known in history as Mad Anthony
Wayne to destroy this block house and
bring off some cattle which were in the
nefghborhood, and of which the Conti-
mental Army was much in need then. the
expedition was success and failure.
The cannons of the Americans were un-
able to make any impression upon the
block house, and although the regiment
up to the very stockade, it was received
rsfagssa was ses ana BtsS sSs thaf a s R Americans
were Obliged to retire. Reinforeements
Tor the British began to arrive on the
river side and the Americans retired.
while this was going on the cattle were
sac sack and ID that TIA portion Of the raid was a
success 1t was Of this raid that the i'll