IF YOU'RE THINKING OF LIVING IN: Cold Spring
By JERRY CHESLOW
Published: October 22, 1989
FOR 93 years, the foundry in Cold Spring - just across the Hudson River from the United States Military Academy at West Point - turned out iron smelted from ore in the nearby hills. Set up with $25,000 allocated by Congress in 1818 and drawing craftsmen from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, it made cannon and cannon balls for the Union Army in the Civil War and parts for the first American locomotive.
Now, nearly 80 years after the foundry closed in 1911, latter-day iron horses of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad bring thousands of tourists to this one-square-mile Putnam County village every weekend.
''It's right on the rail line, so New York City people who don't have cars can just board the train at Grand Central and be out in the country,'' said Stuart D. Schetters, proprietor of the Cold Spring Depot, one of the village's 27 restaurants. ''We have a steady stream of tourists year-round, but especially in autumn, when the leaves are changing color.''
A Sons of the Revolution plaque on the lawn outside the restaurant, which is in a renovated 1895 railroad station, marks the site of a spring that George Washington supposedly drank from while visiting his troops camped nearby. The plaque says he then gave the area its name.
According to the village historian, Donald MacDonald, settlement began in 1729, when Thomas Davenport built a log cabin and supported himself, his wife and their 11 children by trapping and farming. Davenport, who died in 1759, is buried in the village's first cemetery. Many of his descendants still live in the village, which was incorporated in 1848.
Because most of its houses date from the 19th century, the entire village is on the National Register of Historic Places.
''The standard home here is a three-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot foundry house, built by the foundry for its workers during the 19th century, on a lot that is 50 by 100 feet or smaller,'' said Patrick J. O'Sullivan, owner of the Coldwell Banker real estate office on Main Street. ''There are some properties on the market, but the turnover is not great because older people who were born in the village tend to spend their entire lives here.''
Besides the foundry houses, there are several larger properties, mostly on Paulding Avenue and selling for about $325,000, according to Mr. O'Sullivan. There are also 1950's homes, with broad views of the Hudson River, on Grandview Terrace. The only new construction planned is an as yet unnamed condominium project proposed by the Waterfront Investments Company of Cold Spring, now under review by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. It would comprise 13 town houses on a property adjacent to the river.
The village has one complex for the elderly, Chestnut Ridge Apartments, a 64-unit low-income project. Its two condominium complexes - Springbrook Condominiums, with 63 units, and Forgegate, with 68, have a mix of town houses and garden apartments ranging in price from $118,000 to $140,000. Owners who rent the one- and two-bedroom apartments charge $625 to $900 a month. In addition, nearly half the single-family homes in Cold Spring are rented out year-round for $600 to $900.
''WE bought for the location,'' said Judy McConnell, who purchased a small two-bedroom house on Grandview Terrace in May for a price she said was in the mid-$200,000's. ''My husband and I wanted something rural. Because we are empty nesters, the fact that most of our neighbors are retired is a plus. We have found the village to be everything you would expect in a country home.
''For instance, we had a power failure three days after moving in and were not home at the time. When we returned, we found that the neighbors had put candles and a box of matches in our mailbox.''
Main Street is lined with antiques shops, craft stores, flower shops, bakeries and delicatessens, most of them open only from Wednesday through Sunday. Also on Main Street is the small, two-story 1820's building that houses the offices of the Mayor, the Town Clerk, the Fire and Police Departments and the courtroom.
Three small hotels operate in restored 19th-century structures overlooking the Hudson. Among the best-known restaurants are the Hudson House Inn, which has 15 rooms and serves what it calls a country/American menu; Dockside Harbor, which serves steak and fresh seafood; Cold Spring Depot, featuring beef, chicken and seafood, and the Riverview, an Italian restaurant next to the river. The village also has a pastry shop, several cafes and pizzerias.
The Foundry School Museum, on a corner of the old 93-acre foundry site, is open from 2 to 5 P.M. Sundays, 9:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. Wednesdays and 1 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. Thursdays. It exhibits a collection of 30,000 artifacts, including cannons and sugar-processing machinery made in the foundry. Also on exhibit are 19th-century Hudson Valley furniture, a 19th-century general store and a 19th-century kitchen.
Four local guides, headed by Mr. MacDonald, the village historian, give free walking tours of the village every Sunday from mid-May through mid-November.