So today we went to Bannerman Island, which I now know is not the real name of the island. The true name is Pollepel Island, though Frank Bannerman wanted it to be known as Bannerman Island. I got to drive myself today, considering I was half way to Newburgh anyway. When I got there, I wasn't sure if I went to the right place, but it turns out that I did. So we loaded onto the boat, and our Captain Jerry gave us our safety instructions of where the life jackets were, though he said we wouldn't need them. It took us approximately twenty minutes to get from Newburgh Landing to the island. In this twenty minutes, Krista felt the need to take a nap (for our trip to Lake George, she fell asleep before we even left campus). Once we arrived on the island, we split into two groups, our tour guide was Margaret. She was a very nice lady. On our tour I learned a whole lot. Before today, I didn't even know that Bannerman Island existed, now I know the whole history. Frank Bannerman was a scottish man, born in 1851 in Scotland, and came to the US in 1854 with his family. His family settled in Long Island. When Frank was just ten years old, his father joined the Union Army in the Civil War; Frank was left to care for his family. He supported his family by selling scrap from the rivers in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Frank Bannerman purchased the island for a total of 1600 dollars in 1900. He built his castle for a warehouse to store all of his war artillery and ammunition, the officials in Brooklyn told him he has to get it out of there. The Bannerman Business consisted of anything military, they sold or used any kind of old military equipment. Bannerman had three children with his wife Helen Boise, and they used the island for their summer home. Frank Bannerman died in 1918, this devistated his family. When he died, all work on the island ceased. This may have been a good thing because in 1920, the powder warehouse, which held all of the ammunition, exploded, causing severe damage to the castle, and causing minor injuries for three people. This started the deterioration of the buildings on the island. What I thought was pretty cool was Bannerman had a flushable toilet in their house, this was not common in the early 1900's; though they also had an outhouse right next to the main house. It's sad to know that the island became deserted between 1958-1967, the state purchased the island in 1967 to add to the Hudson Highland's national park. In 1969, the Castle caught fire, burning for three days. This fire caused devastating damage to the castle. The fire collapsed the floors and roof of the castle. Neil Caplan found the Bannerman Island Trust in 1993 to help preserve this historical site. Restoration and stabilization projects have helped to preserve what ever possible on the island. In 2010, though a large part of the tower collapsed. This was the cause for the metal beams to be put up so that the last wall did not collapse also. I think its pretty amazing what this fund is doing for the island. This will be the eleventh season of tours, and I hope it can continue.
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