Legion Park Today
While greenery is always good, as is open space, you have to admit, this park can offer more. There is nothing drawing anyone to it, except perhaps the local dog owners. It is an extra step or two from the village center, so there is no reason for anyone to walk to it.
Legion Park was donated to the American Legion by Robert and Ford Huntington back in 19{xx}, but it has since been taken over by the village.
1867 Beers Map and 1876 Grays Map Excerpts (by 1876, the mills are gone). Mrs. A. Huntington (likely a Livingston descendant) is the owner.
The lawn gets mowed, but it has long seen better days (this is a difficult to maintain park):
You have to wonder if anyone at all uses this picnic table. The sycamore tree is quite nice, but the poison sumac all around doesn’t invite people in. Few come to ponder the old days of mill activity here or even come to look at the stream (its virtually inaccessible). There’s a good likelihood most people are not even aware of the site’s history.
View from the Post Road bridge, all overgrown:
Full Gallery (pictures August 2018)
Lower Mill Site
In 1925 there seems to have been was a walking park here
We would try to recreate some of these pathways and make the waterfall much more accessible. Map courtesy of D. Miller, RHS
1920’s card, you can see a handrail in front of falls and a walking path. Long ago there was a small bridge to the island in the middle of the lake:
Most people just speed right past the park:
