Bridge Views: In the Footsteps of Our Ancestral Mothers

The Palisades Interstate Park Commission hosted a Mother’s Day hike led by historical interpreter Eric Nelsen Sunday. The destination of the hike was to the Women’s Federation Monument, a miniature castle situated deep within the woods of the Palisades. Along the almost three-mile walk to the monument we stopped to visit what remains of the Ringling house, Gray Crag, that sat atop the cliffs almost 100 years ago. That would be Ringling as in Ringling Brothers Circus. For those of you who have read Water for Elephants, or have seen the recently released film, you know that Ringling Brothers Circus is the central competitor around which much of the action of the story revolves. Knowing the history behind the story, visiting this part of the Palisades and seeing what remains of the estate and the gardens would be fascinating.  

John Ringling and his brothers began in the circus business in the 1880s traveling the country looking for new acts to add to their show. In 1905 John married Mabel Burton in Hoboken, and in 1907 he and his brothers bought the Barnum & Bailey circus for $400,000 and began to market their new circus empire as The Greatest Show on Earth. In 1918 he purchased and merged two properties on top of the Palisades and created a one-hundred acre estate called Gray Crag, aptly named after the cracked rock that marks that part of the Palisades. This estate served as the Ringling’s summer home throughout the 1920s.

By the time he arrived atop the Palisades, John Ringling had already made his fortune in the circus business and now turned his attention to other interests such as collecting fine art and real estate. Because a section of Gray Crag leading to the edge of the cliffs includes a large chasm, he built a concrete span bridge with steel supports (overlaid with wood veneer to lend the appearance of a rustic bridge). This footbridge crosses over a deep chasm and takes you to a free standing pillar of rock upon which you have access to the most spectacular view of not only the Hudson River, but of New York.

From this scenic vantage point of Gray Crag you can look straight down (about 40 stories down to be exact) to the Hudson River. Stories tell of how one weekend every summer John and Mabel Ringling invited all the circus performers and workers to Gray Crag and entertained them. Imagine those parties with those people. The remains of their garden are still quite visible today as you look around and see flowering plants not native to the Palisades: endless vines of blooming wisteria, bursts of orange blossoms, and other ornamental flowers that blanket the ground.

As the hike continued, we came across an unenthused black snake, endless clusters of poison ivy, ornate graffiti carved deep into a rock from June of 1891, and a few unexpected streams until our narrow dirt path opened up into magnificent gardens, the centerpiece of which is a small bluestone castle built in the middle of nowhere that is The Women’s Federation Monument.

The Women’s Federation Monument was dedicated in April 1929 to commemorate the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs, and their work in having the Palisades—as unspoiled as we know them today—preserved at the turn of the 20th century and the establishment of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. The design of the castle evokes the watchtowers that line the Rhine River in Europe, because poets had called the Hudson “the Rhine of the New World” or “America’s Rhine” due to the scenic beauty of the river and the surrounding cliffs. 

The history of the Federation’s involvement in preservation began in the late 19th century, a time when quarries had begun to blast significant amounts of the Palisades for blue stone, gravel for roads and broken stone for concrete. Many New Yorkers who had a view of the Palisades were outraged by the destruction that these quarries were causing. Newspapers referred to the quarry owners as “vandals.” One solution was to turn the Palisades into a military base just to protect it from the quarries, but the military wasn’t interested in establishing a base there. So, the blasting and destruction continued.

Until the Englewood Women’s Club decided to make the Palisades their political cause and prove that women were a powerful force that could make positive contributions to the male-dominated world of politics and, therefore, should be given the right to vote. These mostly wealthy women knew the Palisades well. The Englewood Women’s Club worked arduously to get the New Jersey Federation of Women’s Clubs—with sister clubs all around the state—involved in the cause to save the Palisades. In 1897, the Englewood Women’s Club convinced the Federation to hold its annual convention in North Jersey. It was during this convention that some of the leaders of the Federation took a yacht trip to visit the quarries and view the destruction first-hand. That is when they decided that the Palisades must be saved and they would take up the cause.

The building boom of the late 19th century made quarries a big business. Stone from the Palisades was shipped all across the country (even as far as New Orleans), and the quarries were employing hundreds of local men. In Fort Lee alone, Carpenter Brothers’ Quarry was blowing 12,000 cubic yards of rock away a day. Because the Hudson lay at the feet of the quarries, the stone could be piled onto barges without the need for any expensive overland transportation. This made for even bigger profits. So, the idea of closing down the quarries meant that a huge political battle would ensue.

It was the New Jersey Federation of Women’s Clubs, headed by Englewood, who took on this fight a generation before suffrage was granted. In 1900, then New Jersey Governor Foster Vorhees joined with then New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt in signing legislation that would form an interstate commission empowered to acquire and manage the Palisades lands. Money and support from powerful men such as J.P. Morgan enabled the newly formed Commission to buy out the quarries.

One of the first things that the newly formed Commission did was to acquire a piece of land atop the Palisades in Alpine and name it “Federation Park” in honor of these pioneering women. They planned to erect a monument to the Women’s Clubs where the magnificent view of the Hudson and the sweeping view of New York could be appreciated. 

The women instrumental in saving and preserving the Palisades had no idea the full measure of effect that their efforts would have on future generations. Just six months after the dedication of the Monument in April 1929 the stock market crashed. The Park became the place where people could escape to swim, hike, camp, vacation and have fun. Most importantly perhaps, through the creation of the W.P.A., President Franklin Delano Roosevelt put hundreds of area men (and boys through the C.C.C.) to work building scenic roads, pavilions, camps and trails throughout the Palisades. The efforts of these select women served a purpose far greater than any they could have imagined. 

The Women’s Federation Castle is now a part of the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail noted for planting the seeds that would lead to the passing of the amendment that would give all American women the right to vote. It is a place that must be seen, must be appreciated and must be enjoyed. It is a true testament to the power of women.