Portal:Hudson Valley

U.S. Route 44 in the state of New York is a major east–west thoroughfare in the Hudson Valley region of the state. Its entire 65.98-mile (106.18 km) length is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation, with the exception of the Mid-Hudson Bridge, which is maintained by the New York State Bridge Authority. The portion of the route in New York begins at an intersection with US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) near the hamlet of Kerhonkson and ends at the Connecticut state line near the village of Millerton. The road passes through rural parts of Ulster and Dutchess Counties before crossing into Litchfield County, Connecticut.

• ... that the Hudson Valley Rail Trail (pictured), once owned by a felonious charlatan, is patrolled by a police officer riding a Segway?
• ... that after the New York Central Railroad ended service to it, the Milton Railroad Station in Milton, New York, was used by a local winery for tastings?
• ... that cleaning up Quassaick Creek convinced Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make environmental law his lifelong work?

Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra. Irving also served as the U.S. minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.

He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. After moving to England for the family business in 1815, he achieved international fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1819. He continued to publish regularly—and almost always successfully—throughout his life, and completed a five-volume biography of George Washington just eight months before his death, at age 76, in Tarrytown, New York. The village of Irvington, New York, is named after Irving.