Tin Top
|
Hyde Bay Camp For Boys Tin Top |
Back to The Lodge
Charlie Burnham writing 04/31/12 - Any Hyde Bay Camper returning to Hyde Bay must make the trip to see Hyde Hall and the magnificent restoration work going on there. I have been very impressed with the love and care going into the project and continue to be an avid supporter!
Tin Top Bridge Makes Historic Connection at Hyde Hall in Cooperstown April 4, 2012 - Pedestrian Walkway to Open at Hyde Hall May 5 COOPERSTOWN, NY - Hyde Hall, Inc. is pleased to announce the opening of Tin Top Bridge, a pedestrian walkway that will once again serve as the approach to historic Hyde Hall, located in Glimmerglass State Park. The dedication ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 5, at 11:00 a.m., and will feature opening remarks by Senator James L. Seward and other State officials. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony at the Visitor Center. In Tin Top, the original gatehouse of the estate, photography exhibits will show the installation of the new bridge, along with pictures from 1974 that highlight the re-location of Tin Top to its current site. Hyde Hall will be open for free guided tours on May 5 from 12:00 - 2:00 pm. The public is welcomed to attend the event. When British-born landowner George Clarke began the construction of Hyde Hall in 1817, three drives, along with a complex of bridges, also were built across the estate, due to the numerous streams. The drive north of the mansion, called the Back Road, passed through a wood bridge that spanned a deep ravine near the mansion. The Main Drive, off East Lake Road, had two bridges, a covered wood bridge and a small stone bridge. The covered bridge is the oldest surviving example in the United States. A third drive curved around Mount Wellington and followed along the shore of Otsego Lake. In the 1890s a flood destroyed the Back Road bridge, and it was replaced with an earth embankment. When Hyde Hall opened as a historic-house museum in the 1980s, the Back Road, which is off of Mill Road, became the main access to the mansion. Unfortunately the flood of 2006 washed away the massive embankment. Since that time, public access to the estate has been through Glimmerglass State Park. In December 2006, New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation along with Senator Seward announced an $800,000 grant from the New York and Federal Departments of Transportation to restore the original access to Hyde Hall with a 100-foot-long walking bridge. The decision to use a bridge instead replacing the embankment was for historic reasons, as well as a desire to prevent future pollution of Otsego Lake, which occurred following the embankment's destruction. An 1820s drawing found in George Clarke's personal papers, which are stored at Cornell University, inspired the concept for the new open wood truss bridge. Though the 1820s design was built entirely of wood and the new one is made of steel with wood planking and sides, the new Tin Top Bridge is very much in the spirit of the original structure. The bridge project also included the installation of a 20-car parking lot for visitors, just north of Tin Top gatehouse, and a handicapped-accessible restroom in the east wing of Tin Top. With the opening of the walking bridge on May 5, visitors can stroll through Tin Top and cross the new bridge to see the rugged ravine below and the refined mansion beyond, taking in a picturesque vista that looks surprisingly similar to the one enjoyed by George Clarke and his family nearly 200 years ago. For more information about the event or to schedule an interview, please contact Emily Daunis at 607-547-5098 or emilydaunis@hydehall.org. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
