Bannerman Castle Over Time
Following up on my previous post that showed Bannerman Castle, on Pollepel Island (in the Hudson River), from atop Breakneck Ridge, here are two more images of it taken over a time span of forty-four years. Both of these were taken from moving trains, and so are of lower quality, but they are from roughly the same angle.
The first shot above shows the castle as seen in May of 1981 during my first trip to the big city (post for that event here). At the time, despite the danger, one could position oneself in the vestibule area of a moving train and even open the top half of the Dutch doors for clear access for photography.
The second shot was taken earlier this week as I was traveling out of town, headed north. I'm now using a phone-camera and shooting through a window (ugh). It appears that the most decorative and tall part of the castle has fallen down at some stage. This site shows some of this decay that happened during a storm in 2010, and it seems that more has gone since then.
The island and castle are owned by the State of New York (Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation). Additionally, there is a group helping to preserve the place: the Bannerman Castle Trust. They have a site where you can read about the history of the place.
Two images by Richard Koenig; taken May 1981 and June 2025.
