STONY POINT, NY- Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site, the Palisades Interstate Parks Commission, and the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites are pleased to announce the installation of a brand new set of seventeen outdoor historic interpretive signs at Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site available for the public to view beginning Saturday June 19th, 2021. These signs replace an earlier set of interpretive signs with updated graphics, new text, larger size, updated modern format, and better resistance to fading from sunlight. The signs have been a cooperative effort to find the latest and most authentic imagery, quotes, and text. Stony Point Battlefield’s museum staff delved through hundreds of military muster rolls, pension applications, and the Papers of George Washington. Digitized databases including the Library of Congress, National Archives, and the Coast Guard Archives revealed further information and images. Stony Point Battlefield’s maintenance staff carefully installed the pedestals for the signs in the archaeologically sensitive landscape, and the Bureau of Historic Sites staff completed the design, layout, printing, and final installation of the signs.
As you walk around the paths at Stony Point Battlefield, the new interpretive signs bring to life the story of the Storming of Stony Point, which took place on July 16th, 1779. As you walk through the site, the signs take you on a self-guided tour, stopping at significant spots where major events during the battle took place. Quotes and highlighted maps illustrate the excitement and danger the British and American troops faced the night of the battle in one of the American Revolution’s most exciting ventures. Specially designed way-finders lead you to the next sign, so that the tale of the battle is told in the proper order. Stony Point is also home to the Stony Point Lighthouse, the oldest light on the Hudson River, and the new signs help explore the lighthouse’s ninety-nine year history, with beautiful images and stories of some of the steadfast keepers who tended the light. The updated and modernized signs delve deeply into Stony Point’s three stories: the battle, the lighthouse, and over 100 years as a public property.
The Stony Point Battlefield museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., from mid-April through the end of October. The grounds are open Wednesday through Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., mid-April through October. Admission is free, although donations to the Friends of the Stony Point Battlefield & Lighthouse are greatly appreciated.
Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site is one of 35 historic sites within the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation and one of 40 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey. For further information please call 845-786-2521, visit the New York State Parks website at https://parks.ny.gov or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stonypointbattlefieldandlighthouse.