The Story of Tompkins Cove Quarry in Photos
Some stories can only be told from the air. This giant hole, for instance, sits along the Hudson River about 40 miles north of New York City, but few people know of its existence.
That is because the surrounding terrain obstructs a clear view of the pit from every angle, except from above.
The hole, the Tompkins Cove Quarry, is a 199-acre former rock quarry in New York’s Rockland County.
It sits 300 feet from the Hudson River and its bottom is 280 feet lower than the surface of the river.
It was first mined for limestone rock in the 1800s to build New York City’s infrastructure. Limestone is a key ingredient in cement.
The quarry is adjacent to Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site, which marks the location of one of the last battles fought in the northeast colonies during the Revolutionary War in 1779.
The Stony Point Lighthouse, built in 1826 and de-commissioned in 1925, is the oldest lighthouse on the Hudson River.
This section of the Hudson River is known for its natural beauty and for its abundance of American Bald Eagles, especially in winter.
When mining operations at the quarry ended in 2012, the plan was to keep it fenced off and let it fill with water in perpetuity (forever).
Today, the water in the quarry appears deep blue due to the surrounding limestone, which not only keeps the water clear but also deters the growth of organisms such as algae.
A Proposal to Reclaim the Land
In 2019, Hudson River Resources, an affiliate of a Staten Island-based company that specializes in land reclamation, proposed to turn the site into a public green space by filling the quarry with recyclable materials, including construction and demolition (C&D) materials. The materials would be brought in by river barge, similar to the way that limestone had been removed from the site over many years.
According to that plan, the process of filling the quarry would take 16 years, with an additional 2 years to turn the space into a riverfront park. You can read more about that plan here.
In response to Hudson River Resources’ plan to reclaim the land, the environmental group Riverkeeper published their objections to the plan here: A Landfill Masquerading as a Park.
Ultimately, the state Department of Environmental Conservation would have to approve any plan to reclaim the land and there has been no news about the site in recent years.
For now, the old quarry is out-of-sight, out-of-mind, in perpetuity—at least until someone younger, smarter, or more creative comes up with a better idea.
That might be the case with a Columbia University student in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. In the fall of 2022, pursuant to course work, the student examined the geological history of the site and proposed “new ways of thinking about waste disposal.” You can read about that here: De-Mining Tomkins Cove.
All photos: © 2021, 2024 Kevin Suttlehan
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