Taconics

NY 23 – NY 9J Interchange

This interchange was recently switched over to a roundabout but the old interchange. The left photo shows the interchange as it appeared in 1995, the right photo is contemporary.

Taconic Trail (NY 2 Changes Since 1898

You can see how the Taconic Trail (NY 2) became somewhat longer and more curvey as it became a developed highway, to help reduce the steepness of the grade over the mountains.

Olana Historic Site

 Olana Historic Site

Olana State Historic Site was the home of Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900), one of the major figures in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. The centerpiece of Olana is an eclectic villa composed of many styles, difficult to categorize, which overlooks parkland and a working farm designed by the artist. As well, the residence has a wide view of the Hudson River valley, the Catskill Mountains and the Taconic Range. Church and his wife Isabel (1836–1899) named their estate after a fortress-treasure house in ancient Greater Persia (modern-day Armenia), which also overlooked a river valley.