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Stony Point Battlefield is source of civic pride - 14 July, 2004
By NANCY CACIOPPO
THE JOURNAL NEWS
The Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site, which this week commemorates the 225th anniversary of the battle has imparted a sense of civic pride and historic importance to a variety of people through the years.
Jeffrey Tew of Middleburgh, N.Y., who teaches seventh-grade history at an alternative school in Sullivan County, is one of 250 Revolutionary War re-enactors who will be at the site this weekend.
Tew grew up in Thiells and remembers playing war games as a child with a friend at the battlefield. It wasn't until he graduated from college that he learned he was related to a man who fought at the battle. That got him interested in researching his own genealogy.
Tew will portray his British ancestor, Capt. Francis Tew of the 17th Regiment of Foot, a decorated soldier during the French and Indian Wars who was killed in 1779 leading the defenses of the Stony Point fortification.
"It's amazing how ancestors call out to you," Tew said. "America was founded on a revolution of civil rights — a grand experiment that is still being worked out. Whatever one's ethnic background, there's a story to be discovered at parks like these, which are important for attracting people to discover more about America's past and our fight for liberty and freedom, which is what we're engaged in today."
According to the Travel Industry Association of America, visiting historic and cultural sites ranks second only to shopping as a destination and is one of the fastest-growing niche markets in the travel industry today.
Rockland County Tourism Director Heather Duke said the same statistics held true in Rockland, where visiting historic sites has gone from eighth to second place as a favored activity in the past four years. She said the public's interest was driven in part by economics.
"Heritage tourism has captured much attention over the last decade and, more particularly, is increasing here in Rockland since 9/11, as visitors in the tri-state area choose to stay nearer to home," Duke said.
"People who engage in historic and cultural activities spend more, do more and stay longer than other domestic travelers," Duke said. "Here in Rockland, like in most other areas, we don't have to create and build the attractions. We just need to look into our past to enjoy our present. These destinations are carved out of our history."
The battlefield hosts four days of events to commemorate the 225th anniversary, from tomorrow through Sunday. They include re-enactments, a ladies' Colonial tea and a court-martial.
The Wayne Hose Fire Company of Stony Point and the company's annual Wayne Day Bazaar and Wayne Day parade are named for Gen. Anthony Wayne, who led the Continental Army troops in the attack on the British garrison.
Frank LoPresti, the fire company's vice president, remembers studying about the Revolutionary War in school.
"It's definitely interesting that right here where we're living was an historic battlefield site," LoPresti said.
Nearly 30 years ago, local veterans sought even more ways to denote Stony Point's vital contribution to the nation's history. Members of Charles R. Lewis Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8997 designed a Colonial soldier's statue on Route 9W to pay homage to Stony Point's Revolutionary War battle and veterans of all wars.
They raised money from community donations and erected the monument in time for the nation's bicentennial in 1976. In 1997, the post added a cannon near the statue, fulfilling another of the VFW's objectives, members said, "to promote Americanism through education in patriotism."
Post member and World War II veteran Joseph Humphrey said he helped design the soldier's monument and the nearby "Welcome to Stony Point" sign, which bears Wayne's likeness, "to make people more aware of the town's historic significance."
Humphrey has a particular interest in the battlefield — he served as its site manager from 1955 to 1960.
"My family has tremendous memories of that," he said. "It was so isolated, you could hear the grass grow. And sometimes, you thought Anthony Wayne himself might be walking by — even if it just turned out to be deer."
Stony Point resident Shirley Ryder, whose grandparents, William and Sarah Ten Eyck were the battlefield's first caretakers, from 1903 to 1944, said she also was related to David Ten Eyck, who rowed Revolutionary War troops across the river on the King's Ferry.
Ryder said she was proud of her heritage and the fact that she had passed along her love of history to her sons and grandsons.
"I heard more about the battle from my grandparents than I did at school," Ryder said.
Stony Point historian Stuart Gates said he was proud his hometown was important in American history.
"It's easy to teach the story, when so many local place names are meaningful, from Wayne Avenue to Major Andre Drive and the Patriot Hills Golf Course," Gates said. "And the battlefield itself is a tourist attraction."
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