Athens and Hudson

Middle Ground
N 42 15.865 W 73 48.055

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Always before, when we traversed the Hudson, we anchored in Middle Ground, right between the town of Athens to the west and Hudson to the east, but we never visited either town.

Today, we did those visits for the first time. We were a bit disappointed. Both towns show signs of formerly rich and stylish places that passed their peak of popularity long ago - like in the 19th century. Both had beautiful classic houses that were in a state of decay and disrepair.

Athens is a very small place. It has a free dock, so we tied up our dinghy there and walked around the town. It took only 15 minutes to see everything in town and to see that there was nothing of interest.

We took the dinghy across the river to the Hudson side, and tied her up at the yacht club (actually, it is called the Hudson Power Boat Association.) We asked permission from the two old folks sitting on the porch and they said, "Sure." Hudson is quite a bit bigger than Athens. It took us two hours to see the whole place. Most interesting were the Hudson Opera House, the bank buildings with lovely marble columns and the huge Victorian brick houses along the main street with wonderful decorative cornices and lintels. Alas, we couldn't get inside to see any of them, and outsides were in poor repair. It was clearly evident though that in its prime it was a city built for wealthy high society. Where we did see dates on the buildings, they ranged from 1875 to 1895. We didn't learn what attraction or industry made Hudson so prosperous. There are no traces visible today.

Libby and I talked about what a good investment it could be to buy depressed properties in Hudson and Athens. It seems certain that as the population increases and as the rich get richer that these two jewels of waterfront towns must surely be destined for rejuvenation.