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General News: Remembering the Staples Boat Club
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| Jack and Mona Staples. |
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| Jack Staples opened the Sand Bar luncheonette after Firth Carpet closed. |
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| Feeding the ducks was a popular pasttime at Staples Boat Club. |
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| Inside the Sand Bar luncheonette. |
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| Enjoying a cold one at the Sand Bar. |
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| The area around Staples Boat Club was damaged in a hurricane in the mid-1950s. |
October 20, 2008
By Warren Mumford
A half-century ago there were two clubs where you could keep a boat on the Cornwall-on-Hudson waterfront. One was the well known Cornwall Yacht Club, which continues to thrive today. The other, called the Staples Boat Club, was located at the bottom of River Avenue. near the mouth of the Moodna. Nearly forgotten today, this club was quite popular during the 1950's and 60's. Up to 90 boats were moored there during its most active years.
John Staples II, son of the original owner, is known for his knowledge of the area where the Moodna Creek enters into the Hudson, so much so that he is sometimes referred to as "the Mouth of the Moodna" (Read the 2001 New York Times article about him here.) At age 79, John II continues to live near the Moodna on Forge Hill Road with his wife, Carmela. His dad passed away in the 1970's but his son keeps his memory alive and recently shared these recollections about his father:
John I, known as Jack, purchased the 4.3 acre riverfront plot in 1949 for $500 from a man who lived just across the street. But the man was a squatter and never really owned the land. Village officials located the real owner in Florida who signed off on the deal, not charging Jack any additional fee for the genuine property transfer, a lucky day for the Staples family.
The property was located adjacent to the area formerly known as the "stone docks." Loads of blue and brown stone from the Catskills were offloaded here from rail cars onto barges for transport to New York City, where the stone was used as prime construction material. Just beyond the "stone docks" and further downriver was the coal dock where Pennsylvania coal was loaded onto barges after transport on the Ontario and Western railroad. This dock was destroyed by fire in 1952.
Only a single shack existed on the property when first purchased by Mr. Staples. At first, Jack used the site for personal activities such as fishing and boating. The site gradually became a boat club after friends and acquaintances began asking if they could moor their boats there in the Hudson. Jack made a deal with a local hobo named Banty to watch over the property in exchange for using the old shack as a home. A small dock was built from which dinghies could be launched to reach moored boats. Customers were at first charged only $15 per season for a mooring.
Jack worked at the Firth Carpet Co. until the plant closed in1962 and moved to South Carolina. After leaving Firth, he had more time to develop the Boat Club and built a luncheonette named the Sand Bar. Now semi-retired, he created a comfortable business for himself and his wife, Mona. Over the years the couple spent many relaxing afternoons feeding the ducks and enjoying the view of the river from benches under the shade trees next to the Sand Bar.
In 1963, Con Ed announced its plans to build a pumped storage power plant at the base of Storm King Mountain. In preparation for construction, Con Ed began to buy up riverfront property. They planned to create an improved yacht club near the site of the Staples Boat Club to which the Cornwall Yacht Club would eventually be moved. Jack resisted initial offers for his property, but after a few years agreed to a purchase price of $50,000, a handsome sum for the late 60's.
The Con Ed plant was never built, but so ended the opportunity to spend lazy afternoons on a boat at the Staples Yacht Club. The site is now overgrown with briars and vines. Any traces of the club are difficult to find. However, if you would like to know more about this area, just ask the "Mouth of the Moodna."
Comments:
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Aw a young boy I could be frequently found at Staple Boat Club. The caretaker that you refered to would let me bail out the boats after a rain. I would row around to all the open boats in a 8' row boat that he gave me after sometime because I would help him around the grounds of the shack on the property. He was quite a character. The picture of Jack and Mona is exactly as I remeber them.
My Dad, Blake Merritt had a row boat moored at Staples. He named it after My brother Al, sister Sandra and me. "ALSANRAY". We were so proud of owning a boat...
Thank you Warren for bringing back many wonderful memories of living in Cornwall-on-Hudson.
posted by Ray Merritt on 10/20/08 at 6:43 PM
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Back in the 60's my dad Oscar Conklin bought the house right across the street from Staples Boat Club. He couldn't have raised us up in any other place. I think we all had a great time living across the tracks from Jack's place. We use to row folks to their boats for $.50 and we made sure we were around when they came back from their day on the water. Lots of great people stopped at the boad club. And I remember the man in the shack to the left of the club, named Pete Thompson. Growing up near Jacks was like being a Gilligan's Island.. It was so much fun, boating, hauling fish with Pete. Hanging at the club playing pool listening to the juke box. I even have a Staples Boat Club match book to remember it by. It's Silver & Blue and reads, RELAX & PLAY! Cornwall New York on one side and BEER & SODA (Cold) with a speedboat photo and the words MOORING FOR BOATS on the other side! Made by Match Corp Of America.. Thanks for the article, it was a blast from the past. And back then, my nick name was River Rat...
posted by Pat Conklin on 03/08/15 at 5:08 PM
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