{{Short description|Uninhabited island in the Hudson River in New York, USA}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} [[File:Bannerman Castle on Pollepel Island viewed from atop Breakneck Ridge.JPG|right|thumb|upright=1.25|The island and castle viewed from atop Breakneck Ridge]] '''Pollepel Island''' {{IPAc-en|p|ɒ|l|ᵻ|ˈ|p|ɛ|l}} is a {{convert|6.5|acre|m2|adj=on}} uninhabited island in the Hudson River in New York, United States. The principal feature on the island is Bannerman's Castle, an abandoned military surplus warehouse.
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==Description== Pollepel Island has been called many different names, including '''Pollopel Island''', '''Pollopel's Island''' and '''Bannerman's Island''',<ref name=Ban3/> <ref name=Ban2/><ref name=Ban0/> ''Pollepel'' is a Dutch word meaning "(pot) ladle"
The island is about {{convert|50|mi|km}} north of New York City<ref name=Ban5/> and about {{convert|1,000|ft|m}} from the Hudson River's eastern bank.<ref name=Ban0/> It covers about {{convert|6.5|acre|m2}}, most of it rock.<ref name=Ban0/>
==Early history== Europeans first encountered Pollepel Island during the first navigation of the Hudson River by early Dutch settlers in the Province of New York,<ref name="Ban1" /> at the "Northern Gate" of the Hudson Highlands. During the Revolutionary War, patriots attempted to prevent the British from passing upriver by emplacing 106 ''chevaux de frise'' (upright logs tipped with iron points) between the island and Plum Point across the river (see Hudson River Chains). Caissons from several ''chevaux de frise'' still rest at the river bottom. Still, these obstructions did not stop a British flotilla from burning Kingston in 1777.<ref name="underwater"/> General George Washington later signed a plan to use the island as a military prison; however, there is no evidence that a prison was ever built there.<ref name="Ban1"/>
==Bannerman's Castle== {{Infobox NRHP | name = Bannerman's Island Arsenal | nrhp_type = | image = BannermanCastle3685.jpg | caption = Remains of Bannerman Castle viewed from the railroad on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, circa 2003 | location = Pollepel Island, Newburgh, New York | locmapin = New York#USA | built = 1901 | architect = Bannerman, Francis VI | added = November 23, 1982<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite report|type=none|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312670 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York MPS Bannerman's Island Arsenal|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |author=Elise M. Barry |date= March 1982| access-date=October 28, 2025 }} ({{NationalArchivesNote}})</ref> | area = {{convert|13.4|acre}} | mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64000559|title=Hudson Highlands MRA}} | refnum = 82001121<ref name="nris"/> }}
===Origin=== Francis Bannerman VI was born on March 24, 1851, in Scotland, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1854. His grandfather was from Dundee, Scotland, where he worked as a "linenman". The family moved to Brooklyn in 1858 and began a military surplus business near the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1865, purchasing surplus military equipment at the close of the American Civil War.<ref name="catalog"/>
In 1867, the business occupied a ship chandlery on Atlantic Avenue engaged in the purchase of worn rope for papermaking. The store on the 500-block of Broadway opened in 1897 to outfit volunteers for the Spanish–American War.<ref name=catalog/> The business bought weapons directly from the Spanish government before it evacuated Cuba; and then purchased over 90 percent of the Spanish guns, ammunition, and equipment captured by the United States military and auctioned off by the United States government.<ref name="Ban2" /><ref name="American Heritage"/> Bannerman's illustrated mail order catalog expanded to 300 pages, and later became a reference for collectors of antique military equipment.<ref name="Ban2" /><ref name="catalog"/>
Bannerman purchased Pollepel Island in November 1900,<ref name="Ban2" /><ref name="Ban0" /><ref name="catalog"/> for use as a storage facility for his growing surplus business.<ref name="Ban4"/> Because his storeroom in New York City was not large enough to provide a safe location to store thirty million surplus munitions cartridges,<ref name="catalog"/> in the spring of 1901, he began to build an arsenal on Pollepel. Bannerman designed the buildings himself and let the constructors interpret the designs on their own.<ref name=ruins/>
Most of the building was devoted to storing army surplus. Still, Bannerman built another castle, on a smaller scale, atop the island near the main structure as a residence, often using items from his surplus collection for decorative touches. The castle, clearly visible from the shore of the river, served as a giant advertisement for his business. On the side of the castle facing the western bank of the Hudson, Bannerman cast the legend "Bannerman's Island Arsenal" into the wall.<ref name="Ban2" /><ref name="Ban0" /> alt=Island with castle, and rectangular man-made harbor encloses the dock. Large lettered signage for "Bannerman's Island Arsenal" runs across the top of the castle exterior below the crenellations.|left|thumb|Bannerman's Island Arsenal, signage is below the crenellations at the top. Circa 1900–1910, the US Navy re-gunned several older ships. Bannerman bought the old guns, presumably at scrap value. In 1917, following the American entry into World War I, Bannerman sold a number of these weapons to the US Army, which intended to mount them on new carriages as field guns for the Western Front. The Army acquired thirty 6-inch (152 mm) 30-caliber ex-Navy guns, but sources do not indicate whether it sent any of them to France. The Army's 6-inch gun units in France primarily used former Army coast defense weapons; none of these units completed training and thus did not see action.<ref>{{cite book | last = Crowell | first = Benedict | author-link = Benedict Crowell | title = America's Munitions 1917–1918 | publisher = Government Printing Office | year = 1919 | location = Washington, DC | url = https://archive.org/stream/americasmunitio01deptgoog#page/n8/mode/2up | pages = 73–75 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first=Glen | last=Williford | title=American Breechloading Mobile Artillery, 1875–1953 | pages=92–99 | publisher=Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. | location=Atglen, PA | year=2016 | isbn=978-0-7643-5049-8 }}</ref>
Construction ceased at Bannerman's death in 1918. In August 1920, 200 pounds of shells and powder exploded in an ancillary structure, destroying a portion of the complex. Bannerman's sales of military weapons to civilians declined in the early 20th century due to state and federal legislation. After the sinking of the ferryboat ''Pollepel'', which had served the island, in a storm in 1950, the arsenal and the island were left essentially vacant.<ref name="Ban5" /> Jackson Hole Preserve, Inc. bought the island and gifted the land to New York State in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hudson Highlands Property Purchase - Little Stony Point |url=https://dimes.rockarch.org/objects/dMYNcL8HqXSbuVMte3rYaP |website=DIMES: The Online Collection and Catalog of Rockefeller Archive Center}}</ref> The state took possession after the old military equipment had been removed, and donated relics to the Smithsonian Institution.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Besonen |first=Julie |date=2017-08-29 |title=Visiting Bannerman Castle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/nyregion/visiting-bannerman-castle.html |access-date=2026-05-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> For a short time, tours of the island were given in 1968.<ref name="Ban1" /> However, on August 8, 1969, fire devastated the arsenal, destroying the roofs and floors.<ref name="Ban5" /> Following the fire, the island was placed off-limits to the public.
===Current status=== [[File:Pollepel_Island_view_from_Storm_King_Mountain.jpg|alt=Pollepel Island seen at a distance from above, eastern shoreline of Hudson River with train tracks are on the right half of image|thumb|Pollepel Island viewed from Storm King Mountain]] In the 21st century, the castle is the property of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is mostly in ruins. While portions of the exterior walls still stand, all the internal floors and non-structural walls have since burned down. The island has been the victim of vandalism, trespass, neglect, and decay.<ref name=Ban6/> Several old bulkheads and causeways that submerge at high tide present a serious navigational hazard. On-island guided tours were made available in 2004<ref>{{cite news |title=Ghostly Castle Beckons Again |url=https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/2004/06/05/ghostly-castle-beckons-again/51140904007/ |access-date=30 May 2023 |work=Times Herald-Record |date=June 5, 2004 |last=Randall |first=Michael}}</ref> through the Bannerman's Castle Trust.<ref name=Ban8/> The castle is easily visible to riders of the Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line and the Amtrak Empire Corridor lines. One side of the castle, which carries the words "Bannerman's Island Arsenal", is also visible to southbound riders.<ref name="Ban2" /><ref name="Ban0" />
thumb|left|The collapsed wall viewed from shore
Sometime during the week before December 28, 2009, parts of the castle collapsed. Officials estimate 30–40 percent of the structure's front wall and about half of the east wall fell. The collapse was reported by a motorist and by officials of Metro-North.<ref>{{cite web|date=December 28, 2009|url=http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091228/NEWS01/91228026/1006/news01|title=Walls collapse at Bannerman Castle; officials hope to assess damage as soon as possible|work=The Poughkeepsie Journal|access-date=14 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516100812/http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091228/NEWS01/91228026/1006/news01|archive-date=16 May 2015}}</ref>
On April 19, 2015, the island was the destination of a kayak trip taken by Vincent Viafore and his fiancée, Angelika. Viafore drowned, and Angelika was charged with his murder. On July 24, 2017, she pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide and served a short time in prison.<ref>{{cite news |first=Lisa W. |last=Foderaro |title=Couple's Kayak Trip on Hudson Included Mistakes, Experts Say |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/nyregion/couples-kayak-trip-on-hudson-included-missteps-and-dangers-experts-say.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 20, 2015 |access-date=2015-09-10 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Foderaro | first=Lisa W. | title=On '20/20', Woman Charged in Fiancé's Kayak Death Denies She Killed Him | website=The New York Times | date=2015-11-07 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/07/nyregion/on-20-20-woman-charged-in-fiances-kayak-death-denies-she-killed-him.html | access-date=2015-11-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Rick |last=Rojas |title=Woman Pleads Guilty in Fiancé's Kayak Death on Hudson River in '15 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/nyregion/angelika-graswald-kayak-vincent-viafore.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 24, 2017 |access-date=2017-07-24 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elle.com/life-love/a26453558/angelika-graswald-kayak-killer-profile/|title=Angelika Graswald Went to Jail for Letting Her Fiancé Drown. The Real Story Is More Complicated. |first=Kat |last=Stoeffel |date=February 26, 2019 |website=ELLE}}</ref>
On June 28, 2015, the public art piece ''Constellation'' by Beacon-based artist Melissa McGill debuted on and around the castle ruins. The work consists of seventeen LEDs mounted on metal poles of varying heights, which when lighted for two hours each night are intended to create the appearance of a new constellation.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/Bannermans-Big-Year/Bannerman-Constellation-Melissa-McGill/ |title=Local Artist Debuts Constellation Light Display at Bannerman's Castle |last=Phipps |first=Jillian |date=24 June 2015 |magazine=Hudson Valley Magazine |access-date=2015-07-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709010744/http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/Bannermans-Big-Year/Bannerman-Constellation-Melissa-McGill/ |archive-date=2015-07-09}}</ref>
The island is maintained by The Bannerman Castle Trust, a nonprofit organization of volunteers that secures funding to stabilize and improve structures on Pollepel Island and to educate the public about the island's history.<ref name="MHN">{{cite news |last1=staff |title=Bannerman’s Island receives over $100,000 state grant for repairs |url=https://midhudsonnews.com/2024/01/29/bannermans-island-receives-over-100000-state-grant-for-repairs/ |access-date=23 August 2024 |work=Mid Hudson News |date=29 January 2024}}</ref> The Trust also offers guided tours of the island.<ref name="Croke">{{cite news |last1=Croke |first1=Karen |title=Take a tour of Bannerman Castle |url=https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/life/2017/07/26/take-tour-bannerman-castle/464936001/ |access-date=23 August 2024 |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |date=26 July 2017}}</ref>
==In popular culture== ===In literature=== ''Bannerman Castle'' by Barbara Gottlock and Thom Johnson was released through Arcadia Press in August 2006.<ref name=poughkeepsie>{{cite web |title=Child's life on Bannerman Island inspires book |url=https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/09/21/childs-life-bannerman-island-inspires-book/90799380/ |website=Poughkeepsie Journal |publisher=Gannett |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130042438if_/https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/09/21/childs-life-bannerman-island-inspires-book/90799380/ |archive-date=January 30, 2021 | last1=Gottlock | first1=Wesley | last2=Gottlock | first2=Barbara H. |date=September 21, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> The book contains almost 200 vintage photographs, and the authors' text documents the island's growth and decline. Proceeds from the book go to the Bannerman Castle Trust in its ongoing efforts to preserve and improve the island's structures. Wesley Gottlock and Barbara H. Gottlock authored a children's book titled "''My Name is Eleanor''".<ref name=poughkeepsie />
The main characters in ''Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl'' by Daniel Pinkwater (2010), set in the 1950s, visit Pollepel Island and hang out with a family of trolls who are squatting in the abandoned castle.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gibbons |first1=Ann |title=Unusual writer, unusual fiction |url=https://www.dailyfreeman.com/news/unusual-writer-unusual-fiction/article_91c7e615-9833-502b-b2ae-6e4272b2c767.html |website=Daily Freeman |publisher=MediaNews Group |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130050613/https://www.dailyfreeman.com/news/unusual-writer-unusual-fiction/article_91c7e615-9833-502b-b2ae-6e4272b2c767.html |archive-date=January 30, 2021 |date=June 17, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist |30em |refs= <ref name="catalog">Bannerman, David B. (1954) ''Bannerman 90th Anniversary Military Goods Catalog'' Francis Bannerman Sons, New York</ref>
<!-- ref not used - content removal <ref name="history">{{cite web |url=https://bannermancastle.org/history/ |title=History – Bannerman Castle Trust, Inc. |author=Jane Bannerman |access-date=2026-05-29}}</ref>-->
<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
<ref name="ruins">{{cite web | url=http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/rinaldi/bannerman.htm | title=Visit to Bannerman's Castle | access-date=2006-11-18 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061015124147/http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/rinaldi/bannerman.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2006-10-15}}</ref>
<ref name="underwater">{{cite web | title=Underwater Legacy | url=http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/newmedia/masters/hudson/history.html | access-date=2006-11-17 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060917191300/http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/newmedia/masters/hudson/history.html | archive-date=2006-09-17 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="American Heritage">{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1974/5/1974_5_52.shtml |first=Joseph E. |last=Persico |title=The Great Gun Merchant |work=American Heritage |date=June 1974 |access-date=2010-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529212752/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1974/5/1974_5_52.shtml |archive-date=2010-05-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Ban0">{{cite news | url=http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/07/28/travel/escapes/28trip.html | title=Kayaking to Pollepel Island | access-date=2006-11-17 | work=The New York Times | first=Rich | last=Beattie | date=2006-07-28}}</ref>
<ref name="Ban1">{{cite web | url=https://bannermancastle.org/history/| title=Bannerman Island History | access-date=2026-05-29}}</ref>
<ref name="Ban2">{{cite web | url=http://www.bannermancastle.org/ | title=Bannerman Castle Trust | access-date=2006-11-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Ban3">{{cite web | url=http://www.oboylephoto.com/bannermans/index.htm | title=Bannermans' Island Photographs | access-date=2006-11-17 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714071508/http://oboylephoto.com/bannermans/index.htm | archive-date=2008-07-14 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Ban4">{{cite web | url=http://www.opacity.us/site54_bannermans_arsenal.htm | title=Bannerman's Arsenal | access-date=2006-11-17}}</ref>
<ref name="Ban5">{{cite web | last=Heather | first=Rebmann | url=http://cityguide.pojonews.com/fe/Heritage/stories/he_bannerman_island.asp | title=Explosions on Bannerman's Island | work=Poughkeepsie Journal | access-date=2006-11-17 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20040614095635/http://cityguide.pojonews.com/fe/Heritage/stories/he_bannerman_island.asp | archive-date=2004-06-14 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Ban6">{{cite web | url=http://www.hvnet.com/panoramas/BannermanCastle_terrace.htm | title=Panorama from Bannerman's Castle, South Terrace | access-date=2006-11-17 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130220071929/http://www.hvnet.com/panoramas/BannermanCastle_terrace.htm | archive-date=2013-02-20 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Ban8">{{cite web|url=http://www.pcnr.com/news/2005/0810/Cultural_Events.htm/013.html |title=Bannerman Island Tours |access-date=2006-11-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928051414/http://www.pcnr.com/news/2005/0810/Cultural_Events.htm/013.html |archive-date=September 28, 2007 }}</ref> }}
==External links== {{wiktionary|pollepel}} {{Commons category|Bannerman Castle}} * [http://www.bannermancastle.org/ Bannerman Castle Trust] * [http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/2185.xml Francis Bannerman Sons, Inc. records] at Hagley Museum and Library * [http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/2210.xml Bannerman family papers] at Hagley Museum and Library
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}} {{Hudson River}} {{Portal bar|Hudson Valley}} {{Coord|41.455314|-73.98887|region:US_type:landmark|display=title|format=dms}}
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Category:Castles in the United States Category:Fishkill, New York Category:Islands of Dutchess County, New York Category:Landmarks in New York (state) Category:Ruins in the United States Category:National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York Category:Islands of the Hudson River Category:River islands of New York (state) Category:Uninhabited islands of New York (state)