Pollepel Island Totally Explained

Everything about Pollepel Island totally explained

Pollepel Island is an island in the Hudson River. Also known as Pollopel Island, Pollopel's Island and Bannerman Island, it's the site of Bannerman's Castle. While the two versions of the name are "Pollepel" and "Pollopel", the correct term is "Pollepel", from the Dutch word for a wooden spoon.
Pollepel Island is about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City and about 1,000 feet (300 m) from the Hudson River's eastern shore. One side of the castle carries the words "Bannerman's Island Arsenal". General George Washington later signed a plan to use the island as a military prison, however there has been no evidence that a prison was ever built there.

Bannerman's Castle

Construction and decay

Francis Bannerman VI purchased the island in 1900 for use as a storage facility for his growing surplus business. After the Spanish-American War Bannerman bought 90% of the US army surplus, including a large quantity of ammunition. Most of the building were devoted to the stores of army surplus but Bannerman built another castle in a smaller scale on top of 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 eastern bank of the Hudson, Bannerman cast the legend "Bannerman's Island Arsenal" into the wall.
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. After the sinking of the ferryboat Pollepel, which had served the island, in a storm in 1950, the Arsenal and island were essentially left vacant. Several old bulkheads and causeways that submerge at high tide present a serious navigational hazard. On-island guided hard hat tours have recently been made available through the Bannerman's Castle Trust. The castle is easily visible to the riders of the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson line and Amtrak. The sign is easily visible to southbound riders.

In literature

Dark fantasy author Caitlín R. Kiernan uses Bannerman's Castle and Pollepel Island as the setting for a number of the stories in her collection, Tales of Pain and Wonder (2000), including "Estate," "The Last Child of Lir," and "Salammbô." In these stories, the castle was constructed by a fictional industrialist named Silas Desvernine and is referred to simply as "Silas' Castle."
"Bannerman Castle" by authors Barbara Gottlock and Thom Johnson was released through Arcadia Press in August of 2006. The book contains almost 200 vintage photographs, and the text documents the island's growth and decline. Proceeds from the book go the Bannerman Castle Trust in its ongoing efforts to preserve and improve the island's structures. For ordering information, contact the Bannerman Castle Trust

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Pollepel Island is a murder scene in Linda Fairstein's murder mystery, Killer Heat.

Further Information

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