Marina Growth

  
The original yacht club moored their sailboats to pilings in the river and stored their canoes on the first floor of the old clubhouse. The Boatkeeper rowed members to their boats and bailed them during the season. A breakwater was provided for a dinghy dock in 1914, when the new clubhouse was built and more land was purchased. In the 1940’s the Club acquired the old powerhouse site and began a series of marina improvements adjacent to their new property.  Starting with three floating barges enclosing one line of slips, the marina gradually increased in size and capacity.  The marina size is now stable, and future efforts are focused on maintaining the seawalls and water depths in the slips and fairways
 

1889 The early Sing Sing clubhouse was built on piles in the river. Sailboats were moored to shad poles and canoes were stored on the first floor of the clubhouse.  Access to the clubhouse was by foot, over the railroad tracks and by a timber gangway from shore supported on poles.  The gangway was damaged by ice the first winter and was replaced by a king-post truss.  

 

 

1895  The boathouse was lengthened in 1890 or 95 and a new deck was added to its west end.  A float was placed in front of the deck, with a ramp to the clubhouse to facilitate launching canoes.

A coal-fired powerhouse was constructed in 1894 on Upper Dock, where the Shattemuc Office Building now stands.

The Hudson River Railroad ran east of the clubhouse. It had two tracks at that time and used steam engines to pull passenger and freight trains.
 

1910 By this time motor launches were common. They were moored in the river, and frequently tied up to the Clubhouse to take on passengers and provisions.

The powerhouse doubled in size and capacity. A railroad spur, not shown on this and the next two site plans, was constructed from the main line leading to and supplying the power station with coal.

 

 

1914 The old clubhouse burned to the water in January 1914. It was replaced by a boathouse that was acquired from the Railroad and floated down from Oscawana. An addtional 25 foot wide strip of underwater property was purchased and the boathouse was rolled onto a newly prepared site.  It was then raised one story, and renovated. 

An L-shaped breakwater was erected in front of the Clubhouse to create a small dinghy dock and provide a landing and fueling quay.  It consisted of earth-filled timber cribs, running some 50' west from the clubhouse to the bulkhead line of the adjacent power plant, then turned south for about 25'.  The breakwater stood about 6 to 7 feet above high water.  A flagpole and gasoline pump were located at the head of the dock. The flagpole was replaced in 1996, but the three navigation lights (red over white over red) were preserved and still announce the club's location to passing ships

The railroad added a freight and two express tracks by widening their embankment toward the river.  Newly electrified and now five tracks wide at Ossining, the Railroad built highway and pedestrian bridges to maintain riverfront access.  The Broadway Bridge (shown above) was one of many built in 1913.  Access for the Club, however, remained by wooden planked grade crossing over the tracks.

       
 
1924 The property north of the powerhouse was steadily filled in during the 1920’s and 30’s with cinders and ash from their coal fired boilers. 
 

1939   The Yacht Club operated a small marine railway to launch boats from the north side of the clubhouse. A line of pilings served as a seawall along the south side of the dinghy dock.

By this time the powerhouse was abandoned and the pier south of the Club was used by Maue Oil as a fuel depot. The pier supported four 30-foot high, 200,000-gallon tanks and two 70,000-gallon tanks.

 

 

1950 A series of property transfers saw the club gain ownership of the former powerhouse site. The new property permitted the Club to store boats on land and launch them by a marine railway.

The new property provided access to Westerly Road and the Broadway Bridge by a winding path under the bridge supports and around the west side of its ramp. 

A sewage treatment plant was constructed east of the Club, across the railroad tracks.
       

1962-63 The marine railroad was replaced by a new travel-lift in 1961.  It could lift boats weighing up to 7 tons. However, the front of the travel lift was not open, and it could only lift boats after their masts were stepped.

Three timber barges were moored to pilings west of the bulkhead, and a timber trestle with continuous sheeting was built to the north, forming a sheltered marina for one line of slips.

A large, above ground swimming pool was built.
 

1964 The original line of barges was moved outboard, toward the river, and additional barges were added to enlarge the marina.  The old dinghy marina in front of the clubhouse was filled in, as it was no longer needed.

Wash rooms were built next to the swimming pool

 

 

1965 More barges were acquired and the breakwater was enlarged and moved further outboard. Floating walkways were placed in the marina

A deckhouse on one of the barges became the “dew drop inn”.

 

 

1972 By now the wooden barges that formed the west breakwater were severely deteriorating.  Loose timbers were falling away and becoming a navigational hazard.  Steel hulls were purchased to replace them. The wooden barges were sunk at their moorings, and their sides collapsed inward.  The bow half of the Empress Bay, an oil tanker which exploded in the East River, was placed over one old barge at the south end of the marina.  An oil barge was placed along the west side.  In 1971 the decommissioned Circle Liner No. 9, a WW II Naval Landing Craft Infantry (LCI)  was scuttled at the north end.   The Circle Liner was refitted as a social center.

Additional floating docs were added
 
1988 The clubhouse burned to the ground in 1973 and the Circle Liner took over its function as a social center.  A luncheonette was built above the Pool’s pump house in 1980, and a small shed was built for the Sailing Academy

 

The south marina was expanded by purchasing underwater property in exchange for a 99-year easement granting access into the Sellazzo property.
After almost 27 years of service, the old travel lift was replaced 1989.  The new travel lift increased hauling capacity from 7 to 10 tons, and had an open front, which, allowed boats to keep their masts up when being hauled.

 

 
 
2002

A bubbler system was installed in the winter of 1989-90 to keep the marina free of ice in the winter. It was operated seasonally until the mid 1990s when portable, underwater fans were installed.

The Broadway Bridge was replaced in 1990 by the spaciallly curved, Snowden Avenue Bridge to provide higher clearance for railroad freight cars. 

The Club’s Office Building was built in the late 1980s, and lengthened in 1998 for the Sailing Academy. The new clubhouse was constructed in 1995-96.  The sewage treatment plant, east of the railroad tracks was finally demolished in 2005. The Sellazzo proprerty was purchased by the Club in the Fall of the same year.