GEOLOGY OF THE WEST POINT QUADRANGLE, NEW YORK 9 



mittent service from Peekskill to Bear Mountain and to Jones' 

 Point. 



Roads are numerous, except in the northeastern part of the area, 

 and are fairly good. The state road is very good. It follows, for 

 most of the way, the course of the old Albany post road through 

 Montrose, Peekskill, Annsville, Nelson Corners, McKeel Corners 

 through Clove Creek valley northward toward Poughkeepsie. Other 

 equally good roads run from Peekskill to Pleasantside, Yorktown 

 Heights, Mahopac Falls, and Tompkins Corners. The remainder 

 are unimproved dirt roads, but many of them are fairly good. Some 

 of those shown on the map were originally old wood roads and are 

 now impassable for vehicles, and even in some cases are no longer 

 traceable. On the other hand, new roads made since 1891, when the 

 topographic sheet was surveyed, and even the new state roads, which 

 are the best of all, are not shown on the map. 



The region is a rugged one with much rocky and untillable 

 ground, and, in many parts, very sparsely settled. In spite of its 

 splendid transportation facilities both by rail and water, the West 

 Point quadrangle contains few important industries. Peekskill, as 

 the center of the trade for the best and most populous portion of 

 the area, is a busy small city, and Cold Spring is the outlet of a 

 small fertile valley, but no other place is much more than a station 

 or a small village with very limited support. The proximity to New 

 York City, however, together with the great natural beauty of the 

 scenery, have attracted many people who have made costly improve- 

 ments. The future of the district depends largely on the develop- 

 ment of summer homes and country estates. 



The inhabitants of the district outside of the special communities 

 represented by West Point and Peekskill are mostly either small 

 farmers, or traders in supplies and necessary commodities, or are 

 residents v/ith business interests quite outside the activities of the 

 district. Few manufacturing establishments are located here, and 

 none is wholly dependent upon the district itself either for supplies 

 or service. 



Physical Geography 



The entire quadrangle, except about 3 square miles in the north- 

 west corner and a small tract on the south margin, lies in the High- 

 lands belt. This is a southwesterly continuation of the New England 

 upland developed on the old resistant crystalline rocks which stand 

 up several hundred feet above the softer Cambro-Ordovician sedi- 

 ments to the north. The northern boundary is an abrupt mountain 



