The Widow Jane Mine & Snyder Estate

Resonant History in New York's Hudson Valley

- L.A. BERRY

Rosendale natural cement’s reputation stems from the unique composition of the clay-rich layers of dolostone in the Upper Silurian Rondout Formation from which it is manufactured. Courtesy L.A. & Charles Berry

Yes, there was a Jane who was a widow and yes, there was a mine. But there’s oh so much more to the story behind the 275acre Snyder Estate and Widow Jane Mine on Route 213 in Rosendale, New York.

The entrance to the Widow Jane Mine is clearly marked on Route 213. Courtesy L.A. & Charles Berry

A story that begins like a Sphinx’s riddle: How did Jane predecease her husband if she was but once a widow?

THE SNYDER HOMESTEAD

It depends, according to The Century House Historical Society (CHHS) at the Snyder Estate, because while there was only one mine there were two Janes.

Let’s start at the Snyder homestead, where, for more than two decades before the American Revolution, the family had put roots farming land down along Rondout Creek.

Christopher and Deborah Snyder commissioned a house and a gristmill along their creek in 1809 to their newly wedded son, Jacob Louw Snyder. Sixteen years later, Jacob ceded a portion of that property to John B. Jervis, allowing Jervis’s Delaware & Hudson Canal Company to keep digging its new canal along its intended route.

The great East River bridge: to connect the cities of New York & Brooklyn Print lithograph, hand-colored artist’s conception by Currier & Ives (1872). US Library of Congress/ Wikipedia

But with a caveat: The D&H had to not only build Snyder a boat slip where he too could ship his produce to market on the new waterway, they had to build a bridge to reach his flour mill, too. Jervis said yes and the decision was amply rewarded.