Outside lies utterly ordinary space open to any casual explorer willing to find the extraordinary. Outside lies unprogrammed awareness that at times becomes serendipity. Outside lies magic. (From John Stilgoe’s “Outside Lies Magic”)

We’re two local folks who look at the world with curious and inquisitive eyes, wondering why things are the way they are now, and what they used to be before. We love digging into the archives, the art, and the literature of the past to find the stories that help explain how we got to where we are today. And we’re always ready to share our interest and knowledge.

We’ve created this space to serve both as a platform for our new book Croton Point Park: Jewel of the Hudson (out August 2022), and as a clearinghouse for historical and Hudson Valley-related items.

Both of us are enthusiastic historians, especially interested in those things that are out in the open that most of us pass by without a second thought.

Our collaboration began on Croton Point as we discovered how much history is concentrated on that spit of land.  But we hope to expand our research outward. This website will be an eclectic collection of stories that strike our fancy.  

But if there are places, anecdotes, or legends that you’ve wondered about – feel free to get in touch and suggest avenues of research to us!  (Check out our Contact page HERE)

— Scott Craven and Caroline Curvan