Sandyfield, New York

Sandyfield was a settlement of about 30 houses in the Town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York, USA, that was submerged when swampy Beaver Pond was dammed to create 216-acre (0.87 km²) Lake Welch in Harriman State Park by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in 1928.

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Beach at Lake Welch

The hamlet was settled in about 1760 along the road from Stony Point to Central Valley; the road is now a hiking trail called the Hasenclever Road. In 1910, when the state park was created, the residents were notified that they would have to leave their homes; there was an attempt to resist through political channels, but in 1939 the last residents were ordered to leave. By 1942, the lake was completed using workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps that was building the park. The new lake was named in honor of William A. Welch the first chairman of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission that built Harriman.

Source

• Myles, William J., Harriman Trails, A Guide and History, New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, New York, N.Y., 1999.