The Tappan Zee (; also Tappan Sea or Tappaan Zee) is a natural widening of the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

, about across at its widest, in southeastern

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It stretches about along the boundary between Rockland and Westchester counties, downstream from Croton Point to Irvington. Its name is from the Tappan people of the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

, and the Dutch word ' , meaning a sea. Flanked to the west by high steep bluffs of the Palisades, it forms something of a natural lake on the Hudson about north of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Communities along the Tappan Zee include Nyack on the western side as well as Ossining and

Tarrytown Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on th ...

on the eastern side. It was formerly crossed by the Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, opened in 1955 and about long, connecting Nyack and Tarrytown. It is crossed by the modern Tappan Zee Bridge (officially the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge), which opened in 2017 (north or westbound span) and 2018 (south or eastbound span) at about the same length as the old bridge. On September 14, 1609, the explorer

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

entered the Tappan Zee while sailing upstream from

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

. At first, Hudson believed the widening of the river indicated that he had found the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

. He proceeded upstream as far as modern

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

before concluding that no such

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

existed there. Francis Augustus Silva - The Hudson at the Tappan Zee - Google Art Project

The Tappan Zee is mentioned several times in

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

's famous short story, " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The tale is set in the vicinity of Tarrytown, in the area near Irving's own home at Sunnyside. In Frederik Pohl's 1977

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

-winning novel '' Gateway'', the main character Robinette Broadhead has "a summer apartment overlooking the Tappan Sea and The Palisades Dam." Pohl lived in the area while writing the book. Jazz pianist Bob James named one of the tracks from his 1977 album '' BJ4'', in addition to his record label he founded, after the Tappan Zee.

References

External links

Tappan Zee Bridge

{{authority control Hudson River Lakes of Rockland County, New York Transportation in Westchester County, New York Lakes of New York (state)

See also

References

External links