Monday, December 28, 2015
Sage Estates(Menands)
After leaving the Crossings of Colonie, Kalli and I warmed up for a bit and then headed over to Menands to visit a small preserve called Sages Estates. I had never heard of this place, but saw it featured on another local blogger's page, so thought it would be nice to check it out. The preserve is literally found in a residential neighborhood, located between Broadway and Van Rensselaer Blvd, with the trail entrance located between two houses on Park Drive, across from Mountain View Rd.
The trail begins on a wide, easy to follow woods road.
After traveling north for a short distance, the trail turns at a steep ravine.
Just around the bend in the trail is an open meadow. Several yards to the right of the meadow is a fence and pond, created by damming a small creek, just past that.
The backyards and houses of nearby Sages Estates can be seen on the far shore of the pond.
Just below the dam, the tiny creek flows into the deep ravine.
The trails are all unmarked and at times hard to follow, as they wind through the woods. Looking down at Kalli crossing a footbridge in a small ravine.
We followed the trails west and then back south and east for about 1.4 miles total.
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I walked it today with my bicycle...I entered from Van Rensselaer Blvd and exited at Park Drive. Between the pond and the old dam there seemed to be an old root cellar in the side of the hill, below Sage Estates. I'm curious about the history of the site...a mill? A homestead?
ReplyDeleteI was just reading about the history of this park....search for the Henry M. Sage Estate, aka 'Fern Brook' by Mr. Sage. Part of a large parcel owned by H M Sage who built a mansion there in 1890's and remodeled in the 1920's. His wife at the time of purchase and building was Sara Manning Sage. He died in 1930's, I think and his second wife, Cora (?) Cogswell Sage lived there until her death in 1972. She left it to RPI, who in turn sold it to Albany International. There was a main house, carriage house and caretaker's home plus I believe it said there were 2 root cellars on the property. So you discovered one of them, apparently. Visit Village of Menands website for year which they purchased acreage 'south of the Rutger's Kill', aka Nuckols Creek and declared it ever wild. Haven't been able to find out the status of the house and 2 other buildings. Maybe will check Albany International website - ? Can't find that out on Menands website but maybe a discussion with a resident of Menands would clear that up. Anxious to go check out the preserve. Seeing the photos of the homes in the Sage Estates worries me that the Sage home may have been demolished to build this development - ?? There had been a 200 foot bridge that the Sage's called the 'Rainbow Bridge' that was demolished - no reason given - in the 90's I think it said. Had many arches reportedly, hence, the rainbow reference. That's what I've learned today. Hope you see this, despite the lapse of time since you posed the question!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's really amazing! Thank you for that informative post. I'm always intrigued by local history, so I really do appreciate the time and effort you put in to find this info. Definitely stop by and visit this hidden gem. The trails make for a pleasant walk.
DeleteI think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. orland park real estate agents
ReplyDeleteThe Sage Mansion is still there. It is now a corporate headquarters. I remember Rainbow bridge and Rainbow pond which was just upstream. The bridge was made of concrete arches. If my memory is correct there was a concrete dam which formed the pond. Water flowed over the dam and down the creek. Some of the arches were over dry ground. We had beer parties under the arches when I was a teenager around 1980. I’d love to find a photo of that bridge.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at a satellite photo the original mansion is easy to find, as it now has a parking lot. I don’t know anything about any outbuildings. As far as why the bridge was demolished from my hazy memory of 40 years ago it was a concrete structure and if my memory is correct it was in poor condition and didn’t really lead anywhere. It was probably a safety hazard and probably removed when the “Sage Estates neighborhood” roads were built.
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