One of the more notable places on the Hudson where the forces of nature have impacted the history of river transportation – and indeed New York history itself – was the overslaugh – a particularly shallow area off Castleton‘s Papscanee Island.
This obstruction, about three miles south of present-day Albany, was predominately made of two sand bars (known as the upper and lower). It was formed in part by the entry of the waters of the Normanskill, until its mouth was engineered to enter the river north of its natural course and the construction of modern dykes in the early 20th century.
The name overslaugh (or oversleigh) comes from the Dutch overslaag, and was first encountered as an obstacle when Henry Hudson sailed the river in 1609. It was in the deeper water just below overslaugh where he is believed to have anchored in order to make contact with the large Mohican community at Papscanee…