A Forgotten Henry Hudson Landmark Is Hiding in NJ

Hidden on a windy road, down a stone staircase, and behind a dense thicket of Japanese knotweed is a 400-year-old historical artifact marking Henry Hudson's exploration of the Jersey Shore.

Prior to sailing up the river that would come to bear his name, Henry Hudson and his crew went in search for fresh water. They would find in Atlantic Highlands and stonework construction was later established in the spot as a tourist attraction. These days, you'll have to put on your own explorer hat, if you want to find it.

How to Find the Henry Hudson Springs

The Henry Hudson springs in Atlantic Highlands can be accessed from Bayside Avenue or from the Henry Hudson Bike Trail. Trust me: access it from the bike trail. Bayside Avenue is a narrow street down some twisty backroads in the Atlantic Highlands hills with cars going well above the speed limit and not a parking spot to be found. The area around the stairs coming up from the trail are well-landscaped and definitely the more scenic view.

If you do approach the springs from the road, take the flight of stairs flanked by a stone wall and stop right there.

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A marker on the wall notes the history of the place: "Henry Hudson drew water from this spring in 1609. Before the white man’s arrival, Lenni Lenape Indians obtained water from this site. Packet ships continued to use the spring into the 1900s."

As you turn from the marker, you may think you're staring at overgrown brush. Okay, yes, you are staring at overgrown but look closer.

You'll spot an obscured sign telling you the water isn't drinkable. You'll think to yourself, "What water?" Behind all the invasive Japanese knotweed and greenery, there's another stone wall much like the one by the stairwell. It's covered over by vines but the spring's waters pour through there into a basin.

When Was the Henry Hudson Springs Built?

According to Ghosts on the Coast of New Jersey, the stone spring was constructed by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s and cleaned up by the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society in 1977.

Local folklore has crafted a creepy tale from Hudson and the Half Moon crew's stopover. According to WeirdNJ, legend has it that the crew trampled sacred Lenape burial grounds in trying to reach the spring.

John Colman, a sailor with the Half Moon, would later be shot in the neck with an arrow and buried in Keansburg, Sandy Hook, or Staten Island.