The estate of General James Watson Webb is
also near at hand. Passing Scarborough Landing, with the Hook Mountain
and Ball Mountains on the left, we see
=Ossining=, formerly known as Sing Sing, on east bank. The low
buildings, near the river bank, are the State's Prison. They are
constructed of marble, but are not considered palatial by the
prisoners that occupy the cells. It was quarried near by, and the
prisons were built by convicts imported from Auburn in 1826. Saddlery,
furniture, shoes, etc., are manufactured within its walls. There was
an Indian chieftancy here known as the Sintsinks. In a deed to Philip
Phillipse in 1685 a stream is referred to as "Kitchewan called by the
Indians Sink-Sink." The Indian Village was known as Ossining, from
"ossin" a stone and "ing" a place, probably so called from the rocky
and stony character of the river banks.
* * *
How many, at this hour, along thy course,
Slumber to thine eternal murmurings
That mingle with the utterance of their dreams.
_William Cullen Bryant._
* * *
The heights above Tappan Zee at this point are crowned by fine
residences, and the village is one of the pleasantest on the river.
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