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Barena (Baerena) Park, on an island in the Hudson River just south
of Coeymans, a mere 12 miles south of Albany. (It was originally
Barent's Island, named after Barent Pietersen Coeymans who held the
original patent dating back to the 1600s.
John N. Briggs, who operated ice plants along the Hudson and a
coal
business in Albany (and who later started The Atlantic Light & Power
Company, which provided power to Coeymans, Ravena and New
Baltimore), developed the island as a picnic area in 1879. In 1891
he renamed Barren (Baeren) Island Baerena Park. The park included
docks, a covered dance platform (with a band and or pianist), a
Ferris wheel (from 1893), merry-go-round, refreshments, rustic
tables and benches for those who brought picnic baskets and an
observation tower. It was widely touted as one of the most pleasant
destinations on the Hudson.
Baerena Park became immensely popular as a location for Sunday
School picnics, church outings, fraternal organization parties, and
just about any group excursion. Tug-drawn barges with such names as
Harvest Queen (conveniently operated by Mr. Briggs), The Andrew
M. Church, and the Empress would depart from Albany, Troy,
Catskill and Poughkeepsie. Locals would access the park via a
steamboat ferry from Coeymans Landing.
The Park began to lose its luster in 1914 after a near riot broke
out, as a young man Fink without a return ticket tried to board
the Empress. Other hooligans in his gang then attempted to do the
same. According to a report in the Times Union a deputy sheriff
pulled his revolver and started shooting towards the ground to quell
the melee. A member of the excursion group, the Maenner Society (a
large German-American singing society), snatched the gun and started
shooting at the aggressors, wounding one in the leg. (Apparently
this followed a fight earlier during the day between members of the
Sheridan Avenue and South End rival gangs.)
World War I put a damper on the Park, but the Baerena limped along the site of occasional excursions.
A 1930 fire destroyed most of the principal buildings, including the
dance pavilion, ladies lounge, and shooting gallery. The park never
fully recovered, and some years later it became inaccessible from
the river when the Hudson was deepened. It was still reachable by
land from the west until around 1968, when the access road was
closed.
