Best Park Renovation

West Point Foundry Preserve

Cold Spring

Established in 1818, the West Point Foundry became an industrial powerhouse in the later 19th century, when its innovative Parrott rifle gave the Union Army a game-changing advantage over the Confederates during the Civil War. The business failed in the early 1900s, and its buildings — as well as a 36-foot high water wheel — fell into ruin. The environmental organization Scenic Hudson came to the rescue, pouring $3.6 million into the site and turning it into an impressive outdoor museum. Visitors can now tour the 87-acre preserve, where (among other things) they can marvel at the model of the gun-testing platform, which was used to fire cannonballs across the Hudson at Crow’s Nest Mountain. 845-473-4440; www.scenichudson.org