Honorary Watchtower

Watchtower, honoring the New Jersey State Federations of Women’s Clubs. Palisades Interstate Park, 1929. Courtesy, Penny Colman collection.

Several years of lobbying and study by the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs led to the preservation of the Palisades from commercial development and to the creation of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission by New Jersey and New York. This stone watchtower, a replica of ancient watchtowers built on the Rhine River in Germany, was built on the Palisades Cliffs overlooking the Hudson River to honor the successful efforts of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Club in stopping the quarrying industry from blasting the Palisades Cliffs to pieces. The watchtower was dedicated on April 30, 1929.

The plaque reads:

THIS FEDERATION PARK AND THIS STRUCTURE ARE DEDICATED TO THE SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS OF THE NEW JERSEY STATE FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S CLUBS AND OF THOSE MEN AND WOMEN WHO AIDED IN THE OPENING YEARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN PRESERVING THESE PALISADES CLIFFS FROM DESTRUCTION FOR THE GLORY OF GOD WHO CREATED THEM AND THE ENNOBLING OF THE GENERATIONS WHICH MAY HENCEFORTH ENJOY THEM.

The watchtower can be reached via a path that starts at Stateline Lookout on the Palisades Parkway heading North.