Tomkins Cove is an unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Stony Point

Stony Point, New York

Stony Point is a triangle-shaped town in Rockland County, United States. Rockland County is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, east and south of Orange County, New York, and west of the Hudson River and Westchester County. The population...

 Rockland County

Rockland County, New York

Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 located north of Stony Point

Stony Point, New York

Stony Point is a triangle-shaped town in Rockland County, United States. Rockland County is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, east and south of Orange County, New York, and west of the Hudson River and Westchester County. The population...

; east of Harriman State Park; south of Doodletown

Doodletown, New York

Doodletown was an isolated hamlet in the Town of Stony Point Rockland County, New York, United States. Purchased by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission during the 1960s, it is now part of Bear Mountain State Park and a popular destination for hikers, birdwatchers, botanists, and local historians...

 and west of the Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

. It is located north-northwest of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The population is approximately 1,739 and the zip code is 10986.

Tomkins Cove comprises approximately 8 square miles (20.7 km²). Notable areas within the town are Tomkins Lake Colony (a private community with a small lake), Rising Hills Estates, Buckberg Mountain

Buckberg

Buckberg Mountain is a hill above the Hudson River that played a role in Revolutionary War strategy concerning the Hudson Highlands. Its slopes rise directly from the riverbank to an elevation of about above Tomkins Cove, a section of Stony Point, New York, in Rockland County...

, the Girl Scout Camp, the Town Pool, the Tomkins Cove Library, and Cedar Flats Road. Mott Farm Road extends west from US 9W

U.S. Route 9W

U.S. Route 9W is a north–south U.S. Highway in the states of New Jersey and New York. It begins on Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey as it crosses the US 1 & 9, US 46, and the Interstate 95 approaches to the George Washington Bridge, where it heads north up the west...

 to Bulsontown Road. A natural gas pipeline runs from the Hudson River into Stony Point. Much of the Tomkins Cove perimeter borders Bear Mountain State Park

Bear Mountain State Park

Bear Mountain State Park is located on the west side of the Hudson River in Orange and Rockland counties of New York. The park offers biking, hiking, boating, picnicking, swimming, cross-country skiing, cross-country running, sledding and ice skating...

. Tomkins Cove prides itself on having a cut through of the Appalachian trail which leads into Bear Mountain. It is one of the more rural

Rural

Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 communities in Rockland County. Tomkins Cove is accessible from Exit 15 on the Palisades Interstate Parkway

Palisades Interstate Parkway

The Palisades Interstate Parkway is a long limited-access highway in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York. The parkway is a major commuter route into New York City from Rockland and Orange counties in New York and Bergen County in New Jersey...

.

History

In 1838 Calvin Tomkins and his brother Daniel purchased approximately 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) of land, located in a cove north of the Stony Point promontory, underlaid with rock suitable for burning along the river shore for the purpose of making lime. The village grew around the works and when the post office was opened at this site, it was named after the founder's name and its location.

According to some geologists from that time, Tomkins Cove had the purest limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 formation in the world, except for certain deposits in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

Books and publications

• Zimmerman, Linda Rockland County: Century of History