8. The First New York-New Jersey Telegraph Pole

We forgot we were in Manhattan as we avoided thorn bushes and low lying trees:

To reach our next destination, we had to brave the thorn bushes and brush that covered our path. After climbing out of the underbrush we arrived on a  promontory which provided a  majestic view of New Jersey. Some of the rocks upon which we stood had mysterious metal bolts in them, and one, had a circle cut out of its center.

We learned, to our great surprise, that we were standing on the site of the first telegraph pole to connect New York and New Jersey. The bolts were used to secure the pole, whose construction was personally supervised by Samuel F. B. Morse, and the circle, which now has plants growing in it, was the place where the pole was erected. The telegraph pole was constructed in the late 1840s, but  likely had a short lifespan. By the 1890s, no one quite remembered where the telegraph had been situated and there was speculation that this hole was of American Indian origin.