Mr. Stillman outlined some of the history of transportation around the manor. He noted that most travelers preferred to travel on water as the roads were usually in deplorable condition, even after all men were required to spend some days each year tending to them. Bridges were often swept away by spring flooding.

Pointing in the direction of the Ferry House on the Van Cortlandt estate, Mr. Stillman described how travelers would cross the Croton River, much wider prior to the Croton Dam, and possibly stay overnight at the Ferry House.

(In 1792, Philip Van Cortlandt set ferry rates for crossing the Croton River. From the first day of May to the first day of November it was four pence for a man and a horse; all four wheeled carriages with two horses were two shillings; if four horses with carriage the rate was three shillings; foot passengers paid two pence.)

By the 1950s, Old Route 9, a two-lane road, was packed with automobiles passing over the Croton River on a bridge east of the current "Crossining Bridge." It bisected the Van Cortlandt estate and disfigured the land. After 1968, when the new U.S. Route 9 was constructed the old Route 9 remained as the entrance to the estate. "Now we approach it at the 'Dead End' sign," Mr. Stillman observed.

He described Van Cortlandt Manor as a country estate interpreted to the early National period (1790-1814) in terms of politics, transportation, social history and daily life.

Mr. Rockefeller took up the tale, remembering that his grandfather, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., acquired the property and five surrounding acres in 1953. He purchased the Ferry House and additional land the next year. A few years earlier there had been threats the estate would be turned into a chicken farm -- but pleas to the planning board by Croton's Edward Rondthaler and others avoided that disaster.

The earlier Mr. Rockefeller commissioned staff members of Colonial Williamsburg to study and restore the property and he oversaw many of the details of the restoration. In 1959, title to Van Cortlandt Manor was transferred to Sleepy Hollow Restorations, the forerunner of Historic Hudson Valley, and the house and grounds were opened to the public.

Recalling that he had met last February with Congresswoman Kelly and toured the manor while explaining the vision of re-configuring the entrance, Mr. Rockefeller admitted he could not believe things are working so quickly.

"We are thrilled to be working with Representative Sue Kelly to restore the entrance of this historic landmark to its original state," Mr. Rockefeller said. "It will not only recapture the historic relevance of an essential national landmark, but it will also increase transportation and tourism to the site and the greater area."

"The restoration of the entrance to Van Cortlandt Manor will go straight to the heart of the enhancement portion of the federal transportation bill by bringing back the original landscape," Representative Kelly said.

Representative Kelly, a member of the House Transportation Committee, included funding for the project in the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU). The bill, which reauthorizes the federal aid surface transportation program through FY 2009, was recently approved by the House of Representatives and must next be passed with a Senate version of the legislation.

"Talk to your Senators -- talk to any Senators you know," Representative Kelly urged.

A proposed budget totaling $4.2 million is required for the completion of the overall project, but the $2.7 million in federal funds would enable the start of the following work:
* Removal of old U.S. Route 9 and restoration of the original entrance to Van Cortlandt Manor.
* Relocation of the overhead utility lines that were left behind once new U.S. Route 9 was built.
* Creation of a visitor center to interpret the history of transportation in the lower Hudson Valley and to build heritage tourism.