Tappan Zee
Natural widening of the Hudson River
title: "Tappan Zee" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["hudson-river", "lakes-of-rockland-county,-new-york", "transportation-in-westchester-county,-new-york", "lakes-of-new-york-(state)"] description: "Natural widening of the Hudson River" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tappan_Zee" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Natural widening of the Hudson River ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Tappan Zee |
| name_etymology | Tuphanne, a Lenape term thought to mean "cold water", and zee, Dutch for Sea |
| image | TappanZee_NorthofBridge.jpg |
| image_size | 250 |
| image_caption | Northern Tappan Zee |
| subdivision_type1 | Country |
| subdivision_name1 | United States |
| subdivision_type2 | State |
| subdivision_name2 | New York |
| length_mi | 10.5 |
| length_ref | , North-South |
| source1 | Hudson River, by way of Haverstraw Bay |
| source1_location | Croton-on-Hudson, New York |
| source1_coordinates | |
| source1_elevation | 0 ft |
| mouth | North River (Lower Hudson) |
| mouth_location | Dobbs Ferry, New York |
| mouth_coordinates | |
| mouth_elevation | 0 ft |
| tributaries_left | Croton River, Pocantico River |
| tributaries_right | Sparkill Creek |
| custom_label | NOAA Nav Chart |
| custom_data | 12343 |
| :: |
| name = Tappan Zee | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = Tuphanne, a Lenape term thought to mean "cold water", and zee, Dutch for Sea | image = TappanZee_NorthofBridge.jpg | image_size = 250 | image_caption = Northern Tappan Zee | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = New York | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = | length_mi = 10.5 | length_ref = , North-South | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = Hudson River, by way of Haverstraw Bay | source1_location = Croton-on-Hudson, New York | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = 0 ft | mouth = North River (Lower Hudson) | mouth_location = Dobbs Ferry, New York | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = 0 ft | progression = | waterfalls = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = Croton River, Pocantico River | tributaries_right = Sparkill Creek | custom_label = NOAA Nav Chart | custom_data = 12343 | extra = The Tappan Zee (; also Tappan Sea or Tappaan Zee) is a natural widening of the Hudson River, about 3 mi across at its widest, in southeastern New York. It stretches about 10 mi along the boundary between Rockland and Westchester counties, downstream from Croton Point to Irvington. Its name is from the Tappan people of the Lenape, and the Dutch word ** , meaning a sea.
Flanked to the west by high steep bluffs of the Palisades, it forms something of a natural lake on the Hudson about 10 mi north of Manhattan, in New York City. Communities along the Tappan Zee include Nyack and Piermont on the western side as well as Ossining, Briarcliff Manor, Sleepy Hollow, and Tarrytown on the eastern side.
Gallery
File:NorthernTappanZee.jpg|Northern Tappan Zee, with Hook Mountain File:KingslandPointPark.jpg|Eastern coastline of Tappan Zee, viewed from Kingsland Point Park in Sleepy Hollow File:CentralTappanZee.jpg|Central section of Tappan Zee, with a view of the western side File:SouthernTappanZee.jpg|Southern Tappan Zee, with Tappan Zee (Mario Cuomo) Bridge
It was formerly crossed by the Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, opened in 1955 and about 3.1 mi long, connecting Nyack and Tarrytown. It is crossed by the modern Tappan Zee Bridge (officially the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge), which opened in 2017 (north or westbound span) and 2018 (south or eastbound span) at about the same length as the old bridge.
On September 14, 1609, the explorer Henry Hudson entered the Tappan Zee while sailing upstream from New York Harbor. At first, Hudson believed the widening of the river indicated that he had found the Northwest Passage. He proceeded upstream as far as modern Troy before concluding that no such strait existed there.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Francis_Augustus_Silva_-The_Hudson_at_the_Tappan_Zee-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" caption="[[Francis Augustus Silva]]:''The Hudson at the Tappan Zee'', 1876. Oil on canvas. [[Brooklyn Museum"] ::
The Tappan Zee is mentioned several times in Washington Irving's famous short story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The tale is set in the vicinity of Tarrytown, in the area near Irving's own home at Sunnyside. In Frederik Pohl's 1977 Hugo Award-winning novel Gateway, the main character Robinette Broadhead has "a summer apartment overlooking the Tappan Sea and The Palisades Dam." Pohl lived in the area while writing the book. Jazz pianist Bob James named one of the tracks from his 1977 album BJ4, in addition to his record label he founded, after the Tappan Zee.
References
References
- [http://www.oldtappan.net/index.php/town-info/history Borough of Old Tappan – History of Old Tappan]. Accessed July 15, 2013.
- NOAA Navigational Chart #12343, ''Hudson River: New York to Wappinger Creek''. 19th Edition, corrected though Oct-05. Available as a NOAA Raster Navigational Chart at the [http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/download_agreement.htm NOAA Office of Coast Survey RNC Downloads website].
- Melvin, Tessa. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E2DA1F30F932A1575BC0A962958260 "If You're Thinking of Living In/Tarrytown; Rich History, Picturesque River Setting"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 21, 1994. Accessed December 30, 2007. "The Dutch called this point, the river's widest, the Tappan Zee — Tappan probably for a group of Indians and Zee meaning "sea" in Dutch."
- "THE TAPPAN ZEE STORY".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::