Where is Sleepy Hollow Country?

“The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the nightmare, with her whole nine fold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols.”

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving

In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Washington Irving uses the place name “Sleepy Hollow” to describe the valley of the Pocantico River. More than 200 years after Irving wrote The Legend, the valley of Sleepy Hollow and the surrounding countryside continue to cast a spell over inhabitants and visitors alike. In these pages we explore local history for glimpses of oddities and unexplained phenomena. Hidden just beneath the facade of modern life in these suburban towns is a wealth of folklore and lingering whispers of ghosts and haunted places.

Here at Sleepy Hollow Country we dig deep into local archives to find haunted houses, churches and taverns; a mysterious woman clad all in black who terrorized the town and a ghostly woman dressed all in white wailing atop a cliff; pirates and highway men; ghost ships on the Hudson River; a Dutch goblin king living atop a local mountain. Unsolved murders. UFOs. Exploding mosquitoes. Yep, we’ve even had a plague of exploding mosquitoes.

Washington Irving later applied the name Sleepy Hollow Country to a broad expanse of New York state’s Hudson River Valley. Following Irving’s lead, we explore the highways and byways of those Hudson River towns.

“Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs; are subject to trances and visions; and frequently see strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air.”

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving