Part II: Riverside – Riparius: Summer Home for the Griffis Family

Riverside Camp – Photos of Camp Life at the Griffis Cottage

The following are photographs that were found in various scrapbooks that Evelyn Griffis created. Some of the photographs had dates written by them on the scrapbook pages. Other photographs were simply pasted on scrapbook pages without any explanation. While the river views change little over time, the photographs of the family chronicle the growth of James Dutcher Griffis and John Harold Griffis from little boys to young men while they spent their summers at Riverside.

Timeless views of the Hudson River: the first looking north and the second looking south from the vantage point of the Griffis cabin.

Two of the iconic big rocks in the middle of the Hudson River behind the Griffis cabin. Click for larger view.

Possibly John Griffis standing on a rock in the Hudson River. Click for larger view.

The photograph below was taken next to the Miller cabin with young James Griffis leaning on the family car, circa 1942.

James, Harold and Evelyn standing in front of the back porch of the Miller cabin. Click for larger view.

John Griffis standing in front of the back porch of the Miller cabin. Click for larger view.

Harold James and John on the steps of the Griffis Cottage. Source: personal Scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

Evelyn with the Boys on the steps of the Griffis cabin. Click for larger view.

The Griffis cabin view from the Hudson River. Click for larger view.

A view of the Griffis cabin, Northside of the cabin, Hudson River to the right. Click for larger view.

View of the back porch of the Griffis cabin. Click for larger view.

John Griffis in front of his tent next to the Griffis cabin. Click for larger view.

John and James on top of rocks and tree stumps north view of the Hudson River at the Griffis cabin. Click for larger view.

John Griffis, Evelyn and Grandmother Ida Griffis, click for larger view.

Grandmother Jane Dutch, Harold Griffis, Evelyn Griffis, Cassius Miller and his wife and John Griffis. Click for larger view.

Possibly a photo of grandmother Jane Dutcher near a wooden raft on the Hudson River. Click for larger view.

James on left and John next him with friends on rocks. Personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

A timeless view to the south on the Hudson from the camp. Scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

A face shot of young James Griffis, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

Summer fun on the Hudson. Harold Griffis is bending over looking at Evelyn Griffis. John Griffis is on a rock on the far right. Click for larger view.

Harold floating on the Hudson River. Source: personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

James Griffis in foreground. Source personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

James and John in foreground, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

James Griffis and Harold Griffis in background reading behind Griffis cottage, circa mid 1940’s. Source: personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

John Griffis all dressed up, Harold in background reading behind Griffis cottage. Source personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

James Griffis in from of Griffis cottage, circa late 1940’s. Source: personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

James Griffis at camp. Cottage is to the right and the Hudson River (not in photograph is to the left. Source: personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis.Click for larger view.

James Griffis with Hudson river in background. Source: personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

A group shot of camp neighbors next to the Griffis cottage at the back porch. Evelyn Griffis is in the middle. Harold is second to the right. Cassius Miller is next to Harold on the right.

Source: personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

James and John Griffis with friend at camp. Source: personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view.

Grandmother Mary Jane Dutcher with John and James with the Hudson River in the background, click for larger view.

John and James Griffis behind the Griffis cottage on the right of the cottage, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

Mary Jane Dutcher, Evelyn’s mother, with an unidentified girl on rock in front of Cassius Miller’s cottage, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

Evelyn sunning on the edge of the Hudson River, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

Enjoying the Hudson River, looking northward, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

Photograph of the Tabernacle, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

Evelyn on East Hudson River Road, the Griffis cottage is directly behind her, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

Exciting times at camp with a fallen tree. Harold is second to the left, discussing the situation, personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis, click for larger view.

Ladies of the camp. Evelyn Griffis on right. Click for larger view.

The following photograph was taken on the side of the Griffis camp. James Griffis and Mihran Mooradian knew each other since kindergarten and graduated high school at Troy High the same year. This photograph was taken around 1947.

James Griffis (left) and long the friend Mihran Mooradian (right). Click for larger view.

This photograph, taken around 1947, next to the Griffis camp with James Griffis and the local iceman. James worked for him during one summer.

Nancy Griffis with her older brother James Griffis at the Griffis camp.

Sources

Featured Image of this Story: “On Top of Campground Mountain”, circa 1920. This photograph was taken on top of the mountain that is next to the Riverside camp. The mountain was originally called Carpenter Mountain. The name was changed to Campground Mountain. The photo provides a great view of the Hudson River, looking north. You can see the 1919 Camelback Truss bridge over the river. In addition, you can see the second Riverside Hotel on the left side of the bridge. After a fire destroyed the Riverside Hotel in 1913, this second hotel was built by to replace it in 1914. It was active until 1965 then torn down in 1969. [1] Photograph source: Personal scrapbook of Evelyn Griffis. Click for larger view of the photograph.

A contemporary view is provided below and was taken by Nancy Griffis after she hiked up to the top from the Griffis cabin in September 2021.