Sadly I share the news that Peter Oley, Village of Irvington Historian, teacher, and friend of Hudson Valley Ruins, passed away April 11, 2009. Peter was an elementary school teacher of mine and remained an influence and friend long afterward. He led us, his students, on walks around the village where we encountered landmarks such as the Old Croton Aqueduct, the Hermit's Grave, and the incredible Octagon House. Because of his influence and friendship, I dedicated, in part, "Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape" to Peter Oley. His enthusiasm for the history, people and events of Irvington was unmatched and he will be missed. His obituary from the Journal News can be read here. 

In the photograph above, taken in the early 2000s during one of our explorations of lost Irvington landmarks, he is standing among the ruins of Richmond Hill, a late 19th-century estate destroyed in the 1980s for condominiums.