bring their produce down Washington Springs Road to the river, where they could ship it across to the east side of the Hudson and continue down to New York City. Also, at this time the city created a demand for quarried stones for use in paving streets and building houses. According to tradition, the stones cut from the Palisades Cliff paved many New York City streets, including Broadway. Snedens Landing provided these farmers and quarrymen with the first access for a stretch of about 13 miles above Burdetts Landing, or roughly the spot where the George Washington Bridge connects New Jersey and New York today. The town became so busy that a 500-foot pier was constructed. In the first half of the 19th century steamboats began plying the Hudson. The Sneden family, which continued to ferry passengers and goods across to Dobbs Ferry, also communicated with steamboat traffic, which could not dock in the shallow water at the shore, mid-river. In the mid-19th century the Erie and Northern railroads arrived and drew off much of the transportation which had earlier depended upon river shipping. In 1855 the town's name officially became Palisades. With its raison d'etre diminished, Palisades languished. Its 500-foot pier was abandoned and disintegrated. The once thriving river port transformed to an agriculture-based economy depending upon orchards, vineyards and farms. By the 1870s railroad travel enabled wealthy New Yorkers to build seasonal homes in Palisades. Not only did these newcomers promote the economy by employing local workers on their estates, they enriched community affairs, establishing a library and the Presbyterian church. The 20th century At the turn of the century the population of Palisades was almost 400. Modern conveniences arrived, such as piped water in 1910 and electricity in 1920. Access by car was facilitated in 1929 by the construction of Route 9W, the George Washington Bridge connecting the east and west sides of the Hudson in 1931, and the Palisades Parkway in 1955. Popular culture Sneden's Landing is mentioned in Alec Wilder's song "Did You Ever Cross Over to Sneden's?" (originally titled, at the time of its first release, simply "Sneden's Landing"), one of Mabel Mercer's signature pieces. In the 1997 film Men in Black Sneden's Landing is referred to as the location of a hidden alien spaceship. It is also mentioned in the Woody Allen film Manhattan. The 1936 Damon Runyon short story "Joe Terrace", involved