Hall of New York State Environment March 11, 2009

This hall chronicles the development of New York State's natural landscape over time. It describes the geological history from Precambrian times (2 billion years ago) to the present day, including glaciation, and displays of local fossils showing that New York was a marine environment at one time. The hall uses the area of Stissing Mountain and the Village of Pine Plains in the Hudson Valley as an example because of its varied terrain: mountains, natural lakes, forests, variety of rock formations and both wild and cultivated land.