Gould v. Hudson River Railroad
New York Supreme Court
This was an appeal by the plaintiff from a judgment entered against him at special term, on demurrer to the complaint. The complaint alledged that the plaintiff was, and for three years past had been the owner and in the actual occupation and possession of a farm of land, lying and being situate in the town of Stockport, in the county of Columbia, and which was bounded on the north by lands of George Coventry, south by lands of Robert Harder, and west by the Hudson river;…
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This was an appeal by the plaintiff from a judgment entered against him at special term, on demurrer to the complaint. The complaint alledged that the plaintiff was, and for three years past had been the owner and in the actual occupation and possession of a farm of land, lying and being situate in the town of Stockport, in the county of Columbia, and which was bounded on the north by lands of George Coventry, south by lands of Robert Harder, and west by the Hudson river; said farm extending along and having a front upon said river of about two thousand feet. That the said Hudson river is a…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Courts
Barctjlo, J.
Certain well established legal principles lie at the foundation of this case, and enable us to dispose of it with very little hesitation. In the first place it is conceded that the right of soil of a riparian owner of lands bounded on the sea, or by navigable rivers, where the tide ebbs and flows, extends only to the ordinary high water mark. Secondly. It is clear that the land below high water mark belongs, in England, to the crown, and here, to the state. Thirdly. All such navigable rivers are public highways, upon which all persons have a right to navigate to and…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Bloodgood v. Mohawk & Hudson RailroadNew York Supreme Court · 1837
- Thurston v. HancockMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1815
- Panton v. HollandNew York Supreme Court · 1819
3Cited by5 opinions
- Eaton v. B. C. & M. R. R.Supreme Court of New Hampshire · 1872
- Chlopeck Fish Co. v. City of SeattleWashington Supreme Court · 1911
- Town of Ravenswood v. FlemingsWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1883
- Getty v. Hudson River Rail RoadNew York Supreme Court · 1852
- Stevens v. Paterson & Newark RailroadSupreme Court of New Jersey · 1870