I wanted to find the building where the American poet W. S. Merwin lived when he was a child, as well as "see" the Hudson River from the perspective that he had experienced. I knew that the First Presbyterian Church of Union City, where his father was minister no longer existed. It had been situated atop the majestic Palisades and was an imposing building, but no longer quite as grand as it once was when the Merwin family moved to Union City. Demolished, and, according to the reporter Margaret Schmidt (nj.com, april 20, 2009), it was an empty lot of brick, concrete, weeds and trees. First the apartment building where his family resided was photographed; a structure that in its own right was impressive and recalled an earlier day when architecural styles--Renaissance and Gothic-were freely mixed, here evident on the facade's cornice.
Part III will take us to the entrance and a view intoa hallway that still has its marble veneer.
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