• Bear Mountain was historically known as "Bear Hill" and "Bread Tray Mountain". • Bear Mountain was once the premier ski jumping site in the United States. Because of its reputation as a ski jumping location, Bear Mountain was considered as a possible site for the
1932 Winter Olympics, which were held in
Lake Placid,
New York. The ski jump run has not been used in decades, and its stone steps built into the eastern side of the mountain are now crumbling. • During
World War II, the
Brooklyn Dodgers held their spring training here. • In 1928, the
Palisades State Park Commission built a
Aermotor LS40 steel fire lookout tower on the mountain. It was taken down seven years later to make room to build the Perkins Memorial Tower which was erected in honor of George W. Perkins Sr., who was the first president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. The memorial tower was a gift of Perkins's widow and their son. The tower was used as a weather station and fire lookout until 1953. In 1990, the Perkins family agreed to donate $650,000 over a six-year period to maintain the tower. The tower was later completely renovated and re-opened to the public. ==References==