Benson Lossing describes Greenbush as a busy port for travelers by rail or ferry.
"More than a dozen trains each way pass over portions of the road in the course of twenty-four hours, affording the tourist an opportunity to visit in a short space of time every village on both sides of the river, there being good ferries at each. The shores are hilly and generally well-cultivated; and the diversity of the landscape, whether seen from the cars or a steamer, present to the eye, in rapid succession, ever-varying pictures of life and beauty, comfort and thrift."