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Tom, the map from 1901 shows the IRT train tracks and 242nd Street station as well as the 240th Street Yard. From what I can find the Yard first opened in 1906 with the barn finished in 1911 and the train station opened in 1908. Do you think that the planning of those was completed sufficiently before to be included in the 1901 map? Or could there be some other explanation?
Yes, Nick, that factory made various chocolates. The aroma was mouth watering at times. I’m not sure why the decision was made to sell to Manhattan College.
The Paulian building probably was razed and replaced by the parking garage, though I have no information on that.
According to manhattan.edu, Manhattan College purchased the building in 1957 and opened it in 1958 as Paulian Hall. They sold the building in 1966.
I remember peering in when walking by and seeing skaters. I also somehow got into the pool in the back when it was closed and empty of water and wondering about the gymnastic rings hanging by ropes. Luckily, they were too high for me to reach or I probably would have climbed on them. Falling off of them onto the concrete floor would not have been pleasant. This occurred before 1957, possibly in the mid to late 1940’s.
I lived up the block (W 242nd street) at 4652 Manhattan College Pkwy. I remember the owner/manager of the Gulf station whose name was Hans who also had an old German shepherd dog. I used to fill my bicycle tires with air from the air pump stand (free in those days 8^). Sometimes the dog would wander up to me to say hello. Across the street from the gas station, on the curve toward the entrance to the train station, was a French Bake Shop. My mother had a part-time job behind the counter in 1938-1940. As a teen I would wet mop the floors after school (c.1951).
The building is now a parking garage. There is an entrance to it on Manhattan College Pkwy with a pedestrian walkway from the College to it. I’m not sure if there is any affiliation between the two, or if it is just a convenience for students and faculty who might park in that garage.
As I see no evidence of 4568 Manhattan College Pkwy in the background, so I would say the picture was taken some years before 1925, the construction year of that apartment building. I don’t see Manhattan College (MC) either, so the picture was taken before 1922, the year MC cornerstone was laid. The 240th Street Yard (the train barn) was completed in 1911. I would say that the picture was taken between 1911 or 1912 and 1922 or before. I’m going to put a number on it and say that it was taken in 1915 (for want of anything more concrete).
On the corner of W 242nd Street and Broadway there used to be a Gulf gas station and repair shop. I think that the photographer took the photo from close to that corner, before any development of that land took place.
Soon after that photo was taken that land had an outdoor swimming pool constructed in left field as well as, in center and right field, a building along Broadway that housed a Pontiac dealership as well as the pool business and skating rink. I believe that in the 1950’s the pool was filled in and the building was taken over by Manhattan College and repurposed as Paulian Hall.
Here is a picture (credit: manhattan.edu) of the building showing the Gulf gas station at w 242nd Street in the background:
In 1949 Fanny Farmer built a factory near the corner of Corlear Ave and W240th Street that was purchased by Manhattan College (MC). It was in that building that MC housed a nuclear reactor in 1963.
Here are before and after pictures (credit: manhattan.edu) of the building:
Fun fact: I used to see Sugar Ray Robinson driving in his pink Cadillac convertible on W 240th Street. I assume that he had been visiting his mother whose house was on Corlear Ave.
Anne, did you mean to type 2465 Palisade? 2475 seems to be too far to the left of the station and the Villa Rosa Bonheur.
Tom, I think that your picture shows the near-completion of the townhouses. Google street view photo dated September, 2021 shows the same building, without scaffolding.
Checking Google Maps Street View, the earliest picture was taken in September, 2007. That picture shows that the original house(s) was razed and construction had begun, if, indeed, the property had been built upon. Judging from the weathered look of the board barrier, they might have been up at least a year. NYCityMap webpage lists the construction year as 2008 for those houses. The house to the rear of Esmerelda facing Independence Ave was constructed in 1920, again, according to NYCityMap webpage.
Yes, that is what I meant by “or that the lot not be subdivided”. Apparently, no restriction to subdividing is in the covenant. Too bad.
There is a building in the upper left section of the painting with a man coming down the stairs. It appears that the apartment building (2465 Palisade Ave) is in that location today and was build in 1958. Does anyone have information concerning the old building?
The car might be a mid to late ‘20’s Hupmobile…or not. Fedora hats became popular in the mid ‘20’s as did just below the knee dresses and coats for women. The Villa Rosa Bonheur house was constructed in 1924. I’d say the painting possibly dates to that time. I don’t see facemasks.
I assume that the covenant does not restrict multiple single family homes on the lot or that the lot not be subdivided. A shame that this beautiful house will possibly be razed. Plumbing and electrical service can be potential problems in an old house, but still…such beauty just is not duplicated in modern construction, imho.
Tom, could you double-check your photo. I can’t seem to match it to what is shown in Google Earth and Google Maps – Street View of 4645 Delafield Ave. (though it is, in itself, a beautiful home).
In the early 1950’s, during our nocturnal wanderings in the neighborhood, we would sometimes stop at Ah Ping to eat an egg roll to assuage our nighttime teenage hunger. Who knows, Tommy Hsu might have taken my order! (although I doubt it, lol).
Today, Google Maps is showing that building and the one to the north of it as the Russian Diplomatic Compound and the Russian Mission School, respectively.
Back in the day, a Good Humor truck and a Bungalo Bar truck would park outside of the Riverdale Neighborhood House (RNH) on Mosholu Avenue around lunch time to supply the boys and girls of P.S.81 with good tasting treats. That whole section opposite RNH was just woods. I remember the first construction beginning down the road on that side when I graduated in 1950.
The swings, slides, monkey bars and merry-go-round that were so much fun to play on, between the school and RNH, are long gone. No more dangerous, unsupervised outdoor fun for our little boys and girls.
Thanks David. Now I understand why I don’t have a memory of the place. I would head north after crossing over the HH Pkwy, going to the Presbyterian Church to attend the Young Peoples’ Society meetings. I had many friends who lived in Riverdale at that time and we would walk all over the area going to each other’s homes. However, none of those walks required going passed Ben Riley’s Arrowhead Inn.
From other photographs found on the internet, it seems that Ben Riley”s Arrowhead Inn located at 246th Street and Riverdale Avenue was a large building that had indoor and outdoor dining! Looking for it on Google Maps turned up nothing for me. I must have walked passed it many times during the 1950’s, yet I don’t remember it.
What has become of the building and the property?
From other photographs found on the internet, it seems that Ben Riley”s Arrowhead Inn located at 246th Street and Riverdale Avenue was a large building that had indoor and outdoor dining! Looking for it on Google Maps turned up nothing for me. I must have walked passed it many times during the 1950’s, yet I don’t remember it.
What has become of the building and the property?
From Google Earth views it appears not to have the same roof features as the picture although it looks to be a beautiful house. Unless there were major reconstruction to achieve its present appearance, I don’t believe it to be the house in the picture, Kathy.
