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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.
Thank you for all this useful information!
From Google Earth views it looks like Horace Mann acquired both upper and lower Post Roads. Did they purchase the land in the 1919 auction and then develop it in the 1950s? (When was the Mosholu schoolhouse razed?)
In the photo used in the auction there appears to be a possible error: what is now known as Manhattan College Pkwy is shown as Corlear Ave in the lower left corner. For years before 1953 it was known as Spuyten Duyvil Pkwy. Could the name have been changed subsequent to the auction?
Also, in the photo, just behind the elevated station, there is a round house structure. Was this a carousal, a tavern or had it some other function? It is also shown in a post card in your collection. Do you know when it was razed?
Hello Nick.
I was comparing the maps you referenced in your message #3840. In particular, I was looking at the Hadley House and another to the south of it that seems to exist today, namely, the house at 4710 Post Road. I’m wondering if this is the house of Emmons whom you mention in your article “The Hadley House at 5122 Post Road, is this the oldest house in The Bronx?”Also, do you have information regarding the closing of the section of the Post Road between W 246th Street and 4708 Post Road? I assume that Horace Mann School purchased the land, but from whom? If I recall correctly, that section of Post Road was closed around 1952. Were there any private homes involved in the sale to Horace Mann School? If so, were they razed?
Thanks for this!
I assume that Minnie was a nickname for one of the seven daughters of Samuel as Wikipedia doesn’t list a Minnie. My guess is that Maria, born in 1860, was Minnie as she would have been 17 in 1877 and it seems to me that a girl of that age would have liked to have kept a scrapbook.
As of 1902 she was still living in NYC and was listed as being unmarried:
https://archive.org/details/babcockgenealogy00babc/page/390/mode/2up?q=ezra+babcockI’ve been unsuccessful in finding an obituary or ferreting out the date of her death. Perhaps that scrapbook has more clues. Too bad bad that it was so expensive.
I think that I am wrong about the identity of the two buildings upon closer examination of the photo. The building probably is 4568 Manhattan College Pkwy.
About an inch to the left of the smoke stack, more or less in the center of the first photo, appears to be De La Salle Hall, Manhattan College, whose corner stone was laid in 1922.
I’ve lost the link for an interactive map showing the buildings and the year of construction. If memory serves me, I think that 4568 Manhattan College was built in 1925 – 1926. So, the photo was taken around that time, at the earliest.
