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Tmara2, a few of the houses shown in the near field of the first photo in your link are still in existence today. In the photo below the Bromley Map are shown two brick apartment buildings. The second apartment building is seen peeking out to the left of the first building. That second building was/is 4652 Spuyten Duyvil Pkwy (now Manhattan College Pkwy). My family and I moved into this apartment building in 1937. The first building was/is 226 W 242nd St. Thanks for the link.
Peter, I concur. From a study of the photo, I believe that the artist was on the bank of Tibbitt’s Brook roughly at a spot that can be located by dropping a vertical line from the large multi-story building with a tower structure (is this P.S. 7?) to the water. It is hard to discern if, behind the yellow house, there was a road with an arched bridge that may have connected with Tibbett Avenue just south of the intersection with W 230th St. But, if there had been, that bridge is shown in the painting, I think.
Enlarging the photo on the left shows the elevated train station at 238th street at Broadway. Neat!
If that large building with the tower structure is indeed P.S. 7 (built in 1882), then the building must have had major face lifting in subsequent years. Google Street View doesn’t show it looking like the photo. On a personal note, my Mother was the music teacher at that school in the ’60s and early ’70s. I went to P.S. 81, graduating in 1950.
Nick, thank you for all this!
Thank Thomas. The is a survey of which property? The notations are too fuzzy to read. Where is this property located?
Thomas, thank you for posting this picture. However, I’m confused as to what it represents. Could you explain?
I agree with you, Nick. I’m unfamiliar with surveying methods; are monuments numbered when there are many of them placed in order to easily identify them on a survey map? I can see how that would be helpful. Perhaps there exists a map with such a reference. It would be nice to “nail” this down, so to speak. lol
Thank you, Nick, for the superimposition of the maps. It gives a good understanding of the relationship of the earlier map with today’s reality. Monument #54 is well-separated from lot 54 and remains a puzzlement.
Could there be government records of early surveying in the area of interest that might reveal the purpose of the monument? Perhaps the survey of 740 W 232nd street might show something. Streets appearing, moving, being truncated would need surveying I would think. I wonder if survey maps drawn when the Seton Hall grounds were repurposed would show the monument. Actually this sounds like a lot of work to uncover the provenance of a wayward monument.
Would there be a way to superimpose a current map with the map showing lot #54 to give an idea of the relationship of the lot map with current streets? I don’t have that skill.
We also had a Hoffman TV that was purchased probably in 1953. It was a nice console with doors enclosing the 13 inch screen and a large grilled speaker beneath…cherry wood I believe. The yellow-green tint set it apart from the other available TVs. I don’t know if it was purchased from Progress Radio & TV, but given that we lived blocks away, it probably was. I wonder if free delivery was offered. I can still remember coming home from DeWitt Clinton HS in the afternoons and watching the baseball games…instead of doing my homework, lol. Does anyone remember the DuMont station, channel 5 I think. Watching the Jackie Gleason show was a blast.
Thank you for this, Nick. It’s always a joy to experience life in the past through those who were living in those times.
For those who find enjoyment in thinking of life in the past, I recommend reading two books written by Jack Finney, From Time To Time and its sequel, Time And Again. The imagery of New York City in the 1892, as seen by the protagonist, Simon Morley, who can slip back in time from the late 1960’s, transports me and I feel the vibrancy of the, then, life in Manhattan juxtapose those places I know of now.
On the north side of the street going up the hill in the blow-up picture, there appear to be a Studebaker Starlight, vintage 1948, and a Pontiac Streamliner, circa 1948. The car parked on the south side in front of the Riverdale Delicatessen appears to be a 1948 Buick Roadmaster. Further up, the car parked next to the lamp post facing down hill appears to be a 1948 Nash Ambassador.
There are two other (light colored) cars that appear to be postwar further up from the Pontiac that I cannot identify. All the other vehicles appear to be prewar. I would say that the photograph was probably taken in 1948.
Going further west on the north side of 231st, past Kingsbridge Ave., a little more than half way down to Corlear Ave , was a store that sold baby carriages and cribs. I can’t remember its name, but, I worked there after school assembling things and cleaning up the store. That was around 1952 to 1954. Anyone else a DeWitt Clinton alumnus?
This is a very enjoyable video. I had wondered how the developer was able to destroy the Villa Rosa Bonheur. Now I know, he used a “loophole”, among other things. The interior of the Edgehill Church matches the beauty of its exterior. I hope to one day see it in person.
Also, it is a bonus for me to now have a face associated with the name Nick Dembowski 😉
The language used in describing the festivities of the official opening of the canal paints a vivid picture of the day. Lovely. When I revisit my old stomping grounds, I’ll remember what it was like on June 18, 1985 and savor the thought. Thanks for posting this bit of history for us to enjoy.
Regarding Nick’s post #1198, there is foliage on the trees, people walking with overcoats and jackets and a 1942 Pontiac Streamliner parked behind the van on Marble Hill Avenue south of West 230th street. Since I can see no gas ration sticker in the passenger window of the auto facing W. 230th (at the corner) and rationing began in the May of 1942, I would judge the photo to have taken in late Fall, 1941 or early Spring, 1942. That’s my WAG.
Upon closer examination, overlaying the 1938 map with Google Maps, I do believe that Alan Lasky’s positioning of the buildings at the edge of the high school track is correct. My earlier positioning suggestion was incorrect. I’m sorry for any confusion I may have caused. Again, it was astute analysis made by Mr. Lasky.
In the aerial view dpr_18162, #1 Riverdale Avenue can be seen.Kudos, Alan Lasky! Great detective sleuthing! Your additional information and photos are eye-opening in showing how sparsely populated the area was in 1940. Off in the distance one can see the Charlotte Bronte Villa and the four-year-old Henry Hudson Bridge. The map shows Sage Place – Kingsbridge Rd that no longer exists (that I could find).
Further to the South on the map there is a lot #725. The NYCItyMap site shows the J.F. Kennedy H.S. being on lot #725. Assuming the lot numbers remained the same while the Block numbers were changed (at some point), that would put the buildings in question to the north of the current high school, perhaps at the north side of the high school at the parking lot. Or am I completely mistaken?
Perhaps it is selfish of me to say that I am glad that the Harlem River wasn’t “annihilated or buried” as the NYT article called for. Portage of the Circle Line boat from the Third Avenue Bridge to beyond Macombs Dam Bridge as part of the cruise around Manhattan would require Herculean strength <grins> Seriously, being able to cruise around Manhattan, taking in all of the various sights along the route, is an adventure not to be missed. A lotta times it’s better to leave things as they are.
I’m judging that the picture of the King’s Bridge (#1882) was taken circa 1910 because, in the background, there appears to be a derrick on the tower of the Church of the Mediator which looks almost completed. The church’s cornerstone was laid in 1911 and the creek was filled in in 1914 according to Wikipedia.
According to Wikipedia, Beverly passed away in Phoenix, Arizona on June 9, 2007. The Riverdale Press article was an interesting read. Thanks.
It looks as though the Free Landing Road might have had one end meeting Spuyten Duyvil Pkwy at where 4568 Manhattan College Pkwy is located with its other end terminating at what is now Gaelic Park.
Julie, you are not as late as I am to this enjoyable party! I found this site through a facebook posting by Brian Andersson, who is a second cousin to my ex-wife (with whom I am still good friends). I’m so glad I signed up. Going through the various offerings has brought back childhood memories and a curiosity for discovering the history of Kingsbridge.I’m wondering if Tetard’s Hill was located in the general area of DeWiitt Clinton H.S.. That area is on high ground looking westward.
I came across a book today that describes in detail The History of the Town of Kings Bridge in which Tetard’s Hill is mentioned. (https://archive.org/details/ldpd_6221416_000/page/n7/mode/2up)
The author is Thomas H. Edsall.
Beginning on page 18 of the document (26 of 119 in the archive) there is a description of Reverend John Peter Tetard and his history in the area. The document is a very interesting read.The preponderance of clues persuades me to agree that Nick’s interpretation is correct. The map shows that the eastern spur of West 240th street was known as Van Cortlandt Avenue and the photograph is noted as “Bway & 240nd st”. And, then of course, there is extensive marsh throughout the west side of Broadway, although one could make the claim that over the intervening years, the marsh on the east side could have crept south to what became Van Cortlandt Avenue. I am somewhat confused as to why Spuyten Duyvil Parkway is not shown as an established road under the brown tracing. Was it being proposed on this map?
The map also shows what I surmise is Irwin Avenue as a road going up the elevation (as Nick mentioned) and connecting to a road going easterly (down hill) and then toward the north, connecting to Old Post Road. That last portion is now known as the beginning of Manhattan College Pkwy. Where the brown tracing of SDPkwy connects with Broadway is shown a building that I believe is in the photograph of the IRT station.
Thank you for offering these clues!In my youth, on the south side of 242nd street, starting at the corner and going west, were a Gulf gas station owned by “Hans” (and his old German shepherd dog), a candy store that became the Greenleaf bar, and a grocery store owned by brothers whose name was something similar to “Mankiewicz”. The building that they were located in is 220 West 242nd street and I can’t see a hint of it behind the billboards in the picture of the train station and the dump truck. According to maps.city.gov, that building was constructed in 1920, so I’m going to guess that the picture was taken before 1920. Judging by the design of the dump truck I’d say around 1915 – 1918. If the picture of 240th street was in a series, perhaps it was taken at the same time. That’s my best guess.
