ndembowski

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 25 posts - 176 through 200 (of 255 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • in reply to: The Colonial Dutch Garden in Van Cortlandt Park #1598
    ndembowski
    Keymaster

      Interesting–I haven’t seen those photos before.  I remember seeing photos of massive amounts of tulips planted in the garden as well and tulips are well-known symbols of The Netherlands.

      I think the ridge is part natural.  After all, artifacts were found on that ridge that predate European colonists.  But seeing that map in high-resolution makes me think that it was also shaped by humans.  It forms pretty neat little 90 degree angles in the corners, which would be pretty rare in nature.  Jacobus Van Cortlandt also had Tibbett’s Brook dammed up to make the lake so he was not averse to changing the landscape.

      It is a shame that features are built in parks and allowed to just fall apart.  The stairs in Brust Park were like this too.  Halfmoon Overlook in Spuyten Duyvil was also closed because the stairs were unsafe, I think.  They get grants for capital projects so they can build something but the maintenance budget is very skimpy so they can’t keep it up.

      in reply to: New Memoir Published #1587
      ndembowski
      Keymaster

        Thanks, Tom.  Great pics and info.

        And of course there is the fact that Kingsbridge nearly became the original home of “the house that Ruth built.” The Yankees started building their original stadium here in the neighborhood where Target is today.  They even finished building the infield there before a different site was chosen (where Yankee stadium is today).  We wrote about that here and here.

        in reply to: Bell Tower WWI Memorial #1522
        ndembowski
        Keymaster

          And here is a little more information related to the monument and flagpole.  It was funded by donations:

          I regret that the KHS didn’t have an event at the 100th anniversary of the WWI armistice.  Many local people served in the war (as the long list of names on the memorial bears out).  Plus, there was the training camp in Van Cortlandt Park that is a fascinating story with great photos.  Some photos and stories of the soldiers honored at the memorial can be found here:

          https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2610083/memorial-search?page=1#sr-161185007

          When the soldiers came home, they were warmly welcomed by the community (thanks to John Fischer for the below documents):

          Here is a link to the booklet that was printed for the Welcome Home ceremony.  It gives names and photos of servicemen:

          https://kingsbridgehistoricalsociety.org/historicalDocuments/WW1ProgramRiverdale.pdf

          It is also worth noting that soldiers were treated at Seton Hospital, where Seton Park and the Whitehall building are today (June 1921 Riverdale News):

           

          in reply to: Bell Tower WWI Memorial #1520
          ndembowski
          Keymaster
            in reply to: On this day in Kingsbridge: July 3rd, 1781 #1519
            ndembowski
            Keymaster

              While I do not remember it, we discussed it earlier and you can find the topic in the below link:

              https://kingsbridgehistoricalsociety.org/forums/topic/old-bridge-tavern/

              Do you remember anything about it?

              in reply to: Berrian/Johnson House on Spuyten Duyvil #1507
              ndembowski
              Keymaster

                Thanks for the info, Peter.  That would have been a real game-changer for local history–to have that house as KHS headquarters.  My mother was born in The Bronx in the 40’s and she has VERY strong feelings about Robert Moses (mostly about the Cross Bronx Expressway).  Yet another reason to be angry at Moses.

                Yes, my understanding is that the house stood where there is now a utility shed/bathroom building by the baseball field.  The below animation shows where it was.  There is a contemporary Google map there showing the park, an 1885 map with the Johnson house labeled, and a map that I made depicting the area during the Revolution (The red square on the map represents the Berrian House).

                If you want to fool around with my map program the link is here (although it is still a work in progress).

                Here you can see the house on a map from the Revolution that is in the collection of the Library of Congress:

                 

                 

                in reply to: 19th Century Composite Map of Riverdale #1502
                ndembowski
                Keymaster

                  I just transcribed and uploaded another of J.B. James recollections of old Riverdale, Kingsbridge, and Spuyten Duyvil. I included a bunch of great photos too.  It has some interesting stuff about how horrible the trains were to ride in the early days.  It also contains a lot of info on the colonial-era houses of the neighborhood (a few of which I referred to in this thread).  It is amazing how many of them survived the Revolution only to be torn down in the 20th century.  There is also a interesting nugget of information at the very end concerning a burial ground for enslaved people in Van Cortlandt Park.  According to James, “a great number of skeletons of former slaves of the Estate were unearthed.” This is the first time I have ever read an attempt to describe the number of skeletons that were exhumed when the railroad was built.

                  ndembowski
                  Keymaster

                    As a Juneteenth update, I have found a few more things since my article about the enslaved people on Van Cortlandt Plantation:

                    1) The date in the article’s title, 1698, comes from the first record that I could find indicating the presence of enslaved Black people here.  Since writing the article, I found an earlier record in the estate inventory of George Tippett, who lived near today’s Van Cortlandt Lake:

                    George Tippett left a debt to “Barns Course of N. yorke for one neagro.”  The date of this estate inventory is 1675.

                    2) I also found a reference to an enslaved man named Sam, who was held by Frederick Van Cortlandt–the first owner of the Van Cortlandt House in the park.  Sam was caught up in the slave rebellion of 1741 in New York City.  The story of what happened during the rebellion is quite complicated as the subsequent trial turned into a witch-hunt.  Historians are divided as to what extent the rebellion plot was real or imagined.  The published manuscript reveals that Sam confessed to recruiting other enslaved Black people in the plot.  Many of the alleged plotters were burned at the stake or gibbetted.  Sam was exiled to the island of Madeira as punishment.  Below are some sections of the manuscript that was published after the trial.  For an exhaustive history of this rebellion and trial read <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>New York Burning</span> by Jill Lepore.

                    in reply to: 19th Century Composite Map of Riverdale #1478
                    ndembowski
                    Keymaster

                      Another old house that J.B. James refers to in his memoir is the “Samler House.” In 1935 he wrote:

                      Another old timer was the [S]amler house, at the junction of Albany Post Road with Broadway at about 254th St. The house was in the old Dutch style, with a long sloping roof covering the porch. A grape arbor, with a brick path ran from the house to the road. The grounds were 17 acres of hilly, picturesque land, and a row of fine old cherry trees stood along the road front. Many a feast I have had on their fruit. The farm had several large shag-back hickory nut trees, a great rarity now. These nuts are the finest flavored of any nut that grows. The trees were cut down for firewood before we left Riverdale. The old house still stands, but was moved westward about one block and fitted with modern improvements.

                      I have seen references to this house before.  The Reverend Tieck mentioned it only briefly on p. 154 of Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil:

                      About 350 feet north by west of the point where the Henry Hudson Parkway crosses Broadway stands a very old white frame dwelling, the Samler house, now slightly west of its original location.

                      So the house was still there W. 254th Street and Post Road when Tieck was writing–in 1968.

                      There are photos of the house at the NYPL and the New York Heritage site. This one was taken in 1924.

                      It does have the classic look of an old NY Dutch farmhouse from the colonial period.  This is that same view today.

                      There is a charmless looking concrete box on the site now but the same single family homes can be seen in the distance.  I found out that this concrete building was built in 1978 to house the “Fielday” preschool:

                      Both James and Tieck referred to the Samler House as “old” and state that it had been moved but offered no dates.  I got curious about the history of the building.  This very cool 1907 map of Riverdale shows the house on a plot shaded pink and labeled “Mary Semler.”  This is before it was moved–fronting on the Albany Post Road–not far from J.B. James own house to the east and it shows the Samler farm as being 17.5 acres.

                      The property was sold not long after that map was made.  The below map (estate sale map of the Samler farm) shows where the house was in yellow and where it was moved to (marked with a blue asterisk).

                      So the house was not moved very far at all.  Who was Mary Samler?  Googling around reveals that she was the daughter of George Washington Hadley, which explains a lot.  The Hadley family’s connection to this neighborhood predates the Van Cortlandt’s presence here.  In fact, the Van Cortlandt House probably sits on land that previously belonged to the Hadleys.  Digging into Mary Samler’s ancestry a little I found that she was a descendant of many of the local colonial era families (Tippett, Betts, Warner, etc).  So it at least seems to offer the possibility that the house was indeed “old” as J.B. James and Rev. Tieck suggested.

                      Cross Checking the location of the house on an earlier map indicates that the Samler house was just north of a stream that fed into Turtle Brook (an old stream that crossed the parade ground of Van Cortlandt Park):

                      Now check out a zoomed out view of the same location on this 1781 British Intelligence Map:

                      The road that runs north to south down the middle is the Albany Post Road.  “Courtland” is the Van Cortlandt House.  The house labeled “Green” is THE Hadley House that still stands at 5122 Post Road.  To the north of that is a house labeled “Ryar” that stands just to the west of the Albany Post Road and just north of a creek–a dead ringer for the location of the Samler House.

                      If this is the same house, who was “Ryar?”  This part of Riverdale from 1693 until the Revolution was part of Philipsburg Manor.  In 1693, the land was granted in a royal proclamation to Frederick Philipse, who became “Lord” of the manor. During the Revolution Frederick Philipse III, who was the Lord of the manor at that time, paid a large price for his loyalty to King George IIII.  His lands were forfeited to the new American government and they were sold by the Commissioners of Forfeiture in 1785-1786.  Before then, the manor was divided up and farmed by tenants, who paid annual rent to Philipse.  Ryer was one of those tenants.  The Westchester County Archives has the records of the sales that occurred under the Commissioners of Forfeiture and this is the relevant one:

                      It reads: “No. 50 Sold to Abraham Baker of the County of Westchester Farmer for One hundred and ninety two pounds ten shillings. All that certain Farm of Land situate lying and being in the Manor of Philipsburgh in the County of Westchester Bounded Northerly by Lands now or late in the possession of William Warner Easterly by the Highway and Southerly and Westerly by Lands now or late in the possession of George Hadley Containing seventeen and a half Acres as the same was formerly possessed by Sarah Ryer Forfeited to the people of this State by the Attainder of Frederick Philipse late of the said County Esquire.”

                      Note that the acreage of the farm is the same as it was in the 20th century–17.5 acres.  Other than the above document it is difficult to figure out what members of the Ryers family were living there before the Revolution.  They were a Dutch family, which means that had different naming conventions and their ancestry is confusing–but it explains the Dutch colonial architecture of the Samler House.

                      I could not figure out when the Samler House was torn down but it had to be before 1978 when the Fielday School building was built.  I found a reference to the address, 225 W. 254th Street, in this 1963 blurb but other than that, nothing in the Riverdale Press:

                      I find the idea of this teacher, Florence Porter, living in a local historic house and teaching local history fascinating.  I wonder if she knew the history of the home that she lived in.

                      I also wonder if the house was torn down, burned down, or what.  If local historians were vaguely aware of its history, I wonder if anyone opposed its destruction.

                       

                       

                       

                       

                       

                       

                       

                      in reply to: 19th Century Composite Map of Riverdale #1476
                      ndembowski
                      Keymaster

                        Thanks for the info.  Definitely good to have a copy of the Riverdale Historic District document.  As for the house, I have to say it sure beats a lot of the McMansions that were recently built in Fieldston–and what a view!  Anyone want to buy it and donate it to the KHS as a new headquarters?

                        J.B. James’ memoir includes information on another old house in the area:

                        There was also a very old farm house on the extreme southwest corner of the land, now the grounds of the Colored Orphan Asylum, which was run for many years by a Mr. Whitney as a boarding house. This was also destroyed. It may have been the original Ackerman house, but I think it was the old Warner house.

                        If JB James remembers this old house, there is chance a photo of it could be found.  And if it was the original Warner house, it would be very old indeed.  Who was Warner?  There were generations of Warners that owned a great deal of property in this part of Riverdale.  But before they owned the land, they were tenant farmers renting the land from Frederick Philipse as this part of Riverdale was part of Philipsburg Manor, which stretched from here to the Croton River.  John Warner was a capable Patriot militia officer during the Revolution.  He served as 2nd Lieutenant and later as Captain of the South Yonkers company of militia that hailed from this neighborhood.  He was from the 3rd generation of Warners to live in the neighborhood. His father William and Grandfather Charles both farmed this same spot.  After the Revolution, Frederick Philipse’s property was seized by the state and the Warners purchased the farms that they once rented.

                        According to JB James, the house was on the grounds of The Colored Orphan Asylum, where the Hebrew Home is today on the banks of the Hudson.  According to this map from the Revolution, there was a  house belonging to Warner on the banks of the river:

                        The above snippet shows the house just north of a stream feeding into the Hudson.  A rarely seen property map from 1837 gives the area in greater detail.

                        The slider on the top right adjusts opacity and you should be able to zoom in.

                        The southern edge of this property borders on the property that is depicted in my previous post (the map with the Henry Atherton estate house that is currently for sale).  The southwest corner of this map fits like a puzzle piece into the northwest corner of that map.  This map is dated 1837 and includes the following label:

                        The notch of land on the southwest corner gets its shape from a stream.  I believe this is the same stream that is visible in the map from the Revolution.  A little bit to the north you will see a “Dock” and three “dwelling houses.”  One of these is the house that J.B. James is referring to and they indeed belonged to the Warners.  This land is currently on the grounds of the Hebrew Home.  Interestingly, one of those houses seems to have a similar footprint to an existing building.  It would be interesting to see if photos from the days of the Colored Orphan Asylum could be found to reveal what these old houses looked like.

                        The property map reveals some other interesting things.  Any local maps from this period (1st half of the 19th century) are very rare.  To my knowledge, there were no commercially published maps of the area in this time.  You can see that there is a bit of land that juts out into the Hudson today in exact same spot where the dock was located. You can also see that part of Palisades Avenue was indeed a very old road.  You can also see the “quarry” labeled on the map where the Skyview apartments are today.  I found the will of John Warner and he was convinced that this quarry was going to yield a fortune.

                        I am trying to put these property maps together to make a composite map of Riverdale for this time period but it is loading very slowly.  I put the Atherton map and the Warner map together here if you are interested and patient enough for it to load.

                        in reply to: Old Resident Tells of Former Days (Part 1) #1468
                        ndembowski
                        Keymaster

                          I have been checking out the archive that Alan linked to above.  Every time I look I find more images that I have not seen before partly because they are often not labeled correctly.  The image that he posted of “Godwin’s Island” is labeled as “Small unidentified bridge [over Westchester Creek?], Bronx, N.Y. [?], undated [c. 1897-1918?].”  In reality this was at today’s W 230th St. and Broadway.

                          The great thing about these photos is that you can zoom in on them forever. Check out this one I found of the King’s Bridge that was also incorrectly labeled:

                          Check out how close up you can get with zooming:

                          The level of detail is pretty amazing.  J.B. James refers to the oysters you could get in Kingsbridge and there they are at “Liesler’s Fancy Groceries and Delicatessen.”

                          in reply to: Old Resident Tells of Former Days (Part 1) #1461
                          ndembowski
                          Keymaster

                            You have a real gift for finding photos, Alan.

                            I cannot believe you found a photo of Warner’s Store.  I have been looking for one for YEARS.  That store was the center of the neighborhood of Mosholu.  The owner, Matthias Warner, also ran the post office and I’ve seen his name as a witness to legal documents of the Van Cortlandt family.  One thing I wonder is if this is the same Warner family that lived in North Riverdale during the Revolution and served in the local militia.  I imagine it is although I have never made a genealogical connection.

                            The below painting of the Van Cortlandt House in the 1840s hangs in the gift shop of the Van Cortlandt House Museum.  I have always been curious about the buildings in the background.  On the far left there is a columned building that would be somewhere just west of Broadway, perhaps on the Albany Post Road.  It seems to have the same general shape and neo-classical look as the Warner’s Store photo but it looks like it is farther north.

                            On the right of the house are the barns that are on the southern end of the parade grounds.  Between the barns and the mansion are some buildings that were out on the parade ground.  I remember reading that there was a farmhouse among them and it would not surprise me if the “sheep barn bridge” is out there as you suggest.

                            As for the tracks on Broadway, I somehow missed the electric lines overhead–good catch.

                             

                            in reply to: Site of Revolutionary Fort No. 2 Lost to History #1430
                            ndembowski
                            Keymaster

                              The part that still does not make sense to me is what the developer and owner were actually afraid of.  Even if we were to find George Washington’s dentures buried on the lot, there is no law or ordinance that would have prevented them from building there.

                              I was the one who voluntarily offered to sign a non-disclosure agreement so that any findings would not be revealed until after construction was completed.  You would think that would satisfy the developer and his attorney. But instead they countered with multiple agreements that amounted to a gag order–a lifetime ban on ever discussing what was found without the consent of the developer.  That fact alone shows that they in fact knew the fort was there but wanted to make sure know one else would.

                              The fact is we were not treated in a honest and straightforward manner.  The owner, Martin Zelnik, claimed in the Riverdale Press that:

                              “If it’s just a question of getting publicity or being able to photograph something for documentation, I don’t have a problem with that,” he said. “It was never raised with me. If they wanted a photograph an arrowhead if they found one, God bless them. I’m all for historic preservation.”

                              He added:

                              “I thought (the agreement) was fine,” Zelnik said. “But the next thing I know, he’s going to the newspapers making claims that I’m totally unaware of.”

                              I found it incredibly dishonest on Mr. Zelnik’s part to say in the press that he is “all for” allowing a dig for “publicity” and that photography would be okay with him.  The documents sent to us by the developer’s attorney expressly forbade the very things he said he was “all for” and he was a designated signatory on the agreement. They sent us agreements saying one thing and then said something totally different in the paper.

                              This is the provision on the agreement that stated that we could be prohibited from publicizing the dig and that photography would not be permitted:

                              This is Zelnik’s signature line on the Non Disclosure Agreement:

                              in reply to: Site of Revolutionary Fort No. 2 Lost to History #1425
                              ndembowski
                              Keymaster

                                No, they did not get involved in any serious way.  I got one or two phone calls from political staffers but no follow through.

                                in reply to: Old Resident Tells of Former Days (Part 1) #1409
                                ndembowski
                                Keymaster

                                  Nice find.

                                  In the first photo that you found you can see a retaining wall that is still there.  It is the wall for Bertino Memorial Field at the Riverdale Country Day School.  This Google street-view shows the same spot (note the wall on the left):

                                  It looks like J.B. James beautiful childhood home was knocked down for the construction of the Henry Hudson Parkway–right around the time he wrote this memoir.  Explains some of the nostalgia.

                                  in reply to: “Indian Reservation” in Fieldston? #1372
                                  ndembowski
                                  Keymaster

                                    I agree with Peter’s take above. The internet is indeed an unfair advantage over previous historians and often you have to connect the dots incomplete sources. What the Rev. Tieck and Thomas Henry Edsall were able to do in their books without digital assistance in pretty remarkable.

                                    Interesting to note that neither of the NY Times articles refer to “Indian Road” nor “Indian Pond,” which would seem to indicate that the names came after the Hiawatha performances and not before as the History in Asphalt explanation suggests.

                                    I did not know about the Roosevelt visit to Fieldston either–at least not those Roosevelts. Eleanor Roosevelt visited the neighborhood later:

                                    ndembowski
                                    Keymaster

                                      It is funny you should ask that question.  Someone that visited the website recently sent the following:

                                      my great grandmother moved into Kingsbridge in 1895. Eventually moving into 3805 Review place. My grandfather ran a speakeasy during prohibition where Tremont Paint store is now located. My aunt was in the first graduation class of St. John’s with my dad and his other siblings to follow. I grew up in 185 West 238th St. my parents moved into the building in 1949.

                                      I really have no information on a speakeasy at this location but Tremont Paint Supply spans the Fuhrman’s Dry Goods building and the building next-door.

                                      ndembowski
                                      Keymaster

                                        Thank you for the compliment and for finding the typo.  It should read “firepots” not “fireboats”–just fixed it.

                                        Yes, I agree about the Hamilton quote.  It also begs the question of just how long the Munsee were living in this area.  That was 1744.  I have not come across any references to their presence in the neighborhood after that date.

                                        The diary entry was from the morning of August, 31st.  He had spent the previous night in the tavern in Kingsbridge and his diary entry from the day before reads:

                                        “Coming from [New Rochelle] att 4 o’clock I put up this night att Doughty’s who keeps house att Kingsbridge, a fat man much troubled with the rheumatism and of a hasty, passionate temper.  I supped upon roasted oysters, while my landlord eat roasted ears of corn att another table.  He kept the whole house in a stirr to serve him and yet could not be pleased.  This night proved very stormy and threatened rain.  I was disturbed again in my rest by the noise of a heavy tread of a foot in the room above.  That wherein I lay was so large and lofty that any noise echoed as if it had been in a church.”

                                        He must have been travelling on the Boston Post Road if he was New Rochelle the night before.  I also found it interesting that the fare on offer was oysters and corn–traditional local food in the Munsee tradition.  Doughty’s Tavern was lucky they didn’t have Yelp in those days.

                                        in reply to: Reason to Doubt the Story Behind Gun Hill Road? #1263
                                        ndembowski
                                        Keymaster

                                          I think your idea is entirely possible–that the hill is named for its shape rather than for the presence of cannons.  I would want to look at more maps to get a better look at the topography there.

                                          The William’s Bridge crossing of the Bronx River, which is adjacent to Gun Hill, was written about before the Revolution.  It was the boundary between Yonkers and the Manor of Fordham and it was named “Cowangongh” according to the 1669 deed between the Munsee and John Archer, who was the lord of the Manor of Fordham.   That deed is interesting because it contains many of the Munsee place names for locations in our part of The Bronx.  You can check that out here.  I recently got a chance to look at a photograph of the original deed and it is amazing to see because the Native Americans signed it using symbols or pictographs instead of spelling out their names.

                                          I think the Gun Hill would have been important because it overlooked this crossing of The Bronx River.  It would be pretty funny if its name comes from its shape as opposed to the fighting that occurred there.

                                           

                                           

                                           

                                          in reply to: Visitors to the King’s Bridge (#1) #1258
                                          ndembowski
                                          Keymaster

                                            That is good to know and I love that Currier and Ives.  The construction looks very similar to photos of the King’s Bridge that I have seen–very simple.

                                            I imagine that bridge would have diverted much of the traffic coming over the King’s Bridge, especially from the east.

                                            in reply to: Origins of the Word "Mosholu" #1255
                                            ndembowski
                                            Keymaster

                                              That is interesting stuff about the name Muscoota.   That must have been a commonly used term among the local native people and not some kind of unique place name as you pointed out.  I have seen it translated as meadow or marsh.  You have to figure there would have been a lot of places called Muscoota given all of the salt marsh or meadow in the New York area and sure enough you see the word in a few places.  This another British Revolutionary map (from 1775) and you can see “Musketto Cove” depicted on Long Island.

                                              Oddly enough I found a reference to a Muscootakes River in a deed to Jacobus Van Cortlandt–only this one does not refer to land in The Bronx but rather to land in Bedford in Westchester:

                                              Funny that the Van Cortlandts were buying land in two different places (The Bronx and Bedford) and they both bordered on running water known as Muscoota.  When my children were younger I would take them to a park in northern Westchester called Muscoot Farm and I believe the name is connected to the above river.

                                              On the topic of “Smooth Stones,” I found some interesting stuff as I was researching.  The local people spoke Munsee, which is described as either a language in the Algonquian family of languages or an Algonquian dialect.  According to this book, Mamusqunke in Connecticut meant “smooth stones” to the Quinnipiac, who also spoke an Algonquian language.

                                              I kind of stumbled upon the information that I wrote about in my article–I did not set out trying to find the origin of Mosholu.  I was researching the “Upper Cortlandts” house when I learned that the guy that lived there, T. Bailey Meyers, was the one that named the post office “Mosholu” and that he also collected Revolutionary War manuscripts.

                                              Tom mentioned Gun Hill Road in his earlier reply.  In a similar way I also stumbled upon some information that leads me to question the common origin story of the name “Gun Hill.”

                                              in reply to: Old Bridge Tavern #1216
                                              ndembowski
                                              Keymaster

                                                Thanks for posting that.  That Tieck article makes me think that The Old Bridge Tavern building might have been the same as the building behind the oyster shack in this 1873 Harpers illustration.  What do you think?

                                                in reply to: Old Bridge Tavern #1214
                                                ndembowski
                                                Keymaster

                                                  Those are some amazing photos.  I love the one of the Johnson Foundry looking east.  Thank you for including links for where you found the photos.  I wonder what those buildings were that replaced the Old Bridge Tavern…

                                                  in reply to: New York Yankees develop site in Marble Hill #1153
                                                  ndembowski
                                                  Keymaster

                                                    Hi, Tom.  Thanks for sharing.  I had not seen that map before with the outline of Yankee stadium there (where the Target is today).  That would have been pretty wild to have the “House that Ruth Built” in Kingsbridge.  It would have made sense given the subway line and multiple train lines going through the area.  From the map it appears that the infield would have been in Manhattan while the outfield would have been in The Bronx.  That would have resulted in some funny in-game commentary for sure!

                                                    I also am curious about some of those postcards because I thought I had seen them all but some of those don’t sound familiar.  Do you own all of them?  If yes, would you mind sharing the one of Dashe’s Lane?

                                                    in reply to: John J. McKelvey #1152
                                                    ndembowski
                                                    Keymaster

                                                      Hi, Stephanie.  I checked the Reverend Tieck’s book for anything on McKelvey or the Villa Rosa Bonheur and I did not see anything.  The book was published in 1968 so the building would not have seemed as historically relevant as it might today.  Another member posted that the building was designed by Robert Garner, who designed the Charlotte Bronte apartments.  So, I guess Garner designed it for McKelvey, is that right?

                                                      Getting back to the Reverend Tieck’s book, I would highly recommend it despite its climbing price.  It really is the definitive guide to local history with many amazing photographs.

                                                    Viewing 25 posts - 176 through 200 (of 255 total)