Miramar Pool Ad, The Herald Statesman, July 22, 1932
As the dog days of summer approached, generations of children in Inwood, and around the City, looked forward to one thing only…The Miramar Saltwater Pool.
Built in the 1920′s, the massive facility was located on 207th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues. Photos, dating as early as 1927, show a large outdoor pool just west of the University Heights Bridge.
Miramar Saltwater Pool, Inwood, 1933
A later, 1937 photo of the Dyckman Street Ferry Terminal at Tubby Hook, shows a billboard advertising the Miramar, presumably for the benefit of sun starved New Jersey tourists.
By the early 1970′s the Miramar was demolished, but the memories live on….
MyInwood.net reader Ken Hollerbach was born in Inwood in 1947. Ken lived on 549 Isham Street, attended Good Shepherd, and spent many a summer day lounging at the Miramar.
Ken kindly shared his memories; keeping them alive for future generations.
“I remember those summer days at Miramar; a whole day of fun in the sun for only a buck. They gave you a locker key attached to an elastic strap that you wore around your ankle. The men’s lockers were in the basement, it was always cold and damp down there on the concrete floor. There were also several showers that you had to use before going up to the pool, and then when you went upstairs there was a passage on the side of the building where more showers, like a giant bidet, would finish the job of rinsing you from above and below.
Miramar Saltwater Pool, Inwood, 1956
I remember there was a wonderful slide and a high diving board (and two smaller ones) that seemed awfully high to a ten year old. At the shallow end of the pool, there was a “boardwalk” of painted plywood where you could stretch out in the sun.
Miramar pool medal
If you dared to, you could use the “beach” adjacent to the pool. It was the dirtiest sand I ever saw; it was full of soot and would get so hot in the sun that you couldn’t walk across it barefoot.
Miramar Ad, New York Post, May 28, 1948
There was a snack bar/lunch room that overlooked the pool where you could take a break from the sun and enjoy a coke (in a bottle). My mom always packed a sandwich for my brother and me, usually PB&J, and we sure needed the energy after playing “Creature from the Black Lagoon” for hours.
It claimed to be ‘the World’s Largest, Outdoor, Saltwater Pool’ though I doubt that it was the largest. It sure was salty too, which made it a lot easier for us to float and swim. The first time I ever swam in fresh water, I nearly drowned because I didn’t have the buoyancy I was used to in Miramar.
At the end of the day we were usually exhausted and dragged ourselves the four blocks back to Isham Street.
Sunburned and red eyed from the salt, we still couldn’t wait to do it all again the next day.”
Thanks again to Ken Hollerbach for bringing the Miramar back to life. I encourage other readers to share their Inwood memories and photos.
To read more Inwood history, click here.
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Miramar had the hottest sand I have ever stepped on. Thanks so much, Ken, for this wonderful piece. When I was a little girl up on PTW (early 60′s), if a promise was made by my ‘big sisters’ to take me to Miramar the next day, but would wake up (after barely sleeping for anticipation) to a rainy day, I would be totally disconsolate. On better days when they took me, they couldn’t wait to get me settled playing/swimming with some other kids, so they could spend the day flirting with the boys – “Ugh!” I’d think to myself, “That’s so stupid.” haha. I remember feeling so sad when Miramar closed.
Why Miramar closed?
Simon, I don’t know why, but I guess the land was sold so that Pathmark could be built.
I’m unsure why or even exactly when the pool met its demise. Perhaps someone reading has the answer. –Cole
Miramar closed due to the building of the newer pool up at Van Cortlandt Park, and the fact that the Pathmark Corp. made an monetary offer that could not be beat. Pathmark also was going to fill a void in the neighborhood of a bigger shopping center, parking, jobs and everything else that goes with big construction.
I remember the protests that were held because many of the families were now becoming a 2 working parent household and Miramar was a safe place for kids to go. But as we all know Big Corporations win out.
Gerri, thanks for that – you’re so awesome. I don’t remember what year it closed, though. Well-written comment.
Cole – Gerri used to live across the street in “The Castle” also (Isham Gardens). We grew up together – we addressed her parents as “Aunt” and “Uncle” – to give you an idea of how close we all were growing up. As she said, she may be sending you photos – she’s a gem of a photographer. My ‘Garden’ photos are in a box somewhere – sorry – we’re in a ‘storage stage’ of our lives. I’ll get them to you when I can.
My dad, Matty Macho (1932-2008) worked there for years as a lifeguard when he was in his teens and twenties. I loved that place. Me, my sister, Roberta and brother Thomas went there every day.
One year my family ran the food consession stand. I can still remember the icy cold White Rock soda in tin cans. Grape was my favorite! There were no flip tops yet. They delivered huge blocks of ice to keep the soda cold every morning before we got there. I would get to use the ice pick to break it up. And Oh my God those warm soft jellydonuts and the pipping hot coffee with lots of sugar and cream.
The huge old cash register with big wooden buttons. Maybe it was 1966 or 67 when it closed. My Dad knew the guy who owned it. He was there all the time. I remember sitting next to him and he was telling me that he couldn’t afford to pay the taxes on it anymore. And the City of NY was broke too. They wouldn’t subsidize it either. Wow , so sad. I still remember his face as he talked about it becoming a Pathmark! My best friend Janey and I would try to sneak past the deaf lifeguard who would always blow the whistle really loud when coming from the sand area back into the pool. I don’t think we needed another grocery store! What a loss it was for alot of us. Today it would have been put on the historic register and saved. There are some good things about todays world. I am so glad I have those memories in my head.
They played music, too. If you went under, you couldn’t hear it, and when you surfaced, there it was! Walking home (I lived on Post) I remember that heavy, exhausted feeling, and also feeling like I was still in the water. We were lucky to have had such a fun place to enjoy the summer.
Sheila,You had to love the musicYou were always singing.Roy was so proud of you.I could Always enjoy when you sang,Your voice was like an angel.I think the only time Father Flattery and I agreed was when you sang,we both really enjoyed.Yes,we cam from a great neighborhood and yes we had great friends.Have you ever heard from Gerry Hickey.Emily.Bro.John and I lost contact.Hope to see you soon.Bill
Hung out at sammy’s chinese laundry & moes candy store on Academy &Sherman in the fiftes went to PS 52 they were the good days
Bill your so right those where the day’s the 50′s and 60′s going to the Miramar ,Movies
St. Judes Bazaar, Gandy’s any one remember that hanging out on the conor of Sherman or Post Ave. Summer at PS52 they open it up so the kids had some place to go on a summerday Playing stick ball in front of 580 Academy .Those days are long gone but remembered.
Your so right Bill
Oh what memories this site brought home – I went to the pool in the late 30′s and what fun we had -I had never seen anything like it and now in my 80′s still haven’t. What a shame they did away with it as now kids don’t understand how such a place existed – Thanks for the wonderfull memories .
This is amazing! I can’t believe there was a pool where Pathmark is at now. Too bad it’s gone…Ken I live on Isham, 26yrs old and as I’m painting my apartment and peeling off some old paint layers that reveal colors of beige, green, yellow, and white, I can’t help but wonder who lived in my apartment on Isham 60+ years ago. Do you know when the buildings were constructed on Isham St. between Vermylea and Sherman? How was the neighborhood and people? …I know you were born in 47′ and I’m curious about who populated the street I live in. Thanks.
I remember the Miramar pool very well as a little boy. Both my parents, Al Porterfield and Ruth Jane Taylor grew up in Inwood. I dont remember it being saltwater though. I was about 9 when they closed it for a Pathmark. I was angry at Pathmark then and I’m still angry at them.
I remember the St. Judes Bazaar well too. My aunt won a car there!
My parents would take me, in the late 1950′s from the Belmont section of the Bronx to the Miramar pool in upper Manhattan. It was a nice change from Orchard Beach and Pelham Parkway, and I remember floating easily at eight years old, in the salt saturated water. The men’s lockers were downstairs and I remember it being kind of dank and the floors wet and gritty. I recently pulled up this site and it brought back the memory of the high walls and seeing a glimpse of the apartment buildings, surrounding it. I’ve since relayed this site to other friends who fondly remember Miramar, and what a welcomed oasis it was, during a hot summer in the city, for all of us.
Joe (his real name was Pete) was my uncle, he had the concession in Inwood park and my grandmother owned the luncheonette on 207th at 10th Avenue. My uncle went to Miramar pool many times. He lived at 449 West 206 street. Please contact me if you have any pictures of the concession at the park.
I lived around the corner from the Miramari pool from 1952 until it closed down.I was the best. I would like to know how i could get a copie of the two photos of the pool.I would like to enlarge them and hang them on my wall. linda cunningham
I lived on Sedgwick ave in the Bronx, and used to walk to the pool every day as my parents gave me a pass when I was in the 7th grade. There was a lifeguard named, “Teddy” who took me under his wing and helped me to become the competitive swimmer I grew into. And the sand….our feet were black when we came from it. And to think it is a Pathmark today…..what a fun place.
Michael,
Please write more. I know I as well as readers love first person accounts. All the best. Cole
The summer of 1962 almost everyone in our crowd from (181 Street and from Grand Avenue, in the Bx) had passes and went as often as we could. My girlfriends and I had the same design two piece bathing suits in different colors. That was soooo much fun.
I lived at 268 Nagle Avenue, between 204th and 207th streets, from the age of 5. The sand at the Miramar Pool WAS the hottest! I’d run to the end where the fence was to get my feet into a shady spot. The guys would be on the exercise equipment while we played in the dirty sand. I counted 102 steps to the top of the slide and once on top you could overlook the streets. The slide had constant water trickling down to make it easy to slide and you had to sit forward so as not to hit your head at the bottom. There was a cafeteria and I’d get my soda there. I had a friend Iliana who lived around the corner and her dad managed or owned the pool, not sure which. To everyone who lived in Inwood, remember the speedway at Dyckman Street. Lots of sledding in the winter. Also, Orchard Beach, dirtiest water ever! City Island was great, hope it still is. Luncheonette on 207th and 10th was called Pupleys. Two bars on my block, I can’t remember the names. Also two candy stores, between 204th and 207th streets. One was Cooperman’s and the other was Harry’s. 5 cent egg cream and 2 cent pretzel. Went sledding in cardboard boxes in the alleyways on 204th Street. Great for roller skating too, since the street was on a hill. Across the street was what we called the White Rocks. I’m sure there’s some huge development there now. We used to climb those rocks and play lots of games. Remember the Inwood Lounge on Sherman Ave?- could hardly wait to be of age to get in. Great bakery on 207th between Post Ave. and Sherman Ave. Haven’t had a decent roll or pizza since I moved to NJ. Dyckman Street had a world of great shops and 2 movie theaters. I attended PS98, PS52, and G.W. High School. Relatives lived in Washington Heights and Kingsbridge Terr. in the Bronx. Remember the Paradise movie on University Ave. all the stars on the ceiling, better than the movie! Alexanders, Crumbs bakery, Jan’s Ice Cream Parlor, Needicks had the best orange drink and hot dogs ever! I even remember bowling lanes in the 181st & St. Nicholas Ave. subway station. Great memories. I think of lots of people but they are probably not there anymore.
God, you are bringing back so many memories. I grew up in Inwood and my brothers and I use to go with my mom to Miramar. We lived on Isham St. I moved arond a bit thru my life, but have been back in Inwood for a number of years now. I remember I hated taking a shower before you were allowed to go into the pool. My brother loved jumping off the diving board. What great memories!
Other memories: Alpine Movie Theatre, Woolworth’s, Buster Brown on Dyckman St. I also remember a movie theatre on 207 St. There was also a comic book store on Bway between 204 St. and Vermilye, where we went in and trade our comic books, that was great!
Oh, My – I remember old Joe and his green octagonal (or hexagonal?) stand in the park. When we were very small, my Mother, Maureen Dunne Ballantine would sit us on the benches by the tennis courts and buy my 2 sisters and me a Dixie Cup – vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on top. She’d tie an old diaper around each of our necks, to keep us from slopping up our outfits and we’d lick the cups clean. I even remember tryng to suck the ice cream out of the wooden spoon! LOL
When I got a little older, I met an Irish boy I knew, Dave Murphy. He had an older brother, Billy, and they worked at Gristede’s market. Their uncle, (Gabe, I think) worked there a long time and was a friend of my grandfather, John Dunne, from Seaman Ave., right next to the entrance of the Park. Anyway, Dave Murphy asked me to go out – I was 15- and I had to call Mom at Macy’s to ask her. My father, Jack Ballantine, FDNY, had died 2 yrs. earlier. So, that night, ’twas a Sat., we went to the movies and to an Irish dance. My very first date ever! I was scared to death, really, because I was sure Dave would ask me to kiss him. He did. It wasn’t at all bad for my very first kiss, either! If Inwood could be as it was then, and I could go back, I would! What a fabulous neighborhood we lived in – like an oasis, really. We had the park, the Woods “down by the river” several ball courts and fields. It was like a Country Club, only free. We city kids weren’t to be pitied in Inwood. We had the “Great Outdoors” just beyond our apartment doors.
My Mother and sister Barbara walked around the park 2 years ago, on one of my infrequent visits. It’s more beautiful now than ever!!!! And, of course, we stopped in for a “visit” to Good Shepherd, and, the gorgeous “Garden of Remembrance”. Just to think of it sends chills up my spine.
Oh, where do the years go?! First, you’re starting 1st grade, then Communion, Confirmation, Graduation, another graduation or two, marriage and/or career, family, and BOOM, you’re reminiscing just like I am right now. Anyone who wasn’t there cannot possibly appreciate our memories, can they? So, dream on every sooften, fellow Inwoodites. They can’t ruin our dreams!
My parents were separated when I was young and my father lived on Sherman Ave. My father, also Al was a cop who moonlighted as a lifeguard at Miramar. My brother Fred and I lived in The Bronx with my mother, Ada, and when we went to stay with my father we would always go to the pool. We loved playing in the sand and it didn’t bother us since geting dirty was a rite of childhood at that time. The loss of Miramar was a sad time for us all.
When we went to visit the three of us would get haircuts and our shoes shined on E. 207 and Broadway. I remember playing tag and war with all the kids in the neighborhood.
In the early 70′s I rember going to the beer distribitor which is across the street from Pathmark everytime they got a secret delivery of Coors, which was not suposed to have been sold east of The Rockies..
I can’t believe that the pool was still open until 1962 but alas and alac.
I went down the large slide on a bust Sunday and just managed to tap my head on the end of the slide.
The rope that cordoned off the diving area was usually floating nicely until someone decided to stand on it. Well I made it most of the way across when the rope disappeared but the big foot swimmer grabbed me in time otherwise this comment would not be here.
The guard posted at the top of the stairs from the sand pit would accept Peach Pits and would whittle them into rings for the little kids.
At 6 years old my Mother would hand-over-hand the horizontal ladder in the sand pit but my chubby body would pull my full weight on my small hands and I could not follow her across the ladder. I must agree that the sand was impossible to walk on, exposed to the then clear sky hot Sun feed. Today, with the missing Ozone layer, the Sun would be twice as hot, close to unbearable.
I remember the Sodas as Mission Soda. And of course Pathmark spoiled everything there. The musak was delightful.
The west wall of the swimming area had a sloped point on top of it. So I would try to toss my Spalding Pink Ball and expect it to bounce back to me. Twice I got away with it but the third time the ball went over. I walked through the entrance, telling the gatekeeper that I was going around the corner to retrieve my ball. In swim suit and tongs I walked around to the gate on the south side of that area where I expected to find my ball. I passed through a gate and traversed down the wooden steps and through 2 yards and retrieved the ball. As I return passed by the first yard I noticed that I was now being watched by a small Dog. We played, I move, you move, until I felt close enough for a quick exit up and through the gate at the top of the wooden stairs. I slammed the gate and returned to the pool in one piece. Put the ball away and went swimming.
I earned my first $1.00 at the pool. One day a pool accessory company was taking photos of water floats and rings. A few kids were selected for inclusion in the photos. They mailed me my first Silver Certificate. It is a collectible today. And, that’s the truth.
I emailed A&P Family of Supermarkets, the present owner of Pathmark, and they could only support the information that their present Pathmark opened in October 1968 which sits well back from 207th Street in a Shopping Mall setting. In my mind set I remember a Supermarket that fronted directly on 207th Street after the pool closed. I never saw that myself having moved to Long Island in 1966. I stand to be corrected with joy.
Still digging in my mind. My last visit kind of wrapped up the pool visits. Probably 1955 when the locals started letting their naked sons walk over to the pool edge and pee directly therein. It was college and marraige that kept me busy in the ’60s and the Miramar was replaced by the Palisades Amusment Park Pool, then that closed and regular pools beckoned. But the smell of the pool which hit you when you got off the IRT still resides in my head.
I cannot believe i found other people who remembered the Miramar. We live at 407 W. 205th st. the backyard of our building faced the Miramar. I would sit on the fireescape and long to be able to go the pool. We did not have too much money in the 1950′s so it was a special treat to be able to go a few times during the summer. My aunt would go dancing there at night and we could see her as she was standing on the balcony. The cafeteria was magical to a ten year old and I was always thrilled with the day. I attended St. Judes school, and my aunt Ann Dasaro was the first person to win a Ford falcon –It was the first night that they were giving cars away. She had no license and rarely drove it. It was a 1960–white– and we sold it about 15 years ago with only 25, 000 miles on it. I do believe I have many pictures from the 40′s and 50′s when my parents were young and went very often. I also remember the luncheonette, and how about the “lorraine Bakery–on brdway. The mocha cake was still the best I ever had and has raised the bar on bakeries for me forever. the aroma from that French bakery was enthralling. The bazaars,
good sheperd, Franks Beauty Parlor, Rings department store–it was a hardware store, but my mom bought my holy communion dress there too!!–so many more memories–Let me if anyone wants to hear–jacqueline margherita–{now Jacqueline romanelli}
It’s so wonderful to hear everyone’s memories. Let’s see if anyone out there remembers of the following places:
Alpine Movie Theater on Dyckman – I went to see Planet of the Apes, that was such a big thrill. Eventually it burned down.
Woolworth’s on Dyckman
207 St – there was the penny candy store – can’t remember the name of the store
207 St & Bway – the lunch place that had great burgers
on Bway between 204 & 207 St. – there was a pizza place
where we use to hang out.
There was also a great place for ice right on Bway between 204 and Vermilyvea Ave, where you would take the peel off the ice cream and put it on your cone. Does anyone remember that?
We used always play in Inwood park. It is more beautiful now than ever.
We used to play hide and seek in the Closter’s.
Don’t know if anyone is still in the area, but Dyckman St. from Bway toward the Henry Hudson has some great outdoor restaurants now. What a difference!!!!
My experience in Inwood only dates back to late 1972, but I do have to correct Sonja regarding the Alpine movie house. It did not burn down, but possibly she is thinking of one of the other movies either on Dyckman or 207th. The Alpine was operating through the seventies and into the eighties when I finally closed and was converted into a McDonald’s which is still there. I saw first runs of Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, Pink Floyd’s The Wall and dozens of other films, so I guess I could figure out roughly when it was that I was there.
I recall a lot of places (bakeries, delis, etc) named either Alpine or Lorraine, though I know of no historical reason for this. I do know that Lorraine was the phone exchange that later became known as 56x as in LOrraine x. Maybe the phone exchange came first and the business names followed.
As far as the Miramar goes, I do recall that the Pathmark definitely occupied that spot in 1972 when I moved up here, but looked pretty new, so 1964-68 being roughly the closing date of the pool and building of Pathmark makes sense.
Dyckmanst, Betty Allen, Shillingham and the other ice cream palor by the Alpine an my first pair of KIDS from Jacks Pants shop downby the old funeralparlor on the north side of Dyckman.Am I nostalgic?
I grew up in Inwood from 1950 to 1963 (1963-1965 Army) and lived there until 1966 when I married and moved to Westchester County. I lived at 578 Academy Street. I remember going to the Miramar as often as we could afford it. When we could not afford it we swam in the Harlem and Hudson. We used to play on the “White Rocks” accross from the Dykman House playground. Stick ball and curb ball were what we played mostly. Ring a Leereo (not sure of the spelling) and we also played “Hot Beans and Butter” We played stickball on Academy Street between Sherman and Post Avenues. I went to St. Judes grammer school. I hung out with Denis Collins, Gary Larson, Rich McIntyre, Rich Rabbeker, Billy Cashin, Jimmy Tolfree and his sister Pat and Lana Turner to name a few. We hung out at Moe’s candy store on the corner of Academy and Sherman. We used to slay ride down the big hill at Fort Tryon park and also down St. Nicholas Avenue right into Nagel Avenue and Dykman. (Not a smart move) LOL. We used to go to the alpine We would go to the movie house on Dykman Street on Saturdays for about 4 hours and it cost just 50cents. We used to get our hot dogs from POP the old Greek who used to push his cart from 10th ave to Academy and Sherman. 15cents a hotdog. We would ride our bikes like crazy people all over Isham park and Inwood park. I met my wife who was from the Bronx at Inwood Lounge. (A great place) and we hung out at Sam’s Tavern on Sherman between Academy and 204th st. And who could forget the dances at Good Shepherd church. (school) on Friday nights and some Sunday afternoons. 50cents to get in. But when we danced the slow dances there was always someone telling us to make room for the “Holy Ghost” LOL. Inwood was a close nit neighborhood. Everyone kind of looked out for each other. Every Sunday after Mass we would have to go to Reginas bakery for rolls, buns, etc. And at night my mom would throw money down to me from the 4th floor to get the Daily News and Mirror. 5cents at that time. If you want to contact me and connect regarding the old neighborhood it would be nice.
The other icecream parlor was right next to the Lowes movie theatre. We used to hang out there. Nash’s bakery was next to Woolworhts on Dykman Street. There was a Chinese restaurant named Hi Ho that was there for ever. Jacks pants shop was actualy up from Reginas Bakery not next to the Alpine movie. Next to the Alpine movie theatre was a Jewish Deli. The other Jewish deli was call Loprrians and that was next to the Loews theatre. Bickfords was on the cornor of Dykman and Broadway.
Larry Miller
You may remember Bill Mahady , Myself Bob Heise we knew the same people. I lived at 580 Academy .
Any body know the following people .Robert Charlton ,John Gallo,Bill Barry. The Reids the Gillespie’s, Morgan’s ,the Kelly’s ,Bamberger’s,Bobby Turner ,Peter Collins. To name a few . Left Academy St in 1962 .Look at this web site copy and past might find more people from the past.
http://www.washington-heights.us/history/archives/dyckman_street_boat_basin_113.html
My email is rheise@echoes.net
Bob Heise
207 St – there was the penny candy store – can’t remember the name of the store
It was called the 5 &10
207 St & Bway – the lunch place that had great burgers
It was called the Capitol
There was also a great place for ice right on Bway between 204 and Vermilyvea Ave, where you would take the peel off the ice cream and put it on your cone. Does anyone remember that?
They were called Mello-rolls,and 204 and Vermilyea intersect right at the post office
on Vermilyea
True story…Sometime in the 40s my Uncles ship was torpedoed and he was in the water for about 10 hours.When he comes home on 30 days survivor leave he stayed at our place at 120 Vermilyea.
Saturday dawned very hot and humid and my mother,his sister suggested they go to the Mirramar.My uncle Ed who just spent 10 hours in the Atlantic declined immediately
I lived in Inwood, the first time, from 1966 to 1970. My current boyfriend, Bernie Cacchione, was the same guy who lived with me in Inwood, back in the 60′s. He is the one who introduced me to Inwood, many years ago (1966). He tells me that I went to the Miramar pool, once, when I was living there. I don’t really remember the incident, but you know the saying “If you remember the 60′s, you didn’t really experience them”.
(Ha ha, that’s a joke, you know.)
the name of the ice cream parlor near miles shoe store was called martys.i lived at 37 payson ave from in the 40,50 60,s anyone from payson ave????
I grew up in Inwood in the 60s and 70s, when just about every family was headed by an Irish immigrant. I lived at 631 W. 207, less than two blocks from the park, and around the corner from Good Shepherd. We would play stickball and roller hockey on the play street in front of the school.
Larry Miller – I believe the game is spelled Ringolevio. But yes, I remember it ending with an R sound. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringolevio
The Pathmark did take over the Miramar Pool grounds in the late 1960s. The supermarket never fronted on 207th Street, but it was built along the road. It front into a parking lot, and looked toward the Bronx.
There were three candy stores on 207th between Cooper Street and Broadway. One, Gees, was on the corner of 207th and Cooper; the other two were at the other end of the street, next to the subway entrace/exits. Each had a deli next door. One was Jones’ (Joans’s?)Deli; the other was know as the German deli.
The hamburger joint at the corner of 207th and Broadway was the White Castle. The Capital was on Broadway, a few doors south of 207th.
As for ice cream, I remember Francesca’s (spelling??) that opened on 207th on the east side of Broadway, sometime in the 1970s. But hey, all you had to do was go to the park and wait for the Good Humor man, or the Mr. Softee truck.
I lived in 2 Ellwood Street until I married in 1968. Best memories were of Freddies Candy Store and Luncheonette on Nagle Avenue near Ellwood Street, Schillingman’s ice cream parlor on Dyckman where they made their own ice cream and had the best tuna sandwiches on a roll for 50 cents, the Inwood Blue Bakery across the street from JHS 52 where all the kids lined up at lunchtime to buy humongous chocolate chip cookies for 25 cents, Nash Pastry shop with the tea room in the back, Johnnie’s Bakery on Broadway where you would get cake if it was a special occasion, the Alpine Bakery on Nagle near Ellwood, the egg store on Nagle run by 2 sisters, Kron’s appetizing store on Nagle where you could get the best pickle for only 5 cents, and of course Emil Lance’s Bowling Alley in the old car dealership building on Broadway between Ellwood Street and Dongan Place where you could spend an entire Saturday for under $1.00. I still tell people that I grew up in Inwood, “a small town in Manhattan.”
Joan Carol,
I also grew up on Payson Ave. Number 115. It is at the top of the Payson Ave. hill and faces the road going up into the park. Next door were two brick 2 family homes. One was home to the teaching nuns from Good Shepheard Church. I lived there from the time I was 4 or 5 until I went into the service in 1957. Now I am 76 and living in California. Love to correspond.
John
My family of 6 kids all girls@ the time of living in Inwood ( 20 Arden St.) are my favorite memories. Miramar Pool was the best.My sisters and I would walk there. We still talk about it. Fort Tryon Park, and Schillghams Ice Cream Parlor and my favorite Nashes 7 layer cake. So many fond memories.
One thing for sure we were never bored and we always were playing outside. Stick ball. roller skating, good wholesome fun. The kids today don’t have a clue to how great life was and most of us were poor and never new it.
My family moved up to Rockland Co. and went on to have 2more girls and 1 son. 9 kids.
This article was great. Thank you
Grew up at 550 Academy Street . I lived there and at 72 Ellwood street from 1947 to 1967 Thanks for all the memories.It,s a small world ,I was at a party on a small island in Rumson New Jersey , and I met a women who lived right across the street on Academy, Thanks For The Memories
They were the best years of my life…lived at 20 arden street until 1965….I was 9 when we moved but I remember so much…The Miramar ..Oscar the good humor man….Dyckman St….Shillinghams, the BEST tuna sandwiches…. egg creams….Does anybody remember The Halfmoon Ride that came around on the truck…so much fun swimming in the sprinkler in Fort Tryon Park…down by the river…. sleigh riding at the speedway….Connies deli.had the best potato salad ….Dyckman st at Christmas time…I could go on and on…..I wish that my kids could have had the experience of living there also….THE BEST!!!!
I lived in Inwood from 68-83. Remember Fannie Farmers? Wolves? Carrot top bakery, the Blue Mountain, open gym night at Good Shepard on Fri nites in the winter, ISPY! Wouldn’t trade it for the world, although I wish they had sports for girls in the 70′s.
I grew up on 173rd Clay Ave in the Bronx but had many cousins that lived in the Inwood section. There were the Mooney’s , Purcells and the Keane’s . I went to Miramar only a few times but remember it well. I also worked in the Kingsbridge bus garage on 218th and B’way and saw that pool many times on my way to work .
My sisters Mary, Sheila, “Eileen and yours truly all worked there in
the cafeteria….The girls always worked behind the counter…I started
as a bus boy and then was ‘promoted’ to behind the counter…selling
the soda…a husband and wife team, Charlie and Mary ran the
cafeteria….some of the life guards were (only new their first names)
George (two of them), Charlie Beaver who sat at the entrance to the
sand area and made sure you washed your feet coming from that area back
into the pool and then there was Teddy, the lifeguard who could
neither speak or hear but could sure blow that whistle of his…many many
memories!
And then there was the beautiful blond girl by the name of Renee who hung at the pool and every red blooded American guy at the pool just loved her! She was sooo sweet…never her nose in the air…but a beautiful girl!
Pete Foley
I lived there, if were weren’t in the Catskills for the summer.. I loved the dirty black soot riden, sand.. from the incinerators..which used to fall like black snow flakes… and the dayglow green foot wash which not sure if you really wanted to walk through it!!
My mother swam at Miramar Pool in the 1930′s and won several diving medals. When Mother grew up she and her family lived on Sedwick Avenue then moved to Yonkers. From the 1940′s through early 1050′s my family lived at 99 Marbel Hill Avenue. In the 1940′s after the War, my father and I used to walk to the Hudson River to watch men catch eels and prepare them for market. Skullers from the Columbia University could be seen practicing their rowing skills.
My niece is now a swimmer and competes on a university intermural team in Virginia. I plan to give her the photos of Mother along with her medals.
I also remember the Miramar. We lived in the Amalgamated on Van Cortlandt Park South. My sister was a few years older than me and she would take me their and she and her friends would oogle over the guys. I remember the food area and how crowded it all was. And the music was blaring, you would feel the cool wet floor downstairs on your feet and I also remember the showers before you were allowed in (as per the other comments). I was born in 1950 so I imagine we went in the 1950′s to early ’60′s era.
I miss the old days and the community the Bronx was. It was a much simpler life and times and I think in general people were more content and happy.