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Tornado on the Hudson

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In the summer of 1901 Gotham suffered the deadliest heat wave in New York City history. From June 29-July 6th  at least 989 individuals perished in weather so hot it melted asphalt and drove scores of New Yorkers insane. For a solid week New Yorkers cursed, collapsed, threw themselves into wells, leaped to their deaths [...]

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Where Cobwebs Thrive on Manhattan Isle

Libby Castle

When New York Tribune reporter Eleanor Booth Simmons explored the hills of Inwood and Washington Heights in 1921 she discovered a quaint country community rapidly being swallowed by the big city. In this article she gives us a guided tour of the still standing homes of once rich and powerful families including Nathan Straus, James [...]

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Libbey Castle

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If some imaginative Gotham scribe were to write a tale about the colorful and often bizarre history of New York in the 1800′s he or she couldn’t find a better backdrop than Libbey Castle.   While northern Manhattan would eventually see other monumental estates including the Seaman Mansion, the Billings estate and even another castle [...]

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Paterno’s Castle

Detail from Paterno Castle. Once located in Washington Heights.

In the late 1800’s Northern Manhattan was still very much a wilderness of farmland dotted with occasional country inns and taverns, but that rural tranquility would end with the industrial age. The clean air and remoteness of the area soon attracted newly minted millionaires who created splendid monuments to their own wealth. For a brief [...]

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CKG Billings Estate

Billings Mansion, Inwood, New York, 1910

We’ve seen photos documenting the splendor of old Northern Manhattan. Breath-taking mansions of a grander time, now gone except for a forgotten arch or lost driveway meandering around a city park. That these architectural wonders were photographed at all is remarkable. But to step inside one of these homes, to see the art, the table [...]

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The Black Horse Tavern

The old black Horse Tavern in Inwood, New York.

In a very literal sense, Tubby Hook is where Inwood began and,  for nearly a century,  the Black Horse Tavern was the heart and soul of Tubby Hook. The famous tavern and boarding house was later replaced by the original Mount Washington Church. Instead of my own words, I’ll let this description of The Black [...]

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