Henry Hudson

Johnson Iron Works

Johnson Ironworks on the Spuyten Duyvil near Inwood, New York

Long before the familiar Henry Hudson Bridge guarded the entrance to the Spuyten Duyvil a giant, belching behemoth of the industrial era dominated the landscape. For Inwood and points immediately north the Johnson Iron Works represented, at its peak, a paycheck for some 1,600 employees and a polluting eyesore for others.

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A Potter’s Lament

Inwood Pottery

“There were other trees, many decrepit. In the middle was a kiln where an Indian princess taught ceramics under dubious auspices. She had a son who didn’t work. Both were on relief, and the relief checks were delivered to the princess at a mailbox fastened to a tree. The hullabaloo about disturbing the princess, the [...]

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Hudson-Fulton 1909 Celebration Program

Hudson-Fulton 1909 Celebration Program

Celebrations, replicas of the Half Moon sailing into New York Harbor and exhibitions at a gallery.    Henry Hudson, we hardly new you, but he’s all over the news lately.  Truly, even the few portraits we have of the man were commissioned many years after his death. But, New York does like a party.  And [...]

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Hudson Fulton Celebration Postcards

Hudson Fulton 1909 Celebration postcard

In the summer of 2009 Fourth of July spectators marveled at the wonders of pyrotechnics from viewing galleries and apartment buildings up and down the Hudson River. Normally held on the East River, city leaders moved the spectacular display to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s historic voyage up the North River now bearing [...]

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The Summer of Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson

Four hundred years ago Henry Hudson, an English sea captain flying a Dutch flag, departed Amsterdam looking for a northwest passage to the Orient. It would be his third and most important voyage. According to a journal kept by shipmate Robert Juet, Hudson and his crew on the Half Moon sailed into New York Harbor [...]

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Henry Hudson Bridge History

1909 postcard image of Henry Hudson from 300th anniversary celebration of Hudson River voyage.

When Henry Hudson and his crew of the Half Moon sailed into the inlet of the old Spuyten Duyvil in 1609 he could have never imagined the massive bridge that would one day bear his name.

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Tulip Tree of Old Inwood

The Tulip Tree of old Inwood, New York.

Before Inwood Hill Park, before there even was an Inwood, a mighty Tulip grew in the forest. In a new city lacking a sense of anything from antiquity, New Yorkers latched onto a tree. The giant tulip of Inwood became a popular destination for picnickers, school children and hikers looking to escape the other world [...]

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