HISTORY

“Recollections of Northern Manhattan” by William Calver

William Calver

Much of what we know today about the history and pre-history of Inwood and Washington Heights is due largely to the turn of the century work of amateur historians, self taught archaeologists and close friends William Calver and Reginald Bolton. Starting in the 1880′s Bolton and Calver began exploring northern Manhattan with picks and shovels, [...]

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The Old Nagle Cemetery

Inwood Cemetery, NYC

In mid-17th century Jan Nagle and Jan Dyckman traveled to the New World and settled in northern Manhattan. For more than two centuries the families farmed the land, raised cattle, planted orchards, built bridges and homes and even intermarried. And while Dyckman is a familiar Inwood name, largely thanks to the preservation of the post-Revolutionary [...]

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1921: Inwood Teens Make Girl Scout History

Inwood New York City Girl Scouts

On a March morning in 1921 two Inwood teens, Gertrude Nathan and Beatrice Cline, boarded the subway at 207th Street for one of the most memorable rides of their lives. The girls were heading downtown on a very special mission on behalf of the Girl Scouts of America. The organization’s national director, Jane D. Rippin, [...]

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Spark Plug Inventor Gustave Herz and His Eclectic Inwood Home

Thumbnail image for Spark Plug Inventor Gustave Herz and His Eclectic Inwood Home

On a steamy July day in the summer of 1918 Austrian inventor Gustave Herz purchased a large stable on the northern tip of Manhattan.  While many before him had built grand monuments to equestrian sportsmanship, given the neighborhood’s proximity to the Harlem River Speedway, Herz was no horseman. Instead, Herz was a dreamer who planned [...]

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The Hoboken Turtle Club

Hoboken Turtle Club

“Dum vivimus vivamus” -Motto of the Hoboken Turtle Club According to legend, as the history of most social clubs is so often based, the Hoboken Turtle Club was founded in 1796. It is reputed to have been the oldest social club in the United States. The club was the brainchild of John Stevens, a former [...]

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579 West 215th Street: Inwood’s Indian Park Towers

579 West 215th Street, Inwood, New York.

579 West 215th Street, also known as Indian Park Towers, has the distinction of being one of the newest buildings in northern Manhattan. Architect Joseph H. Belfatto designed the Inwood coop, constructed in 1965. Taking full advantage of the building materials of the day, Belfatto built a thoroughly modern apartment house on a $600,000 budget [...]

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Park Terrace Gardens Rises from the Ruins of the Old Seaman Mansion

Seaman mansion, Inwood, New York City

In early November of 1938 newspapers around the globe trained their headlines on a stunning victory on the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The heroic story of Seabiscuit, a small, knobby-kneed horse who preferred sleeping to racing, over War Admiral, the four to one favorite, captured everyone’s imagination. The underdog had slain Goliath and [...]

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A Civil War Veteran and His Inwood Truck Farm

Inwood Truck Farm post

Imagine yourself a soldier returning from the Civil War. Disoriented. Jobless. Before that bloody War Between the States you had been a farmer.  A New York City farmer at that! But Manhattan had changed much in your absence. You simply couldn’t plant a potato patch wherever you pleased anymore. Gone were the wide-open farms and [...]

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