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Spuyten Duyvil

Wonderland

Wonderland in Inwood.

Shortly after the turn of the century a small group of investors, led by real estate “wheeler-dealer” Andrew J. Cobe, made a land grab in northern Manhattan.  Their vision—a sprawling thirty-one acre amusement park to be built on the current site of Columbia University’s Baker Field. Cobe was a shameless self-promoter who had been kicked [...]

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Inwood Hill in the 1920′s

Inwood Hill boat colony 1904

There is a turn of the century photo of a small boathouse on the water’s edge in what is now Inwood Hill Park.  The boathouse, run by “Pop” Seeley, supported a houseboat colony far from the noise and bustle of downtown.  It would be many years before these house-boaters, artists and assorted eccentrics were given [...]

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Inwood’s Mount Olympus: The Seaman Mansion in 1869

Old Seaman Mansion in Inwood New York City

A while back I wrote a history of the old Seaman mansion that once stood on the grounds currently occupied by Park Terrace Gardens. Today the only trace of the Seaman estate is the crumbling marble arch located down the hill on Broadway. The following description from 1869 finds the home occupied by its original [...]

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Inwood During the Great Depression

Inwood in the Great Depression, NYC

One of the most important if not enduring images of the Great Depression is Dorothea Lange’s haunting portrait of a migrant worker cradling her two young children. Her eyes tell a personal story of quiet desperation, while the photo itself serves as a tragic commentary on a country in the throes of economic devastation so [...]

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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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Inwood in Aviation History

Pilot Glenn Curtiss

On December 17, 1903 Orville Wright took to the skies above the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville and his brother Wilbur conducted their experimental flight tests in total secrecy.  While obsessed with flight, the Brothers Wright were more concerned with securing their patents. The Wright brothers had true cause for concern.  Fast [...]

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Hyatt’s Tavern

Hyatt's Tavern post, Inwood, New York City

Long before the Piper’s Kilt graced Broadway, a small but historic group of taverns hosted a colorful assortment of highwaymen, tramps, soldiers and fishermen working their way up and down the old Post Road. Like its competitor to the south, the Black Horse Tavern, located near the current intersection of Dyckman and Broadway, Hyatt’s Tavern [...]

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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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