tubby hook

A Grain Field in City Limits: Inwood, 1895

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A GRAIN FIELD IN CITY LIMITS NEW YORK HERALD July 14, 1895 It Waves at 211th Street Awaiting the Reaper and Is Manhattan’s Last IS ON HISTORICAL GROUND That Part of the Island Was Devastated by Two Armies in the Time of Washington POINTS OF INTEREST NEAR BY “RIPE and awaiting the scythe of the [...]

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Inwood Bathing Beach: 1906

Inwood Bathing Beach 1906

As summer winds down, I thought it might be fun to share a photo of an old swimming hole that used to be a source of great fun and entertainment near the turn of the last century.  The area, on the bank of the Hudson River at  Dyckman Street was called the “Inwood Bathing Beach.”   [...]

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Inwood’s First Public School

PS 52, Inwood New York City, 1905 postcard

In 1858, the year Inwood’s first school was constructed , the area wasn’t even yet known by its current name. Locals, of whom there were few, all referred to the region on Manhattan’s northernmost tip as “Tubby Hook.” Folks downtown hardly even considered the backwater region as being part of their city. So imagine the [...]

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Miramar Saltwater Pool

Miramar Saltwater Pool, Inwood, New York City, thumbnail

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 [...]

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Inwood in 1886

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The below article originally appeared in the New York World on December 26, 1886. While much in Inwood has changed since this description was first set into type, much has remained the same.  The original clipping is housed the the genealogy room of the New York Public Library. “Few New Yorkers are familiar with the [...]

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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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The Cotton King of Inwood Hill

Cotton plant for Inwood history article

When one thinks of Inwood, the word “cotton” does not likely spring to mind. Of course folks rarely speak anymore of Frederick “The Cotton King” Talcott, who, in the mid-1800’s, made Inwood Hill his home. Frederick Talcott was born into a founding New England family that traced its aristocratic roots in Warwickshire, England to 1558. [...]

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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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