HISTORY & MYSTERIES
These images are taken from a topographic map of the "Haverstraw Quadrangle," which was surveyed in 1938 by the U.S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey and published in 19431. This map provides so many layers of information—buildings, roads, elevations, vegetation, bodies of water, place names, and more—that we can get a good sense of … Continue reading U.S. Geographical Survey Map, 1943
These newspaper advertisements from the Hudson River Chronicle capture the transition from old to new forms of transportation along the Hudson River in the Croton area. In the early 1800s stagecoaches and sloops were the main forms of transportation between New York City and Albany because there were few steamboats on the Hudson River.1 But … Continue reading Stagecoach, Sloop, Steamboat
These details are from a map of the Town of Cortlandt which accompanied the 1940 census. According to a note on the map it was prepared in January, 1935 "in the office of the County Engineer, with workers supplied by the Westchester County Emergency Work Bureau." The map can be viewed and downloaded from the … Continue reading Census Map of Croton, 1935
"Camping at the City's Doors" was the title of an article in the June, 1905, issue of Country Life in America magazine, which described places where "one can feel as far away from civilization as upon an Adirondack lake, but a twenty minutes' row or paddle takes one across the river to catch a train, … Continue reading Camping at Croton Point, 1905
This is an often photographed view of the New Croton Dam, but this particular image from 1912 captured an automobile driving along the road which once ran across what is now the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. For an equally romantic image of "driving" out to the Dam, see this earlier post.
As we noted in a previous post, the poet and social activist Lydia Maria Child recorded the unbridled joy New Yorkers felt when the Croton Aqueduct opened in 1842. The arrival of the "clean, sweet, abundant water" also inspired her to write a poem, "The New-York Boy's Song," which was published in 1854 in her … Continue reading O, blessed be the Croton!
Another example of the innovative advertising Clifford B. Harmon used to sell land in Harmon, “the highest, healthiest, most beautiful, most accessible and most aristocratic part of Westchester County. . . . where the New York Central's million dollar electric terminal is located.” “Don't wait! HARMON is your golden opportunity. . . . $10 secures … Continue reading Cannon Ball Time to Harmon
These beautiful glass lantern slides show the gardens of Van Cortlandt Manor in 1930, when the property was still owned by Van Cortlandt descendents.1 The photographs are from the Garden Club of America collection in the Archives of American Gardens at the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian's website states that "the Garden Club of America was … Continue reading The Gardens of Van Cortlandt Manor, 1930
"Among all the rich and luscious terrestrial fruits which gladden the heart of man and delight his taste and renovate his health," wrote the Eclectic Magazine in April, 1864, "none surpass in variety and value the fruit of the vine. . . . In all ages and in all countries, where the soil and climate … Continue reading Dr. Underhill, a Patriarch and a Man of Renown
"Something New!" proclaimed this ad from the May 30, 1908 issue of the Peekskill Highland Democrat. "Right on the Beautiful Croton River, where Cool Breezes blow even on the warmest days." This ad must have been the beginning of a publicity campaign, because about a month later the New York Times 1 published a short … Continue reading American Cooking, Japanese Service!
CROTON 