HISTORY & MYSTERIES
This ad for Harmon Hats appeared in the October 1949 issue of Outdoorsman magazine. For the “amazingly LOW PRICE” of $5.45 you could be the proud owner of a “zelan treated” 1 all-purpose sports hat with “genuine mouton ear-neck flaps to guarantee that extra protection.” Whether you ordered #7070—“ideal for mom, pop and the children”—or the … Continue reading Harmon Hats—Everybody Needs ’Em!
On January 17, 1883 the Troy Daily Times ran an ad for a lost watch that will quicken the heart of anyone fascinated by High Bridge, the covered wooden bridge that once soared above the Croton River. LOST—A small sized hunting cased, gold English watch. On the upper case is an engraving of High Bridge, … Continue reading The Mystery of the Lost High Bridge Watch
Here’s a nice postcard of the view looking northwest over the rooftops of Ossining to Croton Point and Haverstraw. The card is postmarked from Ossining, January 18, 1905. This is what’s called an “undivided back” postcard, printed during the period when postal regulations prohibited any writing on the back except the address—hence the note to … Continue reading Croton Point and Ossining, circa 1905
Where are the Devil’s Footprints? This simple question was recently posed to a group of Crotonites—experts in local history, in Hudson Valley geology, and some people who grew up here and explored all of Croton’s old ruins and haunted places in their youth. They all had the same reply: “What footprints?” The answer takes us … Continue reading The Mystery of the Devil’s Footprints
On Halloween, in 1922, the world-famous magician Harry Houdini gave what he called a “pseudo séance” in the Harmon home of his friend, journalist and social reformer Sophie Irene Loeb. He used the word “pseudo” when he recalled the incident in his book Magician Among Spirits, because he was famous not only for astounding feats … Continue reading Halloween with Houdini in Harmon
Now that “Autumn is touching with wary finger the wealth of forest and orchard, and carefully-tended garden spots,” let’s open our copy of the New York Times—from October 23, 1862—and read the letter, The Season of the Vintage, the Croton Point Vineyards, to learn about the “commodious and cool” wine cellars, the clever “Yankee” solution … Continue reading The Season of the Vintage
If you want to introduce kids to Croton’s agricultural heritage, take them to Thompson’s Cider Mill on a Saturday to watch proprietor Geoff Thompson and his crew turn bushels of heirloom and traditional apples into old-fashioned apple cider. They may not use the antique cider-making equipment that’s on display outside the mill, but the process … Continue reading Croton Cider—Then & Now
At first glance you might think this beautiful print is an etching made by a Hudson River painter—looking north from Scarborough, showing a sweeping, placid panorama of the widest section of the river, stretching from Rockland Lake to the mouth of the Croton. The artist has depicted a sailboat in the foreground—representing the romantic, natural … Continue reading View of Haverstraw Bay, circa 1868
Here's a postcard of the nearly completed New Croton Dam, sent from Ossining on March 13, 1906.
A short prose piece by Walt Whitman from his 1882 collection Specimen Days & Collect. It was a happy thought to build the Hudson river railroad right along the shore. The grade is already made by nature; you are sure of ventilation one side—and you are in nobody’s way. I see, hear, the locomotives and … Continue reading Hudson River Sights by Walt Whitman
CROTON 