🏘️ Croton Local History
Blog posts, articles, and community histories by local historians
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Road Bridge,” but based on his experience building a far more important bridge—the first railroad bridge across the Hudson River, which he had helped build in 1834–1835 at Troy. The location of High Bridge on a map published in 1868. Click the image
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to enlarge it. In his recently published book, Crossing the Hudson , Donald E. Wolf writes that the wooden Troy bridge “marked a change in the course of history in the Hudson Valley. The Age of Steam had arrived, bringing with it the power for
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industry in the valley, speed and reliability for vessels on the river, and railroad connections to the rest of the country. The bridge at Troy was the first to carry a steam railroad across the Hudson, and as such it was the agent of historical
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change.” 3 Unfortunately, despite Hayward’s association with such an important project, research to date has turned up little information about him. The fact that he was from Troy may answer the question of who originally owned the lost watch, but
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assuming it was his there are other mysteries. Why did he have a picture of High Bridge engraved on a watch? Was it significant because it was his first independent bridge construction contract—or was it particularly challenging to construct? Was the
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watch a gift from the grateful citizens of the three towns which paid for its construction? Does the fact that the ad says the watch was a family relic mean that Hayward had given it to a loved one? There’s one last question. Did anyone ever find the
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lost High Bridge watch? As early as the late 1850s, in his classic book The Hudson, from the Wilderness to the Sea , author Benson Lossing described High Bridge as “a wooden, rickety structure, destined soon to fall in disuse and absolute decay”.
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Read the section about the Croton area here . ↩ See the article The Great Freshet of 1841, the Day that Changed the Croton River Forever on the Croton Friends of History website . ↩ Crossing the Hudson: Historic Bridges and Tunnels of the River by
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Donald E. Wolf. Haywood’s involvement in the bridge is also mentioned in Covered Bridges of the Northeast by Richard Sanders Allen. Both books are available through the Westchester library system. ↩ Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email
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(Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Deep Hole Ferry House High Bridge (Croton River) Joseph Hayward Published November 22, 2013 November 22, 2013
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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
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that extra protection.” Whether you ordered #7070—“ideal for mom, pop and the children”—or the #7071—for fishermen and hunters, with “an unbreakable visor”—you would be guaranteed “excellent fit and complete satisfaction . . . or your money back!”
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Does anyone remember this bit of Harmon history? Are you the proud owner of a Harmon Hat? Zelan was an early Dupont water-repellant coating. Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on
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Published December 7, 2013 December 7, 2013
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While visiting a home in the Harmon area the owners proudly pointed out the Croton Point bricks used in the floor of what had originally been a large covered porch. Well-worn from more than a century of use, many are stamped with the initials of
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William A. Underhill, who used the clay deposits to make bricks on the north end of Croton Point while his brother, Richard T. Underhill developed his famous vineyards on the southern end. The house also features other Underhill bricks, stamped with
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the letters IXL (a clever bit of self-promotion meaning “I excel . . . at brickmaking”), and stonework by masons who worked on the New Croton Dam. For additional information about the Underhill brickyard, see this article written by Robert
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Underhill’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter. Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on X (Opens in new window) X Share on
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Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Richard T. Underhill William A. Underhill Published December 8, 2013 April 9, 2017
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One of two versions of a 1917 Goodyear tire ad featuring the Nikko Inn. Click the image to enlarge it. Who was the marketing genius behind this bit of Jazz Age cross-promotion? The 1917 ads for Goodyear Cord Tires appeared in magazines ranging from
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the Atlantic Monthly and The New Country Life to Travel and Forest & Stream . Both feature detailed pen-and-ink drawings of Nikko Inn in the background, suggesting the perfect place you could visit “in superior comfort,” driving your Goodyear Cord
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Tire-equipped car. For other posts about the Nikko Inn, click here . Detail of Nikko Inn from the ad above. Click the image to enlarge it. A different version of the ad from the June, 1917 issue of Travel magazine. Share this: Print (Opens in new
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window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on X (Opens in new window) X Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
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Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Nikko Inn Published December 14, 2013
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A seller on eBay is currently offering—and has graciously allowed us to feature—a bible bearing the bookplate of Abraham I. Underhill, one of the three Underhill brothers who started the flour mill on the Croton River in 1792, under a lease from the
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Van Cortlandt family. 1 The bible contains a handwritten page recording Abraham Underhill’s marriage “in a publick Meeting of the people called Quakers at Croton in the Town of Cortlandt, the 19th day of the 12th month, 1805 according to the order of
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the said society,” along with the birth of their son, Edward Burrough Underhill, four years later. Also included is something odd, which the seller describes as “a folded paper in an unknown hand, possibly shorthand.” Here is a link to the item. If
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you buy it, please let me know . UPDATE! We alerted the Westchester County Historical Society that this was available and are happy to report that they have purchased it for their collection. If they manage to decipher the “paper in an unknown hand”
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