🏘️ Croton Local History
Blog posts, articles, and community histories by local historians
1,661Passages
207Source Documents
Sources
Passages
crotonhistory.org
cacheted covers”, inscribed by Croton postmaster Augustus W. Dymes, Jr.—the uncle of Croton’s current Village Historian, Dorothy Pezanowski. In stamp collecting a cachet is a printed or stamped design or inscription (other than a cancellation or
36 words
crotonhistory.org
pre-printed postage) on an envelope, postcard, or postal card to commemorate a postal or philatelic event. A pair of envelopes like these are apparently referred to as “last/first covers.” Another significant date in Croton’s postal history took
37 words
crotonhistory.org
place on July 4, 1891. That’s the date when the Postal Service officially changed the name of our post office from Croton Landing to Croton-on-Hudson. 1 See The Highland Democrat, July 4, 1891. ↩︎ Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a
44 words
crotonhistory.org
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 Share on LinkedIn (Opens
45 words
crotonhistory.org
in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Croton Landing Croton-on-Hudson Ephemera Published March 31, 2017 March 31, 2017
19 words
crotonhistory.org
If you’re walking on Elliott Way, south of the Yacht Club, you’ll see some red bricks scattered among the rip rap along the shore. These all appear to be what were called Croton Point bricks, made at the William A. Underhill Brickyard on the northern
45 words
crotonhistory.org
end of the point. Some Underhill bricks were stamped with his initials (WAU) but others, like the partial example shown above, were stamped IXL, a clever bit of self-promotion meaning “ I excel ” at brickmaking. During the height of the brickmaking
42 words
crotonhistory.org
industry in the 1850s there were more than 25 brickyards on the shores of Haverstraw Bay and in Croton there were five in the area between what is now Half Moon Bay and the end of Croton Landing Park. 1 For some nice examples of WAU bricks see this
49 words
crotonhistory.org
post, History Underfoot . United States Coast Survey. Hudson River No. VI, Topographical Survey by F.H. Gerdes. August, 1854. ↩︎ Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook
42 words
crotonhistory.org
(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 Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged William
42 words
crotonhistory.org
A. Underhill Published April 9, 2017 April 9, 2017
9 words
crotonhistory.org
During a walk along the beach on the north side of Croton Point we spotted some old bricks, encased in a piece of concrete. “IX” could be seen stamped on one of them and “XL” on the other. As we wrote in this previous post , these bricks were made at
51 words
crotonhistory.org
the William A. Underhill Brickyard on the northern end of the point, close to where we found them. Some bricks were stamped with Underhill’s initials (WAU) but others, like these, were stamped with the letters IXL—a clever bit of self-promotion
40 words
crotonhistory.org
meaning “ I excel ” at brickmaking. Since both bricks look burned, we suspect they were among the rejects that once littered the area. Perhaps they were later picked up and used in the foundation of one of the cabins that were built along the north
46 words
crotonhistory.org
shore in the early 20th century. Some of the cabins and outhouses on Croton Point when Westchester County purchased the land. Here’s a 19th century advertisement from The Clay-Worker for the “I. X. L. ‘SPECIAL’ Brick Machine” that may have made these
42 words
crotonhistory.org
bricks. The manufacturer of this machine was William Edward Tallcot, who was born in 1852. William’s father, Richard D. Tallcott, owned a brick manufacturing company at Croton Landing and the family was related by marriage to the Underhills. Map of
40 words
crotonhistory.org
Croton Point in 1868 from the “ Atlas of New York and vicinity from actual surveys by and under the direction of F.W. Beers ,” showing the R. D. Tallcot Steam Brickyards on the northern tip. We can walk along the beach at Croton Point and rejoice
47 words
crotonhistory.org
when we find bits of Croton’s history, but what we see is only what’s been left after massive changes to the landscape. A visitor in 1890 described Croton as a “quiet hamlet, whose inhabitants have been for several generations industriously digging
41 words
crotonhistory.org
up the fields and pressing the soil into bricks, until it looks as though the place had stood a siege, and the enemy had exploded mines all round its borders.” Read more here . Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend
48 words
crotonhistory.org
(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 Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
44 words
crotonhistory.org
LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Underhill family W.E. Tallcot William A. Underhill Published October 4, 2017
16 words
crotonhistory.org
View of the Hudson from Horton’s Road Near Croton by Robert Havell Jr. Oil on canvas. If you have an extra $8,000 to $12,000 to spend* you should bid on a magnificent painting of the Croton area by Robert Havell, Jr. being auctioned at Sotheby’s
45 words
crotonhistory.org
tomorrow. The painting has been owned by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts since 1935 and is being sold to fund future acquisitions. When we first saw View of the Hudson from Horton’s Road Near Croton we immediately recognized the Croton River,
41 words
crotonhistory.org
emptying into the Hudson in the lower section of the painting. In the distance at the end of the road on the right you can see Croton Point, and the flat marshland that existed before it became a county dump. Between the trees along the left side of
48 words
crotonhistory.org
the road you can even see Van Cortlandt Manor. Detail showing the mouth of the Croton River on the left, part of Croton Point in the upper right, and Van Cortlandt Manor in the lower middle between the trees. After a little research we’re pretty sure
46 words
crotonhistory.org
we know where Havell was standing when he created the painting and approximately when the undated work was executed. One of the earliest maps of the area identifying landowners is the 1851 Map of West Chester County, New York , by the surveyors
43 words
crotonhistory.org
Sydney & Neff. In the area of New Castle, where it comes to a point on the Croton River near Deer Island, there is a J. C. Horton, living along today’s Quaker Ridge Road—which we assume was the “Horton’s Road” in the title. The arrow in the map below
49 words
crotonhistory.org
indicates Havell’s approximate point-of-view when he created the painting. An 1851 map showing the home of J. C. Horton. The arrow indicates Havell’s approximate point-of-view when he created the painting. The map also provides a way of dating the
39 words
crotonhistory.org
work, because the painting is missing a major feature shown on the map—the Hudson River Railroad Bridge across the mouth of the Croton River. Although it’s possible that Havell omitted the bridge for aesthetic reasons we think that’s unlikely. If
40 words
crotonhistory.org
we’re correct then the painting was executed prior to 1849, when the first section of the railroad was completed between New York City and Peekskill. If you buy the painting let us know! Many thanks to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts library for
43 words