History / Croton Local History
🏘️ Croton Local History
Blog posts, articles, and community histories by local historians
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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
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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
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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
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in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Croton Landing Croton-on-Hudson Ephemera Published March 31, 2017 March 31, 2017
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Underhill family W.E. Tallcot William A. Underhill Published October 4, 2017
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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
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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,
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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