F128 
 .67 
 .R6 T8 
 
SECL'NJ COPY. 
 1699. 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 ChapHi.! Copyright No. 
 
 ^ll(!lf. 
 
 .4 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
APR £0 !?39 
 
RIVERSIDE DRIVE 
 
 COMPILED BY 
 
 CLARENCE TRUE Aro 
 
 4^0 BOULEVARD, 
 NHW YORK. 
 
 PRESS OF 
 XEW 
 
3()(U2 
 
 (^ APHSJ?16ii3 
 
 
RIVERSIDE DRIVE. 
 
 HEN Henr\- Hudson sailed, in the "Halt Moon, "' 
 up the broad and beautitul river which bears 
 his name— on the morning of Sept. 14th, 1(109— the 
 shores of both bays and rivers were so heavily v^'ooded 
 that much of the general contour of the land v^as hidden. 
 
 The ground was higher in some places than in others— so much could 
 be seen at a glance— but not until the "Half Moon,"" beating up-stream on 
 the flood tide against a hea\'y head wind, reached a point opposite what is 
 now the foot of West ".4th Street, did the keen-eyed navigator begin to notice 
 the marked preciptiousness of the banks on liis right. This gradually in- 
 creased until a mile or two further up-stream, the waving tree-tops upon the 
 crest of the rockx- bluffs were Lipwards of two hundred feet abo\'e his head — 
 while up(jn the opposite side of the river a solid wall of rock, towering above 
 even this altitude, stretched a\va\- as far as the e.\e could reach. 
 
 Familiar as he was— from wandering all over the known world of those 
 
days — with the iiiediaevcl custom of erectin.u baronial castles upon the rLiu<ied 
 crags which overhun.u maii>- of the I'uropeau rivers, it is easy to imagine 
 the look of pleased anticipation with which his eyes rested upon these cool, 
 delightfully picturesque and commaiuiing heights, as he noted each one and 
 determined upon building new homes tor himself and his fellow \'()\-agers 
 when the immediate business of disco\er_\- and exploration should 
 be over with for a tinie. 
 
 This dream of i^oor Hudson's, however — a dream 
 which haunted liiiu through the long, bitter da\s 
 I when he and his eight compianious were adritt and 
 "' slowl\- tree/ing to death in Hudson's Ba\ a \ear 
 later — was destiiu'el to be reali/x'd b\ others, and 
 onl\- after a lapise of o\er two centuries. 
 Repre.sentati\-es of the Dutch Hast India Companx followed m his foot- 
 steps, as a matter of course ;iiul t'stablishcd the little tradiim post of Niew 
 Amsterdam, But until the\ m turn ga\e place to the Huglish, along about 
 luu.l, their settlement hardl\- exttauled be\-oiul the uoitherl\ limit ol' Bouerie 
 
I,:ine and the few scattered houses <>n Breukelen Heights. 
 
 With the Fnuiish colonization, and as a resnit of that 
 far-reachin.u' polic\- which Governor Nicholls inanunrated 
 for his patron, the Duke of York (afterward James Ih, 
 tliere came a c|-ian,u"e— a city of rising' importance - « 
 
 soon entirel\' overshadowed the little Dutch trailinu" 
 post— the sturd_\' \-oLin,u- city of New York. Subtantial 
 
 houses were erected in the vicinit\' of the Fort— around what had been the 
 old BowlniK (jreen of the Dutch Buruhers— and upon Qrieen street, later 
 kn(.)wn as Pearl street. In course of time, prominent citizens be^an to build 
 suburban homes alonii,' the post road wliich led t<» the north and east of 
 the citw and upon neiuhborinu shores across the rivers. And when the 
 conditions of life assumed stabilitw under wise colonial uoxernment, home- 
 steads were purchased, here and there, throuuhout the upper [Portion of 
 Manhattan Island. 
 
 The estates were lar^e ones — and the nianor houses which ilominated 
 them were often in spots completeK' isolated hv dense belts of natural forest. 
 
iK'iiiiiK'd ill b\- rock)- hills, or hidden iindiT bliiris 
 
 by thf ri\t,T b;inks. 
 
 As time p;issc'd, tlu- ni;iiii pust rojd to Boston had 
 _ worn lor itself a track alonu the present lines of Park 
 
 Row — then ealleil Dixision street Bo\\er\- and Broad\\a\' to 
 Madison Sciiiare site, where it took an abniiit turn toward Third Axeiuie, 
 skirtinu the mound known as Inclenberu— now Murra\- Ftill— crossinu the 
 northeast e(»rner of (Central Park, down thronuh McCjowans Pass where it 
 forked, the ri^ht branch crossmu the Harlem Rwvr and bearing a\va\- through 
 Connecticut, and the left skirtnm the loot of Harlem Heights straight north 
 to Kin.usbridue. 
 
 Wliere the Boston road turned off toward Third Axenue at what is now 
 Madison S(.|uare. anollua- branch ,uradnall\- took root and pushed its wa\- in a 
 northwesterl\' direction dollowmu the present line of Broadwa>- and the 
 Boulevartl until it accommodated those of the counti\-lo\inu- citizens who 
 had been casting their e\es lonuin,ui\- toward the beautiful heights oN'erlook- 
 uMi the Hudson, on the upper ed.ue of the Island, and ended at the Hoauiand 
 

 f .-^"^"^ 
 
 
 IKW MiOM 74111 
 
1 
 
 ifiTii >ti(i;ki 
 
estate which, with Vanderwater manor, covered the Proniontor\- that walls 
 the i2nth Street valley of to-day. The district throiiuh which this new road 
 passed became known as Bloomingdale. giving its name to the turnpike itself^ 
 and was, from the settlement of the tirst estate, the 
 most fashionable suburb of the city. 
 
 Among the more prominent manor houses on 
 the Bloomingdale cliffs were those of the Apthorpe. 
 Del.ancey, Livingston, Str\ker, Jones and Pollock 
 estates, two of which were erected as earl\- as the 
 middle of the eighteenth centurw The DeLance} 
 house stood at a point now marked by the corner of 
 8(ith street and Riverside Dri\e until No\ember, 1777. 
 when it was burned during an exceedingl\- cold night by the .Americans in 
 retaliation for certain acts of the British — the ladies of the house escaping 
 in their night clothing, and one of them e\en being forced to hide in a 
 stone dog kennel until assistance could be procured b\' her sisters. The 
 house of Mr. Leopold Hidlitz now occupies" almost the exact site. 
 
w, - 
 
 About 1774. Charles Ward Apthorpc built liis 
 home at what is U(»\v the iutersectiou of C^oluui- 
 bus a\'eiiue and uist street— or perhaps two 
 hundred feet west of this — and during his residence 
 there, entertained nearlx' e\er\- celebrilx who eanie to the eitw h was 
 here that Washington and Nathan Hale planned the hitter's memorable ex- 
 pedition. Saturda\- niuhl, Sept. 14th. 17711— here, where Washington directed 
 the American retreat from New York, and Where Cienerals (dinton anil Howe 
 rested while bo\ ish Aaron Burr was leading the column of refugees and 
 soUliers. throu-ii b\-wa\s. uiillies and tan-ied uuelerbrush— almost under the 
 British noses— alonu the BloominuLlale-Rnerside cliffs to the encampment on 
 Harlem Hei.uhts, now known as 1-orl Washington. 
 
 judue Brockholst lavinuston— son of (^,o\-eriior ^^„^, J:^?^^^ 
 
 William i.ivin.uston of [jbert\- Hall, N. J., and .•..^'»ni^.r'?-^T\ 
 
 brother-m-law of Chief lustice John |a\— bought a i^l^BS'JYirr^.l'' ' 
 
 po 
 
 n of the Apthorpe b'slate on the n\v\- bank, and ii 
 built a mansion which t'xisted as a i^rom 
 
 laiu 
 
nuirk (ooth street corner 
 \v;is deiiiDlislied to make 
 
 u.is i^ieiiioiisneu lo iiKiKe Ar^ i, 
 
 ot Mr. Joiiii M;ittlie\vs, , Jf 0^ j .j 
 
 dwellinus of t()-d;i\-. ■•'^'igp'^ .*^ 
 
 Va Riverside Drixe ) until it 
 Jj^-' room tor tlie residence 
 one of the lundsoniest 
 For nian\- \ears. the 
 l.ixinuston house was - 1 " ' occupied by Mr. Cx'rus 
 
 Clark who has been, from its earliest development, closel\- identified with 
 the Rix'erside district, and who built a uraiul house on the opposite corner. 
 
 hi 1702, a small estate near the present site of (".rants Tomb, was owned 
 b\- Carlile i^)llock, the -raxe of whose little box', xvith its headstone: ■■To 
 the niemorx- of an amiable child," still exists in the shadoxx' of that greater 
 mausoleum toxxartl xxhich the exes of the xvorld so often turn. The old 
 Strxker house stood near the foot of W. U2d street at Strxkers Bax'. xxhere. 
 sex'eral xears a.^o. (jmimander Corrinue landed the Ivuxptian ( )belisk from 
 the S. S. Dessoii.u' on its xvax' to CAMitral Park. The buildiim iioxv knoxvn as 
 ■"Claremont '■ was purchased earlx' in the ceiilurx' b\- Dr. I'ost. as a country 
 residence— and in \S\^ was occupied bx' Joseph Bonaparte, the e\-kinu of 
 Spain. It was near Claremont that Col. Knoxxiton climbed the bank to attack 
 
^ General Leslie's hiuiilanders in the skirmish whicli 
 
 I led to the ensuiiiK battle of Harlem Heights. 
 
 Alter the stirrin.u days of the Revolution and 1S12, 
 came the peaceful building of a nation— a time so bur- 
 dened with national .urowth. so alive vv'ith the birth of new towns, states 
 and events that the Bloomindale corner of the world drifted into an oblivion 
 of grass covered estates— aged honorable, but nexertheless deca\ing old 
 houses— a dying race of earlv settlers. Southward, the hum and roar of a 
 mighty city grew louder each week—each month- each year. On the 
 bank, the sound of human \'oices, the lowing of cattle, gave way to 
 rustle of tangled x'ines — the whisper of falling leaves 
 
 Then, after many years, the stillness hovering 
 o\'er these peaceful heights was broken by vaga- 
 bond swarms of the cit>''s camp followers. The 
 squatters — and their goats. 
 
 The nation grew— the cit\' of New York 
 bfcame the third metropolis of the world — the 
 
 iver 
 the 
 
Athmtii. ;iiul Pacillc occiins were united b\- ukMmiiiu tlire;uls of steel, before 
 \hv business mnui of M;inli:it1;in m;isix'ci tlie ide;i that the eoi-poiJtinii h;ul 
 wilhm Its own pieeinels, the most innunilicenl site \ et unappropriated on 
 eartli loi IJu- builiiinu of homes and jxhaees. But eventiiallx tlieiv eanie a 
 ehanut. — and it was a ma^ieal one. 
 
 'I'he idea of conx'ertinu this Rixerside belt ol preeiiiiee int^ 
 park orfuinated ni a little f)rt\-niin' pa-e pamphlet, publisl 
 William K. Martin. Thru, the uroiiudwork of Central Park f 
 WAV about that time. .Andrew hi. C.reen ,ua\e his atteiitio 
 to the inattta-. introdueinu a bill in the l.euislature of iSik 
 Alter the authorized reports upon the undertaking had 
 been submitted, the bill became a law April 24th, iSny- 
 and in 1S72 the properlx' was all acquired, the total land 
 value beinu assessed at So. 174. 120.80. ,S". 10.1,470 ol 
 which was leviett on adiactait pro|X'rt\'. In 1S77, 
 the contract was awarded to Nicholas H. Decker- ■'^ _ 
 
 and the work progressed more and more fa\drabl\ 
 
 .mm 
 
^Hft^K- 
 
 |p||y- 0km j^ 
 
as public" attfiition became directed to the localitw 
 About 1870. a series of editorials in the New York 
 Herald upon the obvious attractions of this district, 
 which had been for so many years overlooked, 
 awakened the interest of William M. Tweed— at 
 that time Cj)mmissioner of Public Works. The 
 -:r— =,5^,^^ AmericLis Club surroundings at Greenwich. Conn., 
 had stren.uthened his appreciation of combined land and water features in a 
 residence locality to such an extent that, with Peter B. Sweenev. he pur- 
 chased several lots in the Riverside neighborhood. And shortl>' afterward, 
 his connection with the development of upper New York Cit\' resulted in the 
 mapping <'ut of the Bouleward — indirectl>' giving a strong impetus to the 
 beautiful dri\e alonu' the ri\er front. 
 
 The Park Department, under Mr. Green, had shown itself so capable 
 of dealing with great public tasks as to be intrusted b\- the Legislature with 
 functions far bexond its original scope—the 'lax-ing out of new cit\' streets — 
 the demarcation of bulkhead and pier lines, etc.. — and through its successful 
 
iUi 
 
 ext-rcisc of these privile,<2:es, the P;irk Board of to-da\ is en- 
 abled to innueiice le,uislati(tn toward the eoiideiiinatioii of all 
 piers or \vhar\es alon,u- the Uiliire Ri\erside I'ark tYoiit as well 
 as to acquire eoiitrol o\ei- those iiow in existence. This 
 will render the I'ark secure from conimerciai encroachment 
 to the end of time. 
 
 Stran,uel\- enou.u'h, the later de\elopment of Rixerside beuan at its 
 northerix- end. The pioneer m tins line was Ckau'ral Hubert L. \'iele, who 
 built the lirst handsome modern residence at the corner of SSth street, and 
 who. with iVlr. Cxrus Clark did much toward clearing the i>ropert\- of squat- 
 ters, securing le.uislation fir the .uradinu of streets. pa\in,u and ,uenerall>- im- 
 proviuM' the localit.w l^ut f )r some \ears the beauties of the l)ri\e were not 
 thoroughly appreciated, and this lack of public interest seemed likelx' to exert 
 a deterioratinu' inlluence upon the entire park\\a>- especiallx' the stretch from 
 79th to Soth streets, which was apparcaitlx' pre-ileslined to •■naf architecture 
 when tln' \arious pro|uat\ owners should consider the time y\pc for such im- 
 provement. Had this polic\ Ix'cn carried out. it could scarcelx have failed in 
 depreciating propert\ throughout the caitire section. 
 
About this time, however. Mr. Clarence True, who had erected liouses 
 upon some of the lower lots, became so thorou,ii,iil\- impressed with the 
 possibilities of the river-front as a residence district that he secured all the 
 available propertx' south of 84th street, and b\- covering it with beautiful 
 dwellings, insured a most promisin.n,- future for the Drive. 
 
 So, to-da\-. Riverside Dri\'e, with its branchin.u' side streets, is the most 
 ideal home-site ni the western hemisphere — the Acropolis of the worlds 
 second city. On the rockw urass-covered promontorx' which seemed so at- 
 tractive to Hendrik Hudson from the deck of the "Half Moon" below, there 
 stands a white granite monument to one of nature's noblemen — "the man ( 
 peace." On another promontorv known as Mt. Tom. near dird street, wi 
 shortl>- be erected a uraceful shaft to the soldiers and sailers of the ci\'il wai 
 Between the two, the domes of Columbia College and St. Luke's Hospit; 
 loom acros the sk\- line — and the ^reat spire of St. John the Dixine will soo 
 join them. From Claremont a \aaduct is to be e.xtended to Washington Hei,u■ht^ 
 making the rix'er drix'e of seven consecutix'e miles the most beautiful in the 
 known woild. clarence Herbert new. 
 
KET, l.OOKINC NORTH — Ml. TOM AT 
 
*Nlf 
 
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 *!y*^'?ffi''i 'e""?r?':'!5Sl, 
 
S. K. ClIRNKR or SoTH STRKKT AND RIVKKSinF, IIKIV 
 
S. (■;. CoUNEU ol- S3D StUEEt AND knEUSIDH bRlv£. 
 

 
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