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🏘️ Croton Local History
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colonial times." The manor passed from the Van Cortlandt family in 1945. In 1953, John D. Rockefeller purchased it and began a restoration. The restored manor house was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1961. ↩ Share this: Print (Opens in
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Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Van Cortlandt Manor Published April 30, 2013 May 1, 2013
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New York Evening World, June 25, 1907 Another example of the innovative advertising Clifford B. Harmon used to sell land in Harmon, “the highest, healthiest, most beautiful, most accessible and most aristocratic part of Westchester County. . . .
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where the New York Central's million dollar electric terminal is located.” “Don't wait! HARMON is your golden opportunity. . . . $10 secures a beautiful villa site. . . . Every lot a river view.” See this post for more ads for the “Quickest and Most
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Successful Real Estate Development in the History of New York.” For all Harmon-related posts click here . 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)
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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 Published May 1, 2013
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As we noted in a previous post , the poet and social activist Lydia Maria Child recorded the unbridled joy New Yorkers felt when the Croton Aqueduct opened in 1842. The arrival of the “clean, sweet, abundant water” also inspired her to write a poem,
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“The New-York Boy’s Song,” which was published in 1854 in her book, Flowers for Children . Child was "renowned in her day as a tireless crusader for truth and justice and a champion of excluded groups in American society." 1 In this poem she
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celebrates the ways the "blessed" Croton—which "flows for man and beast, and gives its wealth out freely, to the greatest and the least,"—could cure several social ills plaguing New York City in the mid-1800s. The New-York Boy’s Song To Croton Water
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Croton Fountain, circa 1850. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York. O, blessed be the Croton! It floweth every where— It sprinkleth o’er the dusty ground, It cooleth all the air. It poureth by the wayside A constant stream of joy To every
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little radish girl And chimney-sweeping boy. Poor little ragged children, Who sleep in wretched places, Come out for Croton water, To wash their dirty faces. And if they find a big tub full, They shout aloud with glee, And all unite to freight a
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chip, And send it out to sea. To the ever-running hydrant The dogs delight to go, To bathe themselves, and wet their tongues, In the silver water-flow, The thirsty horse, he knoweth well Where the Croton poureth down, And thinks his fare is much
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improved In the hot and dusty town. And many a drunkard has forgot To seek the fiery cup; For every where, before his face, Sweet water leapeth up. Then blessings on the Croton! It flows for man and beast, And gives its wealth out freely To the
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greatest and the least. We city boys take great delight To watch its bubbling play, To make it rush up in the air, Or whirl around in spray. It is good sport to guide a hose Against the window pane, Or dash it through the dusty trees, Like driving
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summer rain. O, blessed be the Croton! It gives us endless fun, To make it jump and splash about, And sparkle in the sun. And the fountains, in their beauty, It glads our hearts to see— Ever springing up to heaven, So gracefully and free. Fast fall
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their sparkling diamonds, Beneath the sun’s bright glance, And like attendant fairies, The brilliant rainbows dance. White and pure their feathery foam, Under the moon’s mild ray, While twinkling stars look brightly down, Upon their ceaseless play.
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And all about the crowded town, In garden, shop, or bower, Neat little fountains scatter round A small refreshing shower. Perhaps some dolphin spouts it forth To sprinkle flower or grass, Or marble boy, with dripping urn, Salutes you as you pass.
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Then blessings on the Croton! May it diminish never— For its glorious beauty Is a joy forever. From Child's biography at the Poetry Foundation website. ↩ Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
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Related Tagged Croton Water Croton Water Celebration Lydia Maria Child poetry Published May 13, 2013 May 13, 2013
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This is an often photographed view of the New Croton Dam, but this particular image from 1912 captured an automobile driving along the road which once ran across what is now the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. For an equally romantic image of “driving”
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out to the Dam, see this earlier post . 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 Pinterest (Opens
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in new window) Pinterest Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Published May 19, 2013 May 19, 2013
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"Camping at the City's Doors" was the title of an article in the June, 1905, issue of Country Life in America magazine, which described places where "one can feel as far away from civilization as upon an Adirondack lake, but a twenty minutes' row or
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paddle takes one across the river to catch a train, mail a letter, receive or send telegrams." One of the places featured was Croton Point, "on the New York side of the river about thirty miles from the city." What’s particularly interesting about
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this article is the description of the "network of creeks" in the marsh which was tragically filled in by the Westchester County dump. The map detail below gives a good idea what the marsh was like. "Croton Point [is] separated by a wide and shallow
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bay from Croton Landing, a station on the New York Central Railroad. This Horseshoe Beach of fine sand is an ideal bathing spot. The river itself and Croton Bay make ideal sailing waters. The breezes coming across Haverstraw Bay are steady, for the
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Hudson River. There is fairly good fishing off the northwest end of the Point. Table supplies may be had from Croton Landing, and the camper who desires to run to town every other day can be paddled or rowed across in half an hour to catch his train.
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A liveryman will call for him morning and evening when the weather is unpleasant. Camping is restricted to the shores of Croton Bay, but well-behaved visitors may roam over the Point at will. A network of creeks enters the southern side and one of