The Twentieth Century Limited at Harmon This piece showcases a remarkable photograph of the celebrated Twentieth Century Limited locomotive, captured at the Harmon railroad yards on May 12, 1938. The image was taken by Robert Yarnall Richie, a comme…

This article showcases a commemorative medal created to celebrate the opening of the Old Croton Aqueduct to the public on October 14, 1842. The piece was designed by Robert Lovett, Sr., a prominent American engraver. Lovett was born on March 19, 179…

A Croton River Disaster—197 Years Ago Today On March 10, 1818, the Westchester Herald reported on a devastating freshet—a spring flood caused by rapid snow thaw and heavy rain—that struck the Croton River. The disaster destroyed valuable mill infras…

Quaker Bridge, Before 1894 The article presents two rare photographs of Quaker Bridge, both provided by the Westchester County Historical Society. These images document the wooden covered bridge that occupied the current bridge's location from 1847 …

The Mystery of the Underhill Medal A reader named Mike S. discovered a silver medal buried in his grandfather's garden in Shirley, New York approximately 25 years prior. The medal, awarded in 1847 to R.T. Underhill, commemorated his cultivation of I…

Croton's Old Post Road Inn, 1890 In January 1890, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly published an article by C. Hills Warren examining the Albany Post Road's history with nostalgic reverence. Warren observed that the road's significance had diminished c…

Celebrating High Bridge High Bridge stands as one of America's most significant early engineering achievements and New York City's oldest existing bridge. Originally designed as a component of the Old Croton Aqueduct system, this structure conveyed …

Croton-on-Hudson Phone Directory, 1938 Thanks to Carl Oechsner, the site obtained a 1938 Croton-on-Hudson phone directory. The creators initially planned to scan advertisements for establishments like the Mikado Inn, Konco's Garage, and Robbins Phar…

In 1913, the Overman Tire Company conducted a demonstration test using a National touring car equipped with their cushion tires. The test aimed to showcase "the ability of Overman cushion tires to withstand the abuse to which tires ordinarily are sub…

If You Follow the Road to Harmon, You Surely Can't go Wrong This article features a promotional postcard for the Nikko Tea House, likely printed between 1907 and 1910. An artist with initials "W.K." created the illustrations and hand-lettered conten…

New Croton Dam Construction, circa 1902 The Croton History website recently acquired a remarkable photographic collection documenting the New Croton Dam during its construction phase. Based on the visible completion stages of the structure, historia…

Visit to New Croton Dam—February, 1934 In the winter of 1934, members of the Bagley family of Peekskill documented their visit to the New Croton Dam through a series of photographs. Each image bears a handwritten inscription on its reverse side and …

In a June 1931 column for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, entertainment writer Rian James promoted his "Gadabout Guide" to New York's unconventional dining establishments. His "Wide-Open Spaces Department" captured Depression-era roadhouse culture, describ…

This photograph of the New Croton Dam was published in the "Rotogravure Picture Section" of the Sunday, December 14, 1919 issue of the New York Times. The accompanying caption read: "For the first time in fourteen years water is flowing over the huge…

The Hudson River National Defense Fleet, officially established by Congress in 1946, served as a reserve of merchant ships ready to support military operations. Located at Jones Point (formerly Caldwell's Landing) near Dunderberg Mountain, this ancho…

The Ossining Historical Society Museum houses a remarkable photographic collection documenting the Old Croton Aqueduct. During a recent visit, curator Norm MacDonald shared newly acquired materials, including two rare photographs capturing blacksmith…

One hundred and nine years ago this month, property lots in Harmon were experiencing rapid sales, according to a May 24, 1907 article in the Katonah Times. The newly developed community, located one mile north of Ossining on the Hudson River, had gen…

As summer concludes, this postcard offers a glimpse into recreational activities at Croton Point around 1915. The card was published for "W.H. Noll, Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y." by Commercialchrome, a Cleveland-based printing company operating from 1910-1…

Accident on the Van Cortlandt Bridge, 1911 During the summer of 1911, a heavy truck's rear wheels broke through the wooden planks of the Van Cortlandt Bridge, which crossed the Croton River along the Albany Post Road. The accident occurred on the Cr…

Danish Home Christmas Seals For more than six decades, the Danish Home in Croton has produced Christmas seals—decorative stamp-like labels affixed to holiday mail that serve dual purposes of fundraising and raising awareness for charitable initiativ…

This is Mikado Inn A historic postcard circa 1920 features signage for the Mikado Inn along Truesdale Drive in the Harmon area. The establishment was operated by "Admiral" George T. Moto. While the entrance sign has disappeared over time, portions o…

Sixty-nine years before the publication date, on April 1, 1948, the U.S. Postal Service officially incorporated hyphens into the cancellation stamp for what had previously been called "Croton on Hudson." This transition is documented through a pair o…

Along Elliott Way near the Yacht Club, red bricks scatter among the shoreline rocks—remnants of the William A. Underhill Brickyard that operated on Croton Point's northern end. These "Croton Point bricks" carried maker's marks; some featured Underhil…

During a beach walk along Croton Point's north shore, the author discovered old bricks embedded in concrete, stamped with "IX" and "XL" markings. These artifacts originated from William A. Underhill's brickyard at the point's northern end. The brick…

A notable oil painting by Robert Havell Jr. depicting the Hudson River landscape is being auctioned at Sotheby's. The work, titled "View of the Hudson from Horton's Road Near Croton," has been held by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts since 1935 and …

This historical piece features a postcard depicting the intersection of Grand Street and Mt. Airy in Croton around 1900. At that time, the village's streets remained unpaved, and a building visible through the trees that would later serve as a fireho…

A photograph from Scientific American dated February 5, 1898, documents the initial phase of New Croton Dam construction—redirecting the Croton River's natural flow to create the excavation site for the dam's foundation. The project commenced on Sep…

An early postcard from approximately 1901-1907 bears the inscription "This is Lovers Bridge of Croton so they say," referring to what was officially known as the Van Cortlandt Bridge. The photograph captures a small section of the original Long Bridg…

On May 15, 1922, a Curtis biplane crashed on a farm near Croton-on-Hudson, New York, carrying a cargo of illegal liquor during the Prohibition era. The incident has come to be known as "The Mystery of the Rum Plane." The Crash As darkness fell, the…

On May 15, 1922, a aircraft carrying Canadian liquor crashed in Croton, drawing attention from law enforcement and local residents. The New York Times reported that when authorities arrived at the wreckage, they found "country folk grouped about the …