Postcard Tour This selection of vintage postcards shows Croton in the first half of the 20th century. Some of the images are of places we still see today, others are long gone -- but should not be forgotten. Thanks to Susan Hack-Lane, President of the Taconic Postcard Club, for providing these postcards. The New Croton Dam By any measure, the "new" Croton Dam is an engineering marvel. For 14 years (from 1892 to 1906) 1,500 men used more than 500 pieces of heavy machinery, 745,000 barrels of cement, 100,000 tons of coal and an incalculable quantity of locally quarried stone to construct what was then the tallest dam in the world and the largest hand-hewn masonry structure since the pyramids. Also known as the Cornell Dam, after the family who owned the farmland where the dam was built, the New Croton Dam replaced the "old" dam, which lies underwater near the Croton Lake Bridge, where the Taconic State Parkway crosses the reservoir. The Bowery "The Bowery" was the name for a group of buildings along the Croton River (roughly parallel to Route 129, between Riverdale Drive and Batten Road) which housed Italian stone workers who helped build the Croton Dam. Note that the label on the card incorrectly refers to the "Quaker Bridge Dam". The significance of this error is explained at the end of the tour. Maple Avenue In 1915, if you were standing in front of where the Blue Pig is today, looking in the direction of Old Post Road South, this is what you would see. The rough dirt road going into the distance in the middle is Maple Avenue, going toward the Croton Dam, and the road in the foreground going left to right is Old Post Road South. Most of the buildings in this image are still standing today. Asbury United Methodist Church Built in 1875, dedicated in 1883, Asbury United Methodist Church is named after the founder of American Methodism, Francis Asbury. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the church is a fine example of High Victorian Gothic style architecture featuring locally-made bricks and a multi-colored slate roof. Old Post Road Inn As you drive along Old Post Road through Croton you may not realize that you're on one of the most historic roads in America -- an ancient native American path up the Hudson, later widened and marked with milestones by then-postmaster Benjamin Franklin. This postcard shows the Old Post Road Inn, once located on what we know today as Grand Street. It was built in the 1700s and was a popular stagecoach stop on the way between New York City and Albany. The inn burned down, but the brick building on the left is still there -- the Cornelia Cotton Gallery is on the bottom floor. St. Augustine's Episcopal Church Located on corner of Grand Street and Old Post Road South, St. Augustine's Episcopal Church was constructed in 1857 on land donated by Philip Van Wyck. The design was copied from wooden church in Sleepy Hollow, but the structure was built from locally-made brick. The steeple bell was a gift from Anglican Church of England. Croton Union School What we know today as the Municipal Building was originally the Croton Union School, built in 1909. It remained a school (for grades one through twelve) until 1939 when the Pierre Van Cortlandt school was built. The entrance on Van Wyck Street we use today is actually the back side of the building. This view shows the grand staircase entrance from Brook Street. Van Wyck Avenue This postcard shows some of the grand houses that lined Van Wyck Avenue in 1916. Riverside Avenue This postcard shows Riverside Avenue, looking north, in roughly 1925. Sadly, almost everything on the left side of the road -- the entire waterfront business district of what was originally known as "Croton Landing" -- was demolished in the early 1960s to make way for Route 9. The sole exception was the Croton North train station, which is shown below. Croton Train Station Built circa 1900 as the Croton-on-Hudson station for New York Central Railroad, renamed Croton North in 1963 and discontinued in the 1980s. Listed on National Historic Register, the style is brick Romanesque, featuring a bay window for the station master and a slate/tile roof. Today, the building is the office of F.A. Burchetta Co., electrical contractors. The inscription along the bottom of this circa 1906 postcard reads "This is where I'm spending my vacation." Croton's Waterfront This view of the Croton waterfront circa 1907-1914, probably shows the Osborn Boat Works, which moved from Peekskill to Croton in 1902. William R. Osborn had an excellent reputation for the quality of his steam and sail boats. A fascinating history of the Osborn Boat Works was compiled by the