Decades before The Bronx neighborhood of Morris Park came to be, it was home to the 360 acre Morris Park Racecourse which ran from 1889 until 1904 as an important center of American thoroughbred horse racing which was the home of the Belmont Stakes from 1890 until 1904 and even saw the famous Preakness Stakes in 1890.
Tag: Bronx History
The DreamYard Project is nurturing Bronx youth through the arts in hopes of changing the world, some of the works of the late Tony Award-winning Bronxite Boris Aronson who began his career in Yiddish theatre, and the greenest borough’s best hiking spots, all in this evening’s Bronx PM Links.
The Area Code Universe and Your Sense of Place: Are You a 212, 718,or 646 Person?
We are a species of belonging, of being part of place, of having a sense of identity based on that place. The place most closely associated with that sense of belonging is home. Be it ever so humble there is no place like it. Click your heels three times and you are there. Can it be that easy?
This issue of area code identity first arose back in 1984 in New York City. Once upon a time 212 encompassed the entire city of all five boroughs. Then one’s sense of belonging to the city was shattered with the introduction of a new code, 718, for Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. As reported in the New York Times (February 15, 1984), following the public announcement, all hell broke loose.
A French Huguenot family, the Lorillards, settled in the area which is now known as Allerton as well as parts of the New York Botanical Garden back in the late 1700s. The family became extremely successful in the tobacco industry and their company would eventually give rise to Lorillard Inc, which makes Newport, Kent, and other cigarettes.
By 1840 they had built what is now known as The Snuff Mill at NYBG which according to the New York Times, “…tobacco was ground into smokeless, powdery form called snuff, which could be flavored and inhaled.”
It’s a little-known fact that our beautiful borough of The Bronx was, in fact, the first borough of New York City.
In 1874, the lands west of the Bronx River were annexed to New York County aka NYC.
Yesterday in an exclusive report in The New York Post, it was revealed that over 100 Native American artifacts were discovered during construction of the Pelham Bay Park Waterfront Development project—artifacts that date anywhere from 1,000-1,800 years ago as per test results.
After closing its doors in 1993, Fashion Moda still remains in the consciousness of many Bronxites and the art world. It was a place where The South Bronx (and The Bronx in general) collided with the downtown art scene when it opened its doors in 1980 in The Hub on 147th and 3rd Avenue.
It was a place where local artists mingled with legends like Keith Haring, who’s works also graced the walls of this iconic place.
As the frenzy picks up for today’s celebration for the ticker tape parade being thrown in honor of the US Women’s Soccer Team win, it is in fact not a first for women.
Although the US Women’s Soccer Team is indeed a first for a women’s team, there was one woman who got her own parade that has the honor of being the first—someone who eventually made our borough her home and final resting place.
On Monday, May 10th of this year, just a few months after being honored by the NYPD during women’s history month, a Bronx trailblazer passed away at the ripe old age of 96 years.
Gertrude Schimmell, who was the first NYPD female police chief, was born and raised in The Bronx and attended Morris High School before heading on to Hunter College.
As part of programming surrounding No Longer Empty’s exhibition at the Old Bronx Borough Courthouse, ‘When You Cut Into The Present The Future Leaks Out’, The New York Public Library’s ‘Community Oral History Program’, local community residents are invited to collect the oral histories of our neighborhoods of Melrose and Morrisania.
Once local residents are trained in interviewing our fellow friends, family members, neighbors and local residents and the interviews are completed, the results will be archived at the Melrose Public Library on Morris Avenue and 162nd Street as well as online for future generations to come.
The 203 year old house in the village of Fordham where the great poet Edgar Allan Poe spent the last years of his life is now open 4 days a week for all to enjoy and absorb the history of this celebrated man and his life. Visitors can now enjoy a visit to the cottage on Thursdays and Fridays from 10AM – 3PM, Saturdays from 10AM – 4PM, and Sundays from 1PM – 5PM.
More details below in the press release issued by the Bronx County Historical Society who manages this great, historic treasure of our borough:
Here’s a fun story with Bronx history we found via The Atlantic about a Bronx Jewish businessman who was able to overcome some odds to become the top distributor of those little soy sauce packets we all know so well. After all these years of these soy sauce packets staring me in the face, little did I know this was the brainchild of a fellow Bronxite! Oh and did you know that soy sauce appears to go back as far as the year 160AD?
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