قراءة كتاب The Greatest Highway in the World Historical, Industrial and Descriptive Information of the Towns, Cities and Country Passed Through Between New York and Chicago Via the New York Central Lines. Based on the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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The Greatest Highway in the World Historical, Industrial and Descriptive Information of the Towns, Cities and Country Passed Through Between New York and Chicago Via the New York Central Lines. Based on the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
interrupted by shallows and swift currents. Below Troy the fall is only five feet in a distance of 145 M. This lower, navigable portion of the Hudson was the only feasible route through the Atlantic highlands, and in consequence it has been one of the most significant factors in the development of the United States. New York City likewise owes its phenomenal development largely to this great highway of commerce.
The invention and successful operation of the steamboat, the first line of which was established on the Hudson by Fulton in 1807, gave early impetus to the importance of N.Y.C., and the building of the Hudson River R.R., one of the first successful railways, now a part of the New York Central Lines, and the opening of the Erie Canal (1825) connecting the Hudson with the Great Lakes and the far interior, were among other contributory factors in the city's growth.
15 M. YONKERS, Pop. 100,226.
(Train 51 passes 8:56; No. 3, 9:15; No. 41, 1:29; No. 25, 3:11; No. 19, 5:59. Eastbound No. 6 passes 8:52; No. 26, 9:12; No. 16, 3:31, No. 22, 4:56.)
When the Dutch founded New Netherlands, the present site of Yonkers was occupied by an Indian village, known as Nappeckamack, or "town of the rapid water," and a great rock near the mouth of the Nepperhan creek (to the north of the station) was long a place of Indian Worship.
In the early days, the Hudson River Valley from Manhattan to Albany was occupied by Algonquin tribes, while the central part of the state along the Mohawk Valley had been conquered by the famous Iroquois Confederation, of which the Mohawks were the most warlike. The Mohawks soon drove out the Mohicans, who claimed as their territory the east bank of the Hudson. On the whole, the Dutch lived peaceably with their Indian neighbors, but an attempt of Gov. Kieft to collect tribute from them led to an Indian war (1641), which resulted in the destruction of most of the outlying settlements. Later a treaty of alliance was made with the Iroquois Confederation, which protected the early settlements in N.Y. from those attacks which occurred so frequently elsewhere in this period. The treaty was renewed when the British took possession of New Netherlands, and lasted until the Revolutionary War.
The land where Yonkers now stands was part of an estate granted in 1646 by the Dutch government to Adrian Van Der Donck, the first lawyer and historian of New Netherlands. The settlement was called the "De Jonkheer's land" or "De Yonkeer's"—meaning the estate of the young lord—- and afterwards Yonkers. Subsequently the tract passed into the hands of Frederick Philipse, the "Dutch millionaire," as the English called him, some of whom alleged that he owed a large part of his fortune to piratical and contraband ventures. The suspicion was strong enough to force Philipse out of the governing council of the colony, and he returned to his manor where he died (1702) at the age of 76.
It was even charged that he was one of the backers of Capt. William Kidd (1645-1701), for whose buried treasure search has been made along the Hudson, as well as in countless places along the Atlantic Coast. Capt. Kidd began the career which made him notorious under a commission from the British Government to apprehend pirates. He sailed from Plymouth, England, in May 1696, filled up his crew in N.Y. in the following year, and then set out for Madagascar, the principal rendezvous of the buccaneers. Deserting his ship, he threw in his lot with theirs and captured several rich booties. Returning to N.Y., he was arrested, sent to London, found guilty and hanged. Of his "treasure" about £14,000 was recovered from his ship and from Gardner's Island, off the east end of Long Island. The stories of large hoards still undiscovered are probably mythical.
The Philipse manor house*, one of the best examples of Dutch colonial architecture in America, erected in 1682 and enlarged in 1745, was the second residence built by the Philipses (the other is at Tarrytown) and is now maintained as a museum for colonial and Revolutionary relics. It was confiscated by the legislature in 1779 in reprisal for the suspected "Toryism" of the third Frederick Philipse, the great grandson of the first lord of the manor and his second successor. Before being converted into a museum it served for many years as the City Hall of Yonkers.
Philipse Manor House, Yonkers, 1682
This famous old house, said to be one of the best examples of Dutch colonial architecture in America, was built by Frederick Philipse, first lord of the manor of Philipsburg. It was confiscated by the State of New York after the Revolutionary War and for many years served as the City Hall of Yonkers. It is now a museum.
Yonkers has some important manufactures with an annual production of $75,000,000 and 15,000 wage earners; its output includes passenger and freight elevators, foundry and machine shop products, refined sugar, carpets, rugs and hats. It has one of the largest carpet factories in the world.
The country round Yonkers is dotted with fine estates. Conspicuous to the right, 2 M. north of the station, is the battlemented tower of "Greystone," once the home of Samuel J. Tilden and now owned by Samuel Untermyer, the N.Y. lawyer.
Samuel J. Tilden (1814-1886), a lawyer and reformer, served one term as governor of N.Y., and was later candidate for the presidency against Rutherford B. Hayes. He had become famous for his attacks on the notorious Tweed ring of N.Y.C., and later for his exposure of the "Canal ring," a set of plunderers who had been engaged in exploiting the N.Y. canal system. He was given the Democratic nomination for president in recognition of his services as a reformer. The Republicans nominated Hayes, and the result was the disputed election of 1876, when two sets of returns were sent to Washington from the States of Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Oregon. As the Federal Constitution contains no provision for settling a dispute of this kind, the two houses of Congress agreed to the appointment of an extra-Constitutional Body, the Electoral Commission, which decided all the contests in favor of the Republican candidates. Tilden's friends charged that they had been made a victim of a political "steam roller," but he advised them to make no protests. Tilden left more than $2,000,000 for a library in N.Y. (now consolidated with the N.Y. Public Library).
Across the Hudson River from Hastings (19 M.) can be seen Indian Head, the highest point on the Palisades, near which (about ½ M. farther north) is the boundary between N.J. and N.Y.; from this point northward both shores belong to N.Y.
20 M. DOBBS FERRY, Pop. 4,401.
(Train 51 passes 8:58; No. 3, 9:23; No. 41, 1:37; No. 25, 3:18; No. 19, 6:07. Eastbound: No. 6 passes 8:45; No. 26, 9:05; No. 16, 3:23; No. 22, 4:48.)
About the time of the Revolutionary War, a Swede named Jeremiah Dobbs, established a ferry here connecting with the northern end of the Palisades (visible on the left across the river). Originally only a dugout or skiff, it was the first ferry north of Manhattan, and was kept up by the Dobbs family for a century. In times past the residents have often tried to change the name of the town
