USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume II > Part 31
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Cemeteries-Apart from the small burying grounds which adjoin sev- eral of The Bronx churches, there are six large cemeteries. There is the City Cemetery or Potter's Field, situated on Hart's Island. Then there is the Pelham Cemetery on City Island. There is St. Ann's Cemetery at St. Ann's Avenue and 140th Street. There is St. Peter's Cemetery on Westchester Avenue. There is St. Raymond's Cemetery on Throgg's Neck; and there is Woodlawn Cemetery. The only two cemeteries of considerable size are Woodlawn and St. Raymond's.
Woodlawn Cemetery was organized December 29, 1863, and the first interment was made January 14, 1865. At the time of the purchase of the land for the cemetery, the section was wholly rural, and there was little prospect that the land would be in a generation or so within the corporate limits of New York City. The cemetery comprises four hun- dred acres on the western side of the Bronx River in the former town- ship of Kingsbridge, with Webster Avenue for its eastern, and Wood- lawn Road and Jerome Avenue for its western boundaries. On the north it extends to East 233rd Street and on the south almost to the Gun Hill Road. The ground is high and is on the northerly end of the Fordham ridge, which separates the Harlem and Bronx valleys. In ear- lier days it was heavily wooded, and it was within the sheltering shadows of its trees that Colonel Simcoe placed his rangers and the dragoons of Tarleton an August 31, 1778, when he planned the ambush for the force of Colonel Gist and his Indian allies. The cemetery has two main car- riage entrances, one at the northeast corner, and the other at the junc- tion of Jerome Avenue and Woodlawn Road : fine pieces of sculpture, many mausoleums, and other mortuary emblems decorate the grounds. Numerous names conspicuous in the life of New York and also in the
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national life, are found on the monuments. There is a fine marble mon- ument representing a broken mast, with numerous nautical details, dedi- cated to the memory of David Glasgow Farragut, first admiral of the United States Navy, who was buried there in 1870.
St. Raymond's Cemetery is a Roman Catholic burying ground, sit- uated on the Fort Schuyler Road on Throgg's Neck, and incorporated in 1878. It at first comprised thirty-six acres, but has since been greatly increased. The property was formerly part of the Ferris estate. Quan- tities of shells have been thrown up by the grave diggers, showing that the eastern part of the grounds was formerly the site of an Indian set- tlement.
Bridges-Communication between Bronx territory and Manhattan suffered in the earliest days from their separation by the neck of water known as the Harlem River. The natural beauties of the region, where the American mainland dipped into the waters of the Atlantic, attracted the interest of the colonists. There were many fine farm lands within its borders; meadows admirably fitted for the pasturing of cattle were scattered here and there along the Harlem River banks and the shores of the Sound and the Hudson. But the Indians were also there; The Bronx region was one of their favorite camping grounds, and they re- sented the efforts of the white man to take it from them. Finally trea- ties were agreed to. Farms were established; houses were erected, and cattle were driven across shallow fords to feed on the low lands. But neither treaty nor colonization prevented massacres and destruction of homes. There was every inducement for the Dutch to settle in this northern section except ability to protect themselves or to get prompt aid in time of need. The river between the island and the mainland rendered communication too difficult.
There grew out of this situation a speedy and natural demand for bridges and ferries. The Harlem River was neither wide nor deep, but until means of transportation over it were provided, there was little hope of improvement in the region north of it. The first bridge across the Harlem was built under a franchise for ninety-nine years, granted in June, 1693, to Fredryck Flypsen, or Philipse. He was permitted to erect and maintain at his own expense a bridge across Spuyten Duyvil Creek and to collect easy and reasonable tolls from such as might cross. The bridge was to be twenty-four feet wide and to have a draw large enough to permit the passage of small craft. It was to be named the King's Bridge and passage over it of the king's troops was to be without expense. The bridge was built on the present site of Kingsbridge (about 230th Street and Kingsbridge Avenue), and remained the property of descendants of Fredryck Philipse until the period of the Revolution, when the rights of that generation of his descendants were attainted and
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forfeited to the State because of their desertion of the American cause and adherence to the side of the English Government.
The history of the bridging of the Harlem River and the joining of The Bronx with Manhattan by lines of transportation divides itself nat- urally into three periods. One, previous to 1874, the year of the realiza- tion of the act annexing the territory on the north side of the river to New York, saw many sporadic efforts in the way of bringing the regions together. Until annexation was brought about there was a difference in the manner of holding lands between Westchester and New York City which placed great difficulties in the way of making the bridge connec- tions. Lands lying under the water in New York City had their owner- ship vested in the corporation of the city. On the Westchester side nearly all the property bordering on the Harlem had riparian rights ex- tending to the channel of the river. These rights had either been con- ferred on the owners by the Land Office of the State at Albany; or they dated from grants or patents given prior to the Revolution.
In 1874, the year of the first annexation, the United States Govern- ment authorized a survey of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek and the Harlem River. In the years that followed the work of making the channel of these waters of navigable depth was slowly carried on, until in 1894 it had sufficiently approached completion to be celebrated by the people of The Bronx with the formal opening of the Harlem River Canal. The work gave the National Government a voice in the decision as to the character of the bridges to be placed across the canal. The period from the year of annexation to the completion of the canal covers the second stage of bridge-building between the two boroughs, and this period rep- resents the interval during which most of the bridge-building was done. Much of the third lapse of time, the three decades ending in 1925, has been marked by the replacement of the older structures by others of in- creased capacity, and the addition of bridges at needed points to care for the rapid development of adjoining sections.
Going back to the earliest period, the second bridge was built in 1759, after the Philipse span had done duty for more than half a century. It was called the Farmers' Bridge and the Free Bridge, and it came into being in response to a popular demand for a way across the river free from tolls. It was built by public subscription and was located at the point where Kingsbridge Road in The Bronx and West 225th Street in Manhattan meet. It soon became the more important of the two roads across the river and it contributed in time to the abolition of tolls on Philipse's early structure. A bridge was built at Third Avenue in 1795 which collected toll for several years. This was built by J. B. Coles and it remained in use until 1856, in which year it was torn down to give place to another completed in 1867. It had a very low span, only about
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thirteen feet above high water. The second bridge has since been re- placed.
Macomb's Dam Bridge is probably the best known of the early structures, not because there was anything remarkable about it, but be- cause the builder was continually getting into difficulties with his neigh- bors. In 1813 Robert Macomb was given authority to build a bridge with a draw, the location being about where the Seventh Avenue (or Macomb's Dam) Bridge now stands (then at the south end of Je- rome Avenue). He took advantage of his permission to dam the river and forgot to put in a draw. About the same time a dam was placed across the Harlem at Kingsbridge, turning what had been a tidal stream into a tidal mill pond. As such it remained in spite of protest, until in 1836, a group of Westchester farmers tore down the dam and opened the river to navigation. Across the site of the original Macomb's dam and bridge was built a wooden bridge with a swing draw that remained in service as late as 1891, when a steel structure replaced it.
The Fourth Avenue Railroad Bridge was authorized in 1840, and an- other railroad bridge across Spuyten Duyvil Creek in 1846. High Bridge was completed in 1848, and this was the last of the bridges constructed during the period before annexation.
With the increase in the number of bridges, The Bronx began to at- tract more strongly than ever the crowded population of Manhattan. The railroads increased the number of their lines into the growing sec- tion. Street railroads were also run over the Harlem across the new bridges. It was then recognized that bridges would be indispensable along all the main thoroughfares, though the restrictions of the United States War Department presented a new difficulty. The final decision had been committed to the responsibility of this branch of the National Government, for it was their business to see that no obstruction should be placed in the way of navigation in the river and its related waters. Some of the required bridges could be built from one high bank to an- other of equal height opposite, but many would have to be placed at low levels, and while draws could be provided, provision had to be made that these draws would not be opened at the crowded periods of the day. These proved to be almost continuous, stretching from before daylight to a late period of the evening, so that the matter of adjustment be- tween the needs of the traffic over the bridges and the water traffic under them, presented difficulties not easily smoothed out.
The bridges have clearances of at least twenty-four feet under their draws above high water, and the Government has established regula- tions requiring craft to adopt devices which enable them to pass below this height. The traffic on the river is that of vessels carrying princi- pally building materials, fuels and products of factories. It is in the main traffic of a character that can be conveyed by craft of the barge
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order. The government restrictions placed on the river boats and the rebuilding of bridges to a required height have tended to make the bridges practically fixed, permitting an almost uninterrupted transit across them. Meanwhile great care has gone into the erection of the bridges and most of them have a beauty and a finish as admirable as their efficiency.
The following are the principal bridges across the Harlem River :
Second Avenue Bridge, built in 1885, by the Suburban Rapid Transit Company as a railroad bridge, now used by the Manhattan Railway Company and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railway Com- pany. It is 28.5 feet above high water, with a clear opening at the draw of 103 feet. The total cost was $203,053.
Third Avenue Bridge replaced the older structure at this place. Ves- sels 102 feet wide can pass through the draw, and the height above the water is 24 feet. It carries two sidewalks of nine feet and two roadways sixteen feet, nine inches wide. The cost of the bridge, exclusive of land, was about $1,500,000.
Fourth Avenue Bridge is one of the first of the earlier railroad bridges built to carry four tracks side by side. It has a width of sixty-one feet and was opened to traffic on two of its tracks, January 17, 1897, and all four tracks were in service in September of the same year. The raising of the roadway on the bridge to the required height added greatly both to the cost of the bridge and the changes made at either end. The total cost is estimated at $3,000,000.
Madison Avenue Bridge was built under the direction of the Com- missioners of Public Parks, and completed in 1884. It connects 138th Street with Madison Avenue, and has a length of 1,163 feet. The draw allows the passage of vessels up to 132 feet in width, and the clearance is twenty-eight feet. The roadway is twenty-two feet wide; the side- walks eight feet wide. The total cost was $492,295. Even from its open- ing it has been inadaquate to carry the traffic seeking passage over it.
Seventh Avenue Bridge, authorized in 1890, was built by the Depart- ment of Public Parks. It is 731 feet long, with a swing draw of 400 feet, a truss 225 feet over the railroad tracks and a viaduct of 106 feet connecting the two. The draw span is twenty-eight feet above the water, and weighs 2,400 tons, being the heaviest in the world. The bridge and its approaches were completed and opened for service May 1, 1895. The cost was $1,989,000. The bridge was a part of a viaduct system, planned in 1886, but upon which work was not begun until 1890. This viaduct was to reach from Morningside Heights and cross the river at 155th Street. The work was completed in 1895.
New York and Putnam Bridge, built by this railroad company in 1877, is one of the oldest of the railroad bridges. Its steel draw is 300 feet long and twenty-eight feet above high water. Two tracks and
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a footpath are carried. The cost of the structure was about $200,000.
Broadway Bridge crosses the canal, connecting the old Kingsbridge Road on the south with Broadway on the north. Work was started in April, 1893, and completed in December of the year that followed. It has a total length of 551 feet made up of two approaches and a draw of 265 feet. The roadway is fifty feet wide. The cost was $450,000. This bridge was double-decked to carry the subway elevated extension up Broadway and the old draw taken down to 207th Street Bridge.
Spuyten Duyvil Railroad Bridge, used by the New York Central Rail- road, is a low old-fashioned steel and wood structure. The swing draw is less than a foot and a half above high water. This bridge was author- ized in 1846.
Willis Avenue Bridge spans the river from Willis Avenue to First Avenue. It has a total length of 2,200 feet, a draw of 310 feet and a height of twenty-four feet. The roadway is forty feet wide, the side- walks thirteen feet, paved in asphalt. The cost was more than $1,700,000.
High Bridge, which carried the old aqueduct across the Harlem, is probably the most noted of the bridges across that stream. It was completed in 1848 and extends from High Bridge Park, east of 175th Street and Amsterdam Avenue to Aqueduct Avenue, at 170th Street. It was a part of the aqueduct scheme of New York City, work on which began in 1837. A contract was made in that year to carry it across the river on an arch of eighty feet width and only thirty feet above the river. Although a rock fill had already been started the Government officials stepped in and put a stop to the operations. Not until the bridge plans of the present structure had been approved was the work begun in 1839 and its opening celebrated in 1849. It has a total length of 1,450 feet and is made up of fifteen semi-circular arches of eighty and fifty-foot spans. These arches at their crown have a height above the water of one hundred feet. Croton water was carried across the bridge in three pipes built into the masonry. Two of these, of cast iron three feet in diameter were first laid, but they soon proved inadequate. Between 1860 and 1864 the Croton Aqueduct Commissioners raised the side walls of the bridge and had a wrought iron pipe, seven feet, six inches in di- ameter imbedded over the other two. The pipe was laid December, 1861, and completed. The side walls were completed in 1863. The new Cro- ton Aqueduct crosses under the river just north of the bridge. The cost of High Bridge, as built by the city, reached a total of nearly $1,000,000, the exact figures being $963,428.
Washington Bridge extends from 181st Street, Manhattan, to Aque- duct Avenue, Bronx, and is probably the most imposing of the bridges across the Harlem. The design was by C. C. Schneider, who won a prize of $1,500 in recognition of it. Two years were used in the con- struction, and the cost was $2,851,684. It was thrown open with proper
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ceremonies in 1889. The total length is 2,375 feet, made up of two steel arches, each 510 feet long, the eastern approach of four masonry arches making 342 feet, and a fill between two granite walls of 325 feet. The western approach consists of three masonry arches 277 feet long, and a solid fill of 411 feet. The roadway is fifty feet wide with sidewalks of fifteen feet. The two main spans are parabolic steel arch structures. The whole bridge is a combination of masonry and steel construction, remarkably well-balanced. Engineers are expecting to learn from the bridge, as the years pass, much about the relative values of steel and masonry construction, particularly the effects of tear and wear on each.
Fordham Bridge crosses the Harlem River between 184th Street in The Bronx and West 207th Street in Manhattan. The old steel draw on the bridge crossing the canal at Broadway was floated down the river on scows and placed on the new pier built to receive it. This was a very interesting piece of engineering work and was done without mishap.
CHAPTER XX INDUSTRIES
Every year the Bronx Board of Trade gives out some figures indica- ting growth in The Bronx. It shows that the census of population in the borough in 1920 ranked it as ninth among the largest cities in the country, with an increase in population in the previous decade of 69.8 per cent, greater than any other population group elsewhere, except at Detroit, where the population had increased by 113.4 per cent. Its figures show that The Bronx has the greatest percentage of increase among the boroughs of the city of New York, though run a close second by Queens. The figures show that during the period from 1900 to 1920 The Bronx increased 264 per cent in population. In the figures issued by the Bronx Board of Trade in 1926 we find the area of the density of the population in 1925 to be 32 per acre in the entire area of the borough of 26,800 acres, as compared with the density of 1920 of 27 per acre. We find the popula- tion given in certain stated years to be as follows: In 1880, 43,000; in 1890, 88,000; in 1900, 201,000; in 1910, 431,000; in 1915, 650,000; in 1920, 732,000 ; in 1925 (State census) 872,200; and we find the estimated popu- lation of The Bronx in 1926 to be over a million, making it the nation's sixth largest city.
In the figures given out by the Board for 1926 we find the building operations statistics as follows : in 1881-1890, $27,500,000; in 1891-1900, $93,000,000; in 1901-1910, $248,200,000; in 1911-1920, $208,700,000; in 1925, $157,601,000. In the figures given out by the Board in 1926 in re- gard to the assessed value of real estate in The Bronx, we find the fol- lowing statistics : 1880, $23,000,000; in 1890, $45,500,000; in 1900, $138,- 500,000; in 1910, $494,000,000; in 1915, $678,000,000; in 1920, $753,500,- 000; and in 1926, $1,339,000.
These astonishing figures in the growth of population and in the meas- ures taken for housing that population represent a growth that is in the main a result of the trade and industry in The Bronx. In the view of many, The Bronx is the logical industrial area of Greater New York. It has an abundant supply of high-class skilled and unskilled labor within its borders, freight and terminal facilities superior to those of any of the other boroughs, broad, highly-improved thoroughfares, and transit facilities extending to the furthermost corners. In the opinion of the officials of the Bronx Board of Trade, too much could not be said of the labor conditions of the borough. The workers are housed in mod-
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ern structures, their living costs are moderate, and the conveniences are very much up-to-date. It is pointed out that the large park areas and other means of beneficent recreation make for increased efficiency. The facilities of a Free Employment Bureau, maintained by the State of New York, at No. 361 East 149th Street, are available for Bronx employ- ers and Bronx workers.
In the matter of railroad freight facilities The Bronx is signally rich. Every trunk line entering New York, except the Pennsylvania Railroad, has a terminal in The Bronx. The Pennsylvania Railroad terminal, how- ever, is just across the Harlem River, and is easily accessible from The Bronx. Water-borne freight facilities are also available, and sites are to be had where shipments may be made, or raw material received, either by rail or water, directly, eliminating extra hauling expense. The rapid industrial growth of the community, however, has demonstrated the need for even better facilities, which are in a fair way of being supplied through the construction of Industrial Belt Lines or Marginal Railways, plans for which are maturing.
The Bronx Board of Trade is cooperating with the Port of New York Authority in working out plans for the industrial and commercial de- velopment of the borough. The lay-out of the streets in the manufac- turing zones is extremely favorable. The thoroughfares are wide, well- built, low-graded for the most part, and radiate from the railroad and steamship terminals like the spokes of a wheel. Numerous surface, ele- vated and subway and electric and steam railroad lines provide quick and cheap transit for the laboring population to and from all points within The Bronx, and from and to adjoining boroughs as well. The Bronx has in recent decades become conspicuous as a manufacturing centre for women's apparel, pianos, food products and metals.
At the present time there are located in The Bronx some 2,700 indus- trial plants, employing upwards of 100,000 workers, and with annual payrolls approximating $250,000,000, according to estimates of the Bronx Board of Trade.
The Bronx and the Mainland-An important advantage of The Bronx is the fact that it is the only part of the city of New York that is at- tached to the mainland. There are therefore no geographical limitations on The Bronx, for since it is on the mainland of the American continent, it can expand freely to the north and east, should it become necessary to increase its area. It has an area of approximately forty-two square miles. In size it is the fourth borough in rank; in population it ranks third. On account of the fact that it has many outstanding natural ad- vantages lacking in the other four boroughs of the greater city of New York, The Bronx, during the last twenty-five years, has won the title of the City's "Fastest-Growing Borough." Among the factors which
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have brought the flood of new residents are the superior transit facili- ties, the modern housing, the highly developed sanitation, and the un- equalled water supply. In turn these factors have been reflected in an extremely low death rate and a high birth rate, The Bronx being regarded by many as the healthiest of all the boroughs.
Despite the fact that the borough is attached to the mainland, its industrial value is greatly augmented by the fact that it is bordered on three sides by navigable waterways, the East River, the Bronx Kills, the Harlem River and the Hudson River. There are thus about sixty miles of waterfront, a good portion of which is suited to further indus- trial development. On November 1, 1925, there were approximately 22,360 houses of the one-family and two-family type, 7,273 modern tene- ment houses, and 4,743 "old-law" tenements. The Bronx has modern street and sewer systems, and a modern system of lighting on all streets. It has 162 route miles of trolley lines, subways, elevated lines, and steam and electric railroads, while water, telephone, telegraph, gas and electric service are all available in practically every nook and corner. Within its borders are more than a dozen high-class department stores, and its business districts contain ten thousand retail stores of all kinds, with complete lines of standard articles.
Recently the Bronx Board of Trade has been placed on record as fa- voring legislation at Albany which provides for the publication of a State Industrial Directory, similar to that published up to 1913 by the State Department of Labor. The proposed directory will include a full list of all the manufacturers of the State of New York, and will give the name, address, principal products, and number of employees of each establishment. The idea is to have the directory distributed without charge to public officials, libraries, and educational, charitable, and civic organizations, though sold at a nominal charge to others desiring cop- ies, through the Industrial Commission.
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