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The first Dyckman to arrive in America, Jan, emigrated from Holland in the mid-1600s. Jan Dyckman, a shoemaker, and another Dutch settler, Jan Nagel, together purchased much of the land between present-day 155th Street and the northern end of the island. Members of the Dyckman and Nagel families lived on this land for three generations, until the Revolutionary War broke out. During the British occupation of Manhattan in 1776-83, the Dyckmans, like many other patriots, fled the city and did not return until the British had been defeated. When the War ended and the Dyckmans found that their home and orchards had been destroyed, William (Jan's grandson) built a new house on the Kingsbridge Road, now Broadway. They chose this location on a major thoroughfare in order to supplement their income by providing accommodations for travelers on their way to and from Manhattan. The Dyckmans also made their fields available to livestock that was being transported to slaughterhouses and markets in Lower Manhattan. Three more generations of Dyckmans lived in this farmhouse. By the 1850s, the quantity of livestock being brought to market made Broadway a less pleasant place to live. The Dyckman household moved about a half mile away to another part of their property. After it was sold by the Dyckmans in the 1870s, the house served as a hotel for a brief period of time. By the early 20th century, the house had fallen into disrepair. Developers, interested in capitalizing on rising real estate prices due to the IRT subway line's extension to northern Manhattan, wanted to purchase the house and surrounding lots in 1915. As numerous historic structures in Manhattan had already been torn down, many people thought it was important to preserve the Dyckman Farmhouse for future generations of New Yorkers. Mary Alice Dyckman Dean and Fannie Fredericka Dyckman Welch, daughters of the last Dyckman child to grow up in this house, bought the property and gave it to the City of New York in 1916. An adjacent parcel to the northwest was donated to the City by the Dyckman Institute in 1943, increasing the park's area to its present |
| Dyckman Flatlands 1902 |
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Harthorn Street Cooper Street/W204th Street |
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Old Homestaed Boarding House 1905 You can see it in the Flatlands photo |
| Baker's Field |
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Spuyten Duyvil Ship Canal 1893 |
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| Inwood Hill Park |
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WPA Workers 1936 Upper Path Inwood Hill Park |
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WPA Workers 1936 Working on steps for the "Indian Path" |
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The Rock On this spot in 1626 Dutch Governor Peter Minuit Purchased Manhattan Island for 60 Guilders (24.00) At one time a Trulip tree stood on this spot but was destroyed in a hurricane in 1936 |
On the 12th of October 1776, Howe embarked a large portion of his army in ninety flat-boats, and landed them on Throgg's Neck, a low peninsula jutting out from the main of Westchester county. He left a sufficient force under Lord Percy to hold the city and guard the British lines toward Harlem. Washington sent Heath to oppose Howe's landing, and to occupy lower Westchester. After encountering many difficulties from the opposition, Howe finally took post on the heights of New Rochelle, across the road leading to White Plains, where he was joined by General Knyphausen with a freshly arrived corps of German troops. Meanwhile Washington had sent McDougall, with his brigade, four miles beyond Kingsbridge, and a detachment to White Plains. He wished to evacuate Manhattan Island entirely, but an order had come from Congress to hold Fort Washington to the last extremity. The attack was made by four columns. Knyphausen, with Hessians and Waldeckers, moved from the plain along the rough hills nearest the Hudson River on the north at the same time Lord Percy led a division of English and Hessian troops to attack the lines on the south. General Matthews, supported by Lord Cornwallis, crossed the stream near Kingsbridge, with guards, light-infantry, and grenadiers, under cover of the guns near the High Bridge, while Colonel Sterling, with the 42nd regiment of Highlanders, crossed at a point a little above the High Bridge. Knyphausen divided his forces. One division under Colonel Rall (killed at Trenton a few weeks afterward) drove the Americans from Cock Hill Fort, a small redoubt near Spuyten Duyvel Creek, while Knyphausen, with the remainder, penetrated the woods near Tubby Hook, and after clambering over rocks and felled trees, attacked Rawlings in a redoubt afterward called Fort Tryon. Meanwhile Percy had driven in the American pickets at Harlem Cove (Manhattanville), and attacked Cadwallader at the advanced line of entrenchments. A gallant fight ensued, when Percy yielded and took shelter behind some woods. While Rawlings and Cadwallader were keeping the assailants at bay, Matthews and Sterling were making important movements. The former pushed up the wooded heights from his landing-place on the Harlem River, drove Baxter from his redoubt (afterward named Fort George), and stood a victor upon the hills overlooking the open fields around Fort Washington. Sterling, with his Highlanders, after making a feigned landing, dropped down to a point within the American lines, and rushing up a sinuous pathway, captured a redoubt on the summit, with two hundred men. Perceiving this, Cadwallader, who was likely to be placed between two fires, retreated along the road nearest the Hudson, battling all the way with Percy, who closely pursued him. When near the upper border of Trinity Cemetery (One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street), he was attacked on the flank by Sterling, who was pursuing across the island to intercept him. He passed on and reached the fort with a loss of a few killed, and about thirty made prisoners. Meanwhile the German and British assailants on the north, who were as four to one of the Americans in number, pressed the latter back to the fort, when Rall sent a summons to Magaw to surrender. This was soon followed by a like summons from Howe. The fight outside had been desperate. The ground was strewn with the mingled bodies of Americans, Germans, and Britons. Resistance to pike, ball, and bayonet, wielded by five thousand veteran soldiers, was now vain, and at noon Magaw yielded. At half-past one o'clock the British flag waved over the fort in triumph, where the American flag had been unfurled in the morning with defiance. The Americans had lost in killed and wounded not more than one hundred men; the British had lost almost a thousand. The garrison that surrendered numbered, with militia, about twenty-five hundred, of whom over two thousand were disciplined regulars. Knyphausen received Magaw's sword, and to the Germans and Highlanders were justly awarded the honors of the victory. Washington, standing on the brow of the Palisades at Fort Lee, with the author of "Common Sense" by his side, witnessed the disaster with anguish, but could afford no relief. The fort was lost to the Americans forever, and was named Knyphausen. Its unfortunate garrison filled the prisons of New York and crowded the British prison-ships wherein they were dreadful suffers. |
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Paridise Amusement Park 1890's Was located at the base of Fort Geroge Hill |
| Miramar Pool 1956 |
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Dyckman House Broadway & 204th Street |
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Hessian Hut Located at the rear of the Dyckman House |
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The Great Arch 1910 The Enterance To The Seaman~Drake Estate |
| The Arch Today |
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Post Ave. & Emerson Street (W207th Street) 1918 |
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Dyckman Street IRT Subway Station 1903 |
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Dyckman Street Station Opened in 1903 |
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The W207th Street Station These steps come down on the triangle the former home of "The Tally Ho" and "Cholly's Lounge" |
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The Inwood 207th St. Train Yard |
