Washington Heights & Inwood Online

Inwood Hill Park is a forested oasis bounded by the Hudson River, Harlem River Ship Canal, Dyckman Street, and Payson and Seaman Avenues. Inwood Hill also boasts great diversity for a park its size. Within the 196-acre park is the last remaining primeval forest in Manhattan, not to mention the fact of its waterfront, archaeological relics, recreational fields, ornithological study areas, and jogging and pedestrian paths.

The history of Inwood Hill Park and its surrounding areas date back to when New York City was still in Indian possession. The term we have known it as is “shorakapkok” which means the sitting-down place. The Mohegan “showaukuppock” is translated as cove. The Delaware (or Lenape) term is “w’shakuppek,” which means smooth, still water when interpreted from their language. Another term is attributed to Reginald Pelham Bolton is “saperewack,” which meant the glistening place.

When the Wiechquaesgeck Indians inhabited the park, they left abundant archaeological artifacts which were later found in digs made by private and City archaeologists. These finds include pottery shards, weapons, skeletons, and shell and bone implements. Natural rock formations have made caves in the park. These caves were larger and deeper during the pre-Columbian period when Native Americans frequented the area for shelter.

There was Indian habitation in the park as late as the 1920s and 1930s. Princess Naomi, a member of the Algonquin-speaking peoples, operated a Native American store and museum in the park. There was also an Indian Life Reservation that was employed by Native Americans. The organization gave tours of the caves, demonstrated native arts and crafts and had a library containing books on American Indians.

Within Inwood Hill Park there is an area called Cold Spring Hollow where the local tribal groups of the Lenape Confederacy lived in the nearby caves and fished in the local waters. Shells and other artifacts that were unearthed there had been used by these early inhabitants who made the park their home. Deer, raccoon, bear and other animals were hunted for food. The skins were used for everyday use.

In the early part of the 20th century, archaeological digs in the area uncovered two Native American burial sites. These skeletal remains were located near 203rd Street and Seaman Avenue. One site contained the remains of a squaw and an infant, and the other contains a chief and his squaw.

According to local legend, the Dutch purchased Manhattan from the Indians for $24 worth of trinkets on November 5, 1626, near the knoll on the shore of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. To commemorate the occasion, the Indians planted a tulip tree, which had grown for 300 years. Its dimensions were 165 feet in height and 6 and 1/2 feet in diameter. The tree, now long dead, has been replaced with a plaque honoring the location and event. The cove in the Spuyten Duyvil Creek was the reputed landing site of a long boat of Henry Hudson’s ship Half Moon.

Some of the oldest trees in Manhattan are the tulip trees of Inwood. At present there is a Copper Beech that is not native to the park. Experts have dated the tree at least 140 years old. Other trees found in the park are Dogwood, Oak, Gingko and Hickory.

During the American Revolution, Inwood Hill, then known as Cox’s Hill, saw many skirmishes. The fortification was known as Fort Cock Hill, whose name was derived from its location. The fort was a redoubt that mounted two cannon. After the Fall of Fort Washington on November 26, 1776, the Hessians occupied the area.

There were a number of archaeological digs of the Indian, Colonial, and Revolutionary periods conducted by Reginald Pelham Bolton and William Calver. On the Payson Street side of the park are faint remains of huts and oven pits used by the Royalist forces during the occupation of the area.

The park was home to country retreats for some of the wealthier families of the community and the rest of New York’s social elite in the 19th century. In 1847 the New York and Hudson River Railroad opened, and there was a station known as Tubby Hook, which was located at the foot of Dyckman Street on the Hudson River. Service to this station no longer exists, but Amtrak has regular service to Albany, NY, from Penn Station.

This station made the area desirable for the wealthy to come to northern Manhattan. Some of their summer estates had farm animals that were threatened by wolves, foxes and bobcats. The last of these predators were killed off in the 1890s.

One such notable who had a summer estate in Inwood was Isidor Straus, who was a philanthropist and had made his money at Macy’s and Abraham & Straus. Unfortunately, Straus and his wife died on the HMS Titanic. His body was recovered and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. All that remains of the Straus cottage are the ruins of the foundations.

The Lords of Lord & Taylor owned about 300 acres of land with two mansions on the western escarpment of Cox’s Hill within the park, facing the Hudson River. Unfortunately, both mansions were destroyed by fire in the latter part of the 19th century.

The Bolton family, relatives of Reginald Pelham Bolton, the noted civil engineer and historian of northern Manhattan, owned property in Inwood Hill Park. Bolton Road, which was the main drive to the Bolton estate, is now a pedestrian pathway within the park. The entrance to Bolton Road is located on Payson Street between Dyckman and Beak Street. The location is noted with a large stone painted black.

Another landowner was Joseph Keppler, the Art Editor of Puck Magazine. Others who lived there were Captain William Flitner and his wife Louisa Cutts Flitner, along with Clara, their daughter. Clara was the head librarian for the Dyckman Institute, which was located within the park just off Payson Street, north of the Bolton Road entrance.

Cisterns can be found in the park by nature lovers, and city officials believe that they may have belonged to these estates. They were used because of the high water table and good storage.

Institutions such as the House of Mercy and Jewish Memorial Hospital have played an important role in the area. Land north of 110th Street was considerably cheap during the 19th century and was mostly woodland which played an important role in the health and welfare of the residents of these institutions. There was an orphanage, a home for unwed mothers and a rest home for tuberculosis patients. These institutions, which have moved to other locations, had their roots in the park.

The House of Refuge for Young Women and Girls was located in the park. According to some sources, it was also known as the House of Mercy. This residence was started by the Episcopal Church and was operated by the Sisters of Saint Mary. Reverend William Oliver Embury was the chaplain. The land was bought in 1888 and opened its doors two years later. The building closed in the 1920s and was demolished. It relocated to Valhalla, New York, and operates with the name of the House of Mercy.

The Jewish Memorial Hospital had its start as the Inwood House of the Redeemer and was run by the Magdalene Benevolent Society. It was located in the park to the north of the intersection of Dyckman and Staff Street prior to its move to Broadway and 196th Street. The hospital closed its doors in the 1980s due to financial problems. There is a school on the site.

Geologically speaking, Inwood Hill Park is quite interesting and active. Marble, schist and limestone are prevalent in the area. Seismologically, the park is located between several earthquake faults: the Hudson River, Dyckman Street, Spuyten Duyvil and the Harlem River.

Millennia ago, glaciers covered the New York metropolitan area. There is evidence of glacial striations and glacial potholes in the park. A glacier, about one quarter mile high, created potholes formed by swirling water streams with the help of gravel and rocks that drilled holes over thousands of years.

Beaches are no stranger to Inwood Park. Today there is only one small beach located next to the railroad trestle at the junction of the Hudson River and the Harlem River Ship Canal. Between the 1890s and the 1930s, the Spuyten Duyvil Creek was transformed into the Harlem River Ship Canal with the help of funds raised by the federal government.

Between 1915 and the early 1940s, the City bought parcels of land that make the park what it is today. The park was officially opened on May 8, 1926. The New York Times reported that day: “The majority of the one thousand spectators were children attracted by the announcement that real Indians were going to take part in the ceremony.”

Baker Field is used for the Columbia University Sports Department. Bounded by 218th Street, Broadway and the Harlem River Ship Canal, the complex was named for banker George F. Baker, who had donated money to Columbia University for that specific purpose.

At the complex are houses for the rowing crews which launch in the early morning for practice. The Wein Stadium is used for track and field and football events. The Christie Field House was built on the site of one of the Dyckman homes. The Columbia “C” was painted on a 200-foot-high outcropping of 1.1 billion-year-old gneiss on the Bronx side of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek.

On September 15, 1995, the Inwood Hill Nature Center was dedicated and opened to the public. It is located near the park entrance on 218th Street and Indian Road. The center is located on Manhattan’s only salt-water marsh. It has also been designated as an interactive exhibit with ongoing monitoring of the natural area. It is also the focal point to watch the eagles which have been placed in the park to be freed when they are able to adjust to the environment.

The building was originally designed as a boathouse under the administration of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses in 1937. It was converted into the center at a cost of $650,000, which was funded from private donations and state grants. The center houses a Park Ranger Office, a restoration lab, and a classroom for afternoon programs. There is a computerized guide to the various sites within the park.

The Urban Park Rangers offer regularly scheduled tours of Inwood Hill Park. These tours contain such topics as local history, park geology and ornithological and arboreal subjects.

Today the park is an unmarred woodland refuge for nature lovers and the public as a whole. The various pedestrian and hiking trails (6 miles) provide spectacular views of the Hudson River and the Harlem River Ship Canal. The park hosts a multitude of birds and animals that can be appreciated in their natural habitats.

The New York City Transit Authority has buses and subways that stop near the park. Passengers using the Hudson Division of Metro North can take the train to the Marble Hill Station and take any downtown City bus to 218th Street and Broadway to get to Inwood Hill Park. The buses that go nearest the park are the BX 7, BX 12, BX20 and the M 100. Visitors can also take the IRT Subway #1 and #9 to the 215th Street Station and the IND A train to 207th Street.

Information on Inwood Hill Park can be obtained by various methods. The Inwood Hill Park Nature Center can be reached at (212) 304-2365. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation has a Web site. To view the gravesite of Isidor Straus go to FindAGrave. Woodlawn Cemetery is located at 233rd Street and Webster Avenue, and the telephone is (718) 920-0500. For information on Baker Field and Columbia University log on to Columbia’s Web site.