Washington Heights & Inwood Online

In order to get around Marble Hill, one must be acquainted with the pedestrian nomenclature of the area. In this small landlocked section of Manhattan, many of the street names date from the pre-Columbian period to the present.

Adrian Avenue was named to honor Adrian van der Donck, a 17th-century Dutch immigrant and lawyer who was granted permission to buy land from the Native Americans in 1646. Terrace View Avenue follows the natural terrace of Marble Hill. Henry Rivera Place was named to honor a neighborhood hero who was killed in 1995 attempting to intervene in the robbery of a local laundromat. Marble Hill Avenue and Lane follows the geographic terrain of the hill they traverse.

In 2000 a bill was sponsored by Council members Linares, Eisland, and Malave-Dilan and was signed into law by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani naming Marble Hill Avenue between West 228th Street and West 230th Streets in honor of Reverend Dr. William Tieck.

Dr. Tieck was pastor to Saint Stephen’s United Methodist Church from 1946 to 1977 and pastor at the Edgehill Church from 1977 until his death in 1997. Dr. Tieck was the Bronx Borough Historian (1989-1996) and authored many books on the history of the Bronx.

Broadway, the economic spine of the community, has an interesting history unto itself. It is noted for its unusual width and was known as the Kingsbridge Road. This term came from the King’s Bridge built by Frederick Philipse in 1693. It also shares its name with Kingsbridge Avenue.

Kingsbridge Avenue was originally an Indian path. When European settlers moved into the area, it became a thoroughfare. In 1693 the area was named to honor King William III who issued a grant for a toll bridge in the area. The bridge was later covered over when the course of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek was changed, and the original creek was filled in.

Fort Charles Place was named to honor the fort that was located at 227th Street and Van Corlear Place. The fort was originally built by the Continental troops in 1776 as a part of a series of eight forts that overlooked the Harlem River. After the fall of Fort Washington, the fort was taken by the Hessians and renamed Fort Prince Charles. It was named for Charles, Prince of Brunswick and brother in law of King George III.

Jacobus Place was named for two local historical people that are reminiscent of the Dutch period. One of them was Jacobus van Cortlandt, a merchant and mayor of New York (1710-11, 1719-20) who had purchased the first parcel of land in the Bronx. It also honors Jacobus Dyckman III, the great-grandson of Jan Dyckman, who inherited the family property in northern Manhattan. The Dyckman family was very influential in Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill.

Teunissen Place was named for Tobias Teunissen, a wool washer by trade who came to the area from Leyden Holland in 1636. Teunissen applied and received a land grant in 1640 for property in Inwood near 213th Street. He was employed as a farm hand by Dr. de la Montagne, who owned a farm in Harlem. Teunissen was killed in an Indian raid in 1655. His wife and child were held prisoner until November, when they were ransomed from the Weckquasgeek Indians, a tribal group of the Lenape (an Algonquin speaking) Nation. Jan Dyckman and Jan Nagle purchased the land in 1677.

Tibbett Avenue, which is in Kingsbridge, has an extension that goes to John F. Kennedy High School. It was named for George Tippett, a 17th-century settler whose name was given to a hill and a brook in the area. The centuries have been kind to the spelling of his name.

Van Corlear Place was named for Anthony van Corlear (or van Corler), who was a resident of the Bronx. Van Corlear was the official messenger sent by Governor-General Peter Stuyvesant to get reinforcements from the mainland when Nieuw Amsterdam was attacked by the British Fleet. According to legend and mentioned in Father Knickerbocker’s History of New York by Washington Irving, van Corlear was drowned when he crossed the creek and was pulled down by a giant mossbunker. In reality he waded across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek.

West 225th Street between Broadway and Exterior Street was created in 1919 and was once known as Muscoota Street. The term describes a marshland from 211th Street south to Dyckman Street in Inwood. Other translations include “place of rushes” and “meadow.” Over the years there have been various recorded spellings of the street, which date to the second half of the 17th century. These are muscoote (1655), muskoota (1696), muscota 1671, and moskehtu (unknown date).

As one walks through Marble Hill, history can be learned as well as getting a better sense of the different types of homes and businesses that are here. The community is constantly changing, while the streets remain the same.