Washington Heights & Inwood Online

The Tubby Hook section of Inwood encompasses the area of Dyckman Street west of Broadway to the Hudson River. To the north is Inwood Hill Park and to the south is Fort Tryon Park. In the valley that is between these parks was once a fishing village.

The origins of the name of the area has been the subject of discussion. One source says it derives from the name of Tuber, who was a ferryman who ran a ferry concession across the Hudson River to New Jersey. Another source, James Riker, author of “The History of Harlem,” says that it is the corruption of the name of a Washington Heights resident, Peter Ubrecht, who married into the Dyckman Family in 1713.

Riker thought that Ubrecht’s name had been cannibalized and shortened to Opbro or Ubby and then a Dutch “the” had been prefixed, thus becoming T’ubby Hook. The name has stuck to the present day for this small hamlet that grew in the sheltered valley between Fort Tryon and Inwood Hill Parks.

During the American Revolution, Tubby Hook played an important role as a link between the Forest Hill Fort (Fort Tryon Park) and Fort Cock Hill (Inwood Hill Park). The valley also was controlled to ensure that no enemy forces would traverse it and was used as a means of communicating with each of the forts.

Tubby Hook was easily accessible to various means of transportation. In 1847, the Hudson River Railroad Company was organized and a station was constructed at the foot of Dyckman Street and the Hudson River. On Dyckman Street between Staff Street and the Hudson River is an abandoned powerhouse built in 1910 to provide power for the trains when the system was electrified.

Local train service to Albany and lower Manhattan provided at the Inwood station declined and was cancelled at the dawn of the 20th century, and the tracks were used for freight service. In 1992 service to Albany from Pennsylvania Station by Amtrak commenced. Trolley service to and from the area was available to travelers going to the Bronx and lower Manhattan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Ferry service to Englewood, New Jersey, from Dyckman Street started on June 17, 1915 and ended on May 21, 1942. The reasons for the demise of the ferries was the declining ridership and the increased automotive traffic and bus service on the George Washington Bridge.

At present, there is the Dyckman Street Marina and a restaurant known as the Tubby Hook Cafe. In the 1990s, the area was redeveloped to improve the existing facilities. The marina is used for docking facilities and repairs for boaters. Some residents still use it as a landing for their boats. One of the most famous residents to use the marina’s facilities was C.K.G. Billings, who owned the property in the early 20th century that was to become Fort Tryon Park. The restaurant is opened on a seasonal basis.

In the 1880s, a drainage ditch was built to ease the flow of water to Sherman Creek from a stream at Dyckman Street. During the dig, large fossilized bones were discovered. The Principal from the school in Academy Street came over and brought these bones to the American Museum of Natural History. These were identified as those of the Mammut Americanum and were left in the collection of the museum.

Another attraction in the area is the Riverside Inwood Neighborhood Garden (RING), a triangular plot which is located at the confluence of Riverside Drive, Broadway, Dyckman Street and Seaman Avenue. This verdant oasis is on New York City Parkland and was originally known as Inwood Plaza and was changed to Lt. William Tighe Triangle, named for a veteran of both World Wars who died in 1944. In 1984, the group that tended another site was forced to leave it. They found and came to the triangle, which was a rubble-strewn asphalted lot and made it into a community showpiece. RING is affiliated with the Inwood Heights Parks Alliance.

On the northwest corner of Payson and Dyckman Streets is the Payson Playground, named in honor of Reverend George Shipman Payson (1845-1923), who was minister of the Mount Washington Presbyterian Church located at 84 Vermilyea Ave. It is the second building to have that name. The original church structure had opened for worship on August 18, 1844, and was located between Broadway and Payson on Dyckman Street. Isaac Michael Dyckman and his wife, Fannie, were members of the Church.

For more information on Tubby Hook, its community groups and the history surrounding it you can get in contact with the following organizations:

The Riverside Inwood Neighborhood Garden has a Web site. The offices for the Tubby Hook Cafe are located at 348 Dyckman Street at Staff Street and can be reached at (212) 567-8086. The Dyckman Marina can be reached at (212) 567-5120. You can read the historical signs pertaining to the Lt. William Tighe Triangle and the Payson Playground on this Web site.

The Mount Washington Presbyterian Church is located at 84 Vermilyea Avenue and can be reached at (212) 567-0442. The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum is located at 4881 Broadway at 204th Street. The telephone number is (212) 304-9422. For information on the American Museum of Natural History, visit its Web site.