The Warburton Avenue Bridge: A Trip Down Memory Lane

In honor of the ongoing construction on the Warburton Avenue Bridge, and while we are awaiting the completion of that construction, we thought you might enjoy taking a trip down memory lane with us as we reminisce over the bridge's evolution through time. Here are some photos of the bridge and activities on it from the Hastings Historical Society's archives, spanning a period from 1905 all the way through the spring 1948, when a huge dumped pile of snow was still around and did not melt until the summer of that year! Makes this winter not seem so bad so far!

Postcard of Warburton Avenue, ca. 1905
 
Postcard showing Warburton Avenue, looking north from the end of the bridge. On the street you can see the trolley tracks turning right on to Main Street. In the left foreground is "Doc" Todd's drugstore. Beyond it, across West Main, is Goodwin's Cigar Store. The horse and wagon farther down the street belongs to W.W. Tompkins' National Meat Market and is standing in front of that shop.

 Postcard showing Warburton Avenue Bridge postmarked 1907

 A color lithograph postcard, printed in Germany and showing a trolley and a horse-drawn carriage on the Warburton Avenue Bridge. We are looking north from the southern end of the bridge toward the business district, with Todd's Drugstore on the northwest corner of the bridge. The postcard is postmarked 1907, but the photograph on which the printed card was based may certainly have been taken several years earlier.

School children marching in the Fourth of July Parade in 1914

School children with flags and fancy hats in the Fourth of July Parade in 1914. The photograph was taken on the Warburton Avenue Bridge. We have no identifications for this photograph. If you think you recognize one of the faces, let us know! 

Procession to St. Stanislaus Kostka, 1914

Procession to the church of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Hastings on Hudson on the day of its consecration, June 14, 1914. The procession was led by girls with flowers. Here they are marching north and crossing the Warburton Avenue Bridge.

Street widening on Warburton Avenue, 1929

Warburton Avenue, looking south from the bridge toward the Washington Avenue intersection. This photograph was taken by A.C. Langmuir on September 19, 1929. He wanted to capture the moment when the old streets were being widened for the increasing traffic going through the village. On the far side of Washington Avenue is Hastings Lunch, "The Place to Eat." 

Warburton Avenue Bridge, 1931

A.C. Langmuir's photograph of the businesses on the south end of the Warburton Avenue Bridge taken June 4, 1931. The adverstising signs include the Silver Lining Laundry, located in Yonkers, Sundial Shoes on the corner (slogan: "Time Will Tell"), and a Chinese Laundry further down the street. 

 Warburton Avenue Bridge after the blizzard of 1947

Looking east up the Ravine at the huge pile of snow dumped off the side of the Warburton Avenue Bridge after the D.P.W. had cleared the downtown area. The head of the D.P.W. at the time was Mel Haines, so naturally the pile of snow was christened "Mount Haines." The blizzard of Dec. 26-27, 1947 was the heaviest snow fall in New York after the blizzard of 1888.

High schoolers sledding down "Mount Haines," May 1, 1948

Sue Lindemann (later Staropoli) takes the plunge down the huge pile of snow dumped off the side of the Warburton Avenue Bridge. Looking on are Phyllis Schumm, Jimmy McCue, Bill Costello, Steve Ravinsky, and Jack Ayres. There was so much snow that it was still around for kids to go sledding in May, and the last of the snow did not melt until July!