Mystery Photo: Portrait by Lewis Hine, ca. 1935

Among the 50-or-so original photographs in our collection by documentary photographer and Hastings resident Lewis W. Hine are these two pictures of a young man in a suit.

Who is he? Why did Hine take his photograph? Did he win a prize? Was he captain of the football team? Does his face look familiar? If you have any ideas, let us know!

If you don’t know, but are curious about the answers, come back to the blog and check this post. We’ll attach comments with any information we receive.

Dateline: HASTINGS, September 7, 1900

as reported in the Hastings column of the Dobbs Ferry Register

Warburton Avenue, looking north from the bridge. (Click on any photograph for more information.)

Counselor Wm. H. Blain of Tower Ridge is spending his vacation in town.

Thomas F. Martin [village tax collector] has been enjoying a well-earned vacation during the past week.

Dr. Albert Shaw of Broadway, Editor of the Review of Reviews, is spending his vacation in the Adirondacks.

Mr. J. Perry Worden, the well known literary man and lecturer, has returned from Germany for a brief visit to his home here.


The Fraser Free School opened on Tuesday with the largest attendance in its history. The Board of Education was unable to accommodate all who applied for admission, thus emphasizing the necessity of having a new school, the need of which has been apparent for several years.

A well contested game of baseball between the Hastings Athletic Club and the Uniontown Fire Company’s team on Labor Day resulted in a decisive victory for the fire laddies, the score standing 12 to 6 in their favor. Charles Gerkin pitched for the Firemen and John [Falbush?] Jr. for the Athletics.

The winning team: Charles Gerkin is the in the back row on the far right.

The firemen were called out at eight o’clock on Wednesday evening to extinguish a fire which started in the laundry of Mr. Robert Behr’s residence on Broadway. The prompt and efficient work of our fire fighters prevented the flames from spreading beyond the apartment where they originated, and as a consequence the damage was slight.

The ladies’ fair for the benefit of St. Matthew’s Church opened in the parish hall on Monday evening. The tables are in charge of the following ladies: Mrs. Walter A. Burke (St. Matthew’s table), Miss Marie H. Murphy (Sacred Heart table), Miss Josie Monk (Young Men’s Catholic Association table), and Miss Eliza Booth (refreshment table).

Gus Wagner (second from left), owner of the town's bicycle shop, outside Goodwin's cigar store with some of his stock and customers.

There are several voting contests in progress, among them being a contest for a bicycle, to be awarded to the most popular boy or girl; a contest for a silver trumpet between Protection Hose Company No. 1 and Union Hose Company No. 2; and a contest for a child’s crib to be given to the most popular baby.

The regular monthly meeting of the Village Board was held at the Corporation Rooms, on Tuesday evening. There were present: President [James E.] Hogan, Trustees [Francis] Curry, [Frederick G.] Zinsser, [William] Steckert, and [Monahan?], and Village Counsel [Melvin G.] Palliser. The minutes of the regular meeting of August 24th were read and approved. The Committee on Streets reported that all streets were in good condition. The Committee on Lights reported that arc lights had been placed at either end of the bridge. The Village Counsel reported that the new contract with the Hudson River Gas and Electric Company had not yet been executed. Mr. Curry called up the matter of the extension of Nepperhan Avenue, and on motion the Village Counsel was directed to acquire title to the property required for the extension, in accordance with the map prepared by E. Wulff, Civil Engineer. …

Mystery Photo: Labor Day Parade, 1984

In honor of Labor Day 2009, let’s look back twenty-five years to Labor Day 1984. Here are two photographs that were taken at the parade that made its way down beautiful and historic Warburton Avenue. The quality of these Polaroids is not terrific. We do recognize our beloved former mayor Frances MacEachron in the bottom photograph. The top photograph shows a fife and drum band. We don’t know if the band included Hastings residents or not. But if you recognize anyone in the photograph, let us know! You can click on the photograph and look at it more closely in Flickr. If you need to enlarge it, click the “All Sizes” link above the photograph.

If you don’t know, but are curious about the answers, come back to the blog and check this post. We’ll attach comments with any information we receive.

And Happy Labor Day, from the Hastings Historical Society!

Cutting Edge Technology in Hastings: The Automobile

The Society's earliest photograph of a car, probably taken before 1907 (click on any photograph for more information)

On Memorial Day of 1896, Hastings residents were thrilled by an event that had, until then, only been witnessed by residents of Paris, London, and Chicago – a horseless carriage race! The race began at about 2PM at King’s Bridge and passed along Broadway through Yonkers, Hastings, and Dobbs Ferry, with the finishing line in front of the veranda of the Ardsley Country Club. The judges waiting on the veranda included John Jacob Astor, Chauncey Depew (President of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad) and Frank Thomson (Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad). Here is how this momentous occasion was described in a 1929 article from the Hastings News:

“John Brisbane Walker, then editor of the Cosmopolitan, living at Irvington on an estate near what is now the Chevrolet factory and in a house built by Stanford White, offered ... $1,000 to anyone who could ride from New York City to Irvington in one of the new-fangled “horseless carriages.” No time limit was stipulated. All the contestants had to do was to get to Irvington. People from miles around … gathered in anticipation of the momentous ride.

All Hastings jammed its way along the road. From New York seven [according to the New York Times, there were only six] determined riders started out. Riding before them on horse back were couriers who were to clear the way and to see that no on was hurt by the speeding monsters. Hours passed. People on the Handy porch [at Broadway and Warburton] craned their necks. There was a tremendous noise, as if a dozen threshing machines were in action. Around the bend two puffing, steaming horseless carriages were coming at a terrific rate of 8 miles an hour. Cheers broke out.

Eventually one of the two got to Irvington. The Columbus got Mr. Walker’s $1,000.”

The winner of the race was Frank Duryea. He was driving one of his company’s Duryea Motor Wagons, which were among the first “motor-vehicles” powered by gasoline. Frank covered the 13 miles from King’s Bridge to Ardsley in one hour, five minutes, and forty-two and two-fifths seconds. A year earlier, Frank had won the Chicago Times Herald race with an even better speed -- 7.5 miles an hour.

In 1895 the horseless carriage was called “a pack of French nonsense,” which could never replace a horse. In 1910 a series of photographs were taken of the lively Hastings - Dobbs Ferry Auto Club, documenting the first stirrings of Hastings’ addiction to the newfangled machine.

The Hastings - Dobbs Ferry Auto Club on Broadway near the Hastings - Dobbs Ferry boundary in 1910. Many Hastings residents were members, including Irving Smith, Frederick Charles Sr., Thomas F. Reynolds, Walter Keys, Henry Collins Brown, and the actor Walker Whiteside. These were some of the wealthier members of our community, and it’s not surprising to find them all in the auto club, since they were the ones who could afford to purchase automobiles.