The Hudson - Three Centuries of History, Romance and Invention by Wallace Bruce
page 79 of 329 (24%)
page 79 of 329 (24%)
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Manhattan Island, is already "well peopled." Until recently the land
about Fort Washington has been held in considerable tracts and the very names of these suburban points suggest altitude and outlook--Highbridgeville, Fordham Heights, Morris Heights, University Heights, Kingsbridge Heights, Mount Hope, &c. The growth of the city all the way to Jerome and Van Cortlandt's Park during the last few years has been marvelous. It has literally stepped over the Harlem to find room in the picturesque county of Westchester. =The Island of Manhattan.=--As we approach the northern limit of Manhattan we feel that in the preservation of the beautiful name "Manhattan," distinctive of New York's chief borough, Irving's dream has been happily realized. The meaning of this Indian word has been the subject of much discussion. It is, however, simply the name of a tribe. As the old historian De Laet says, "On the east side, on the main land dwell the Manhattoes," and again from the "Documentary History of New York." "It is so called from the people which inhabited the main land on the east side of the river." * * * Pleasant it is to lie amid the grass, Under these shady locusts half the day, Watching the ships reflected in the Bay, Topmast and shroud, as in a wizard's glass. _Thomas Bailey Aldrich._ * * * |
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