Kingsbridge exhibit uncovers hidden Revolutionary War history in the Bronx

In honor of the American Revolution’s 250th anniversary, the Kingsbridge Historical Society revived the untold stories of the neighborhood’s fight for independence.

Musket balls and gravestones are among the artifacts on view throughout Edgehill Church, 2750 Independence Ave., where KHS is headquartered and holding its new Kingsbridge Remembers exhibit.

The show brings to life a history overlooked and largely forgotten over the past two and a half centuries, delving into the lives of local commoners who played a part in the Revolution — although George Washington and other big names still get a few mentions.

“The American Revolution in Kingsbridge is sort of the biggest thing that ever happened here — wouldn’t be exaggerating at all,” Nick Dembowski, KHS president, said. “When we think of war zones, we think of Ukraine and Gaza, but that was here, and there are just so many stories that have been forgotten, and then there are stories that have never been told.”

The northwest Bronx played a significant role in the fight for freedom. After Washington’s forces retreated from New York City in late 1776, the British seized control of what we now know as Kingsbridge, moving from Manhattan to the mainland over the King’s Bridge, now long gone. They built and occupied military structures like Fort Independence, a name carried by a playground and a New York City Housing Authority building in the area today.

Although no major battles were fought in Kingsbridge, the area became a tense and contested borderland between patriot and loyalist territories. Spies, raids, and skirmishes — short, sudden armed encounters — were common, as soldiers from both sides clashed through what was then part of Westchester.

At the heart of the KHS exhibit are intimate, personal stories of those who lived in Kingsbridge, and what we now know as Spuyten Duyvil and Riverdale, in the late 18th century. A particular favorite of Dembowski’s centers on Cock’s Tavern, a well-known establishment located at West 230th Street and Broadway, where a Dunkin Donuts stands today.

This tavern wasn’t just a pit stop, it was a hub of revolutionary activity. John Adams stayed there on his way to the Continental Congress, and Dembowski believes Paul Revere likely changed horses there as well.

But there’s a twist to the tale. Tavern keeper John Cock was a British spy.

“This was years of research, I’ve been looking into this for a decade plus,” Dembowski said. “We’re not just telling the same old stories, because there’s more information available now than 100 years ago. A lot of libraries and archives have started digitizing their materials, so there are more maps available now, more letters and diaries that weren’t known about.”

Rows of original, handwritten letters are displayed at the exhibit, enclosed in glass cases. Among them are several from Gilbert Tippett, after whom Tibbetts Brook is named. In one letter to Major General Tryon, Tippett complains of a British sea captain who borrowed his horse, rode it down to a tavern in Manhattan and left it there.

Although Dembowski can’t say why, a relatively large number of Tippett’s documents have survived, including a record of his purchase of an enslaved woman named Violet.

Also on view are illustrations by local artist Gary Zaboly, who was commissioned for the exhibit. 

“Nick Dembowski approached me and said he wanted to do something for the 250th,” Zaboly said. “He came up with the idea of doing a lot of scenes of Kingsbridge history, and there will be some other scenes set in the Bronx where there were a series of British forts and American forts.”

A historical illustrator by trade, Zaboly depicted several common folk in great detail, including a range of local heroes. Among them, Margaret Corbin, who took over her husband’s cannon duties at Fort Tryon Hill after he was killed and later became one of America’s first female soldiers.

There was also Chief Minham, a Mohican leader allied with the patriots, who sought to protect his people’s future, even as their lands and lives were devastated.

And Robert Brown, a biracial militiaman who served in the fight for independence, underscoring how marginalized groups also shaped the revolution’s course.

This showing is just part one of the exhibit, covering 1775 to 1777.

This anniversary is going to go on for eight years because the Revolutionary War went on until 1783, so we’ll be commemorating the entirety of the eight-year span over the next eight years.” Dembowski said.