FOLLOW THE ... RED BRICK ROAD?

Peeling back some Riverdale Ave history

Wear and tear has exposed historic red brick underneath the blacktop along busy street

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A recent Riverdale Facebook post on a Riverdale Avenue pothole caught the eyes of many readers but not for the reason many would expect. A little bit of history in the form of red cobblestone bricks showed itself under heavy commuter buses.

More than 100 members of a Facebook group lamented the loss of those bricks, which have been lying beneath the asphalt for the better part of six decades.

As many group members were only children at the time, the one thing they clearly remember about Riverdale Avenue is the red bricks. One was disappointed when it was paved over around 1966.

Some thought the red brick look gave the neighborhood some character. Others remembered how Independence Avenue was also covered in red bricks.

Before asphalt covered the ground in the 1900s, brick pavers were hard to miss as they were almost everywhere. Residents clearly remember red bricks — they called it red cobblestone — going down the city line.

So why is this brick reappearing now?

It’s the wear and tear of buses idling at their stops, as well as hundreds of cars driving on it a daily. It is unclear why this is happening now.

“I didn’t know that part of Riverdale Avenue was brick paved,” said Allan Gilbert, a Fordham University professor who has worked closely over the years on a New York brick archive housed at Fordham University.

He was unsure of the type of brick as he only saw it from the Facebook photo. He believed it to be brick flamed at high heat to almost the density of glass. The purpose of flaming them? To protect the bricks from the cold New York winters.

Some of the 21st century Bronx residents on Facebook may prefer red cobblestone since it reminds them of a more simple time. Some said bricks don’t create potholes. Red cobblestone gives the streets a nice touch to it, they said.

Interestingly enough, the residents in the Bronx during the late 19th century disagreed as they complained about the need for street improvements.

The commissioner of street improvements in the late 19th century at the time tried to improve the quality of life. Besides dealing with sewage problems, he had to clean up the mess left behind by the horse and carriages. Also, cobblestone roads became quite dusty and were extremely difficult to clean.

There are some existing streets in Manhattan with cobblestone — specifically one on the west side. However, cars must drive slow as it is incredibly bumpy. These are different than the ones in greater Riverdale.

Either way, when the asphalt is fresh, it has a smooth look. That lured some people to the smoother roads.

In author Willian Tieck’s book, “Riverdale Kingsbridge Spuyten Duyvil,” he displays many photos of the rich neighborhoods’ past. It gives readers a glimpse of what it was like living in greater Riverdale.

Even though most photos are hard to see, many black and white landscapes usually show bricks on storefronts.

In the Bronx County Historical Society research library, a book showed Tremont Avenue at the corner of Washington Avenue in the 1950s had a two-story commercial building. On the street was a poultry shop. Next to it was a formal wear shop that sold tuxedos. Down the block, a Chinese restaurant stated their store has air conditioning.

Trolley tracks were still in the center of the street despite a newly installed bus stop sign.

At some point in the Bronx during the 1950s, trolleys were torn apart. Locust Avenue, south of 138th Street, was a heavily industrialized neighborhood. Workers used an acetylene torch to cut the tracks.

Cleveland Dodge, a resident of Riverdale for nearly 85 years, wrote a journal in 1975 based on his life growing up and clearly remembers the building of bridges, street structures, and people.

The corner of Riverdale Avenue and West 254th Street was a favorite social spot for people.

“There was a saloon, known as Jumbo’s,” he wrote. “It was a favorite spot for coachmen since the beer was good, resulting in horses there stopping automatically.”

He continued to say that before the Henry Hudson Parkway was constructed, there were few vehicles, and wealthy people owned horses and carriages with sleighs for the winter in 1910.

“The most fashionable sleigh were driven by Miss Julia Morosini, who had several sets of white and red harness and reins and beautiful fur rugs,” he reminisced.

In some instances, the commoner built railroad tracks on the bricks. Now we can see them over gravel and little rocks, perhaps dust as well.

The father of American railroads, engineer John Stevens, is to thank for the speedy train transportation in 1826 as he invented the first steam train locomotive. Anyone with a horse and wagons with specific wheels could ride along the railway in the Bronx for a price.

The police patrol, the 35th Precinct, trolled the streets with two horses pulling them along, according to Tieck.

Firefighters were also using horses proudly to get to their destinations. However, horses retired after Engine Company 81 became motorized.

Tieck showed photos of residents crossing the tracks on the main line on West 230th Street, in 1897. The tracks go down to the police station in Kingsbridge.

“On the west is was bounded by the Hudson River, on the east by the Bronx River where it bordered Woodlawn village and cemetery and below the latter, by Jerome Avenue,” Tieck stated.

“Fordham Road and Sedgwick Avenue in 1952 is in the process of having its Belgium block roadway,” authors and historians Lloyd Ultan and Gary Hermalyn stated in their book “The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday.”

Baychester Avenue near Boston Road received a new road surface around the same time. The crew put sticky black tar over half of the large rectangular-shaped Belgian block in the streets.

Before the removal and replacements, the book pictures show 165th Street at the corner of Morris Avenue, which was a local shopping area in the 1950s. With buses and cars on the road, Morris Avenue was paved with red brick.

People at the time had no fear of crossing the street as they freely walked on the paved Belgian block. Some even waited for the trolley on the street. 

“The radical change in the neighborhood came with the building of the Henry Hudson Bridge and Parkway in 1936,” he wrote. “Along with the new subways that provided an easy access to the downtown city and led to apartment houses, paved streets and shopping centers.”

Dodge’s journal exists in the Bronx County Historical Society where he was asked by the non-profit organization that collects historical material to reminisce on his time living in Riverdale.

brick road, Riverdale Avenue, Allan Gilbert, Fordham University, William Tieck, Bronx County historical society, Cleveland Dodge, John Stevens

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