Holyrood Church, 1929. This congregation dates to 1893. They erected a country-style church with a tower on upper Broadway at what is now 181st Street in 1895. By the first decade of the 20th century the congregation was growing and a larger structure was needed. Designed in the Gothic style by Bannister & Schell, the Holyrood Church was begun in 1910 and completed in 1914.

4211 Broadway, 2001. At the I-95 exit on the George Washington Bridge, U.S. Route 9 merges with Broadway. U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is the longest north-south U.S. Highway in New York. It begins in Laurel, Delaware, crosses from New Jersey to New York City via George Washington Bridge, intersecting Broadway at 179th Street and continuing through the Bronx. US 9 terminates a few miles south of the U.S./ Canada border, at a junction with Interstate 87 which connects New York City to Montreal.

New York City is known for its nightlife and entertainment. Since its early days, people have gathered in taverns to socialize, discuss the latest news, and gossip while enjoying drinks with friends. Join us as we take you back in time for a 19th century bar crawl that will quench your thirst for more of the City's history.

W. T. Grant Co. Store, 1950. W. T. Grant was an American chain store that was in business from 1906 until 1976. The original store was advertised as a 25-cent store, and sold a variety of mass-produced merchandise. By the time the founder, William T. Grant died in 1972 (at nearly 100 years old) more than 1,100 stores operated nationally. The company went bankrupt in 1976 and this location closed along with all of the others. In 1936 William T. Grant set up a foundation to support research that would contribute to “human betterment and social progress.” That foundation, which has largely focused on education and research related to childhood development, is still active today.

563-565 West 170th Street, 1932. The building at left (no.565) remains, though you might not realize it. Looking at the current structure directly from the sidewalk in front, it looks to be a late 20th century structure: simple, red brick, no style. But, if one walks just slightly down the block to the east and looks back, the wood-frame house, complete with peaked roof, is visible.

Nathan Hale Apartments, ca. 1913. A New York Times blurb from 1920 noted that a resident of this building, after inviting friends to sample some of his expensive whiskey, found 30 gallons of the whiskey missing and the remaining bottles filled with water.

J. Hood Wright Park, May 18, 1924. Haven Avenue, south from West 176th Street, showing several new apartments under construction. The far two, including the frame residence were removed subsequently and their sites are now a part of J. Hood Wright Park. At the right is W. 177th Street, continuing its winding way downhill to Riverside Drive.

Highbridge Park Center, June 20, 1940. The land next to the 1848 High Bridge is an appropriate location for a municipal swimming pool, being the original location of the old High Bridge Reservoir. The pool and play center opened July 14, 1936. The play center was designed in the same simplified Art Moderne style of the other 1936 pool houses. The building is particularly notable for its ashlar construction. Ashlar construction means the stones used to create the walls were finely and uniformly cut into their shape and as such create very thin joints between blocks. This type of masonry is visible in the long retaining wall that runs along Amsterdam Avenue. Another unique feature of the building was the lobby murals by artist Charles Clarke. The pool facilities have been renovated a number of times since the 1960s.The earliest work either covered up or destroyed the lobby murals. Along with a number of the other WPA pools, High Bridge underwent a renovation project in the early 1980s that updated the heating, ventilation, electrical, and filtration systems and made the facilities handicap accessible. More recent work on the pool occurred in the late 1990s and in 2015 the actual High Bridge itself was reopened to the public after being closed for more than 40 years.

Fort Washington Branch, NYPL, May 11, 1929. One of eight libraries designed by Babb, Cook & Welch, the Fort Washington Branch was the 26th and final Carnegie constructed in Manhattan. Completed in 1914, the building was renovated in the early 1950s following a fire in the basement. The library has been an important resource for the local community and its users have included Jacob Javits, Henry Kissinger, Ralph Ellison, and Lou Gehring.

My Archive Spring 2019 "This is a photo of grandmother, my siblings, and I in Washington Heights between summer 1995-1998. When my siblings and I were younger my parents would drive us from Brooklyn, NY to Washington Heights to visit my Grandmother- Maria Salgado. I remember her selling Ice's on a corner. My siblings and I would get excited because my Grandma would let us get any flavors for free. I recently asked my Grandmother how many years did she sell Ice's and she said from 1982 to 2003. My Grandmother was born in Honduras and came to New York in the early 80s. She's always been a hardworking woman, she's an inspiration." —Priscella Guillen

Chelsea Methodist Episcopal Church; May 23, 1929. In the early part of the 20th century, the Chelsea Methodist Episcopal Church, Parish House, and offices were located at the intersection of 178th Street and Fort Washington Avenue. While the church orginally worshipped at 331 West 30th Street in Chelsea, the congregation relocated uptown in 1907. Upon moving, the church held services in its new Washington Heights building until the late 1920s, when it was razed to make way for the George Washing Bridge.

109 Wadsworth Avenue, May 27, 1927. 109 Wadsworth Avenue at the N.E. corner of West 178th Street, showing what was then the synagogue of the Congregation of Mount Sinai Anshei Emeth.

Sobol Gas Station and Fort Washington Presbyterian Church, 1927. Ira and Ida Sobol were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York in the early 20th century. Working in the new and booming car industry, the family was able to purchase a gas station. The business was a success, and Sobel Brothers became a chain of service stations in the five boroughs, though perhaps most concentrated in Flushing, Corona, and northern Queens. Today this small plot, a triangle between Broadway, Wadsworth Avenue and 174th Street remains a gas station. The steeple seen behind the gas station is the Fort Washington Presbyterian Church. Founded in 1913 through the merger of the West Presbyterian and Park Presbyterian Churches, the new congregation built a fine neo-Georgian edifice on Wadsworth Avenue. The church with the tall bell tower was designed by Thomas Hastings of the venerable firm of Carrère & Hastings. The congregation here has changed with the demographics of the local community. Since 1948 Spanish-language services have been held here and today the church membership is largely Dominicans and Puerto Rican.

This is the northwest corner of West 173rd Street and Broadway. The billboard advertises (and requests funds) for a new church called the Broadway Temple. This massive planned structure was the brainchild of Reverend Christian Reisner, the leader of a Washington Heights Methodist congregation. Upon learning in 1923 that their current place of worship was to be demolished for the planned George Washington Bridge, Rev. Reisner decided their next home would be a ”magnificent advertisement for God’s business.” This proposed church by architect Donn Barber was to include two 12-story apartment buildings flanking a soaring central tower, complete with a 75-foot-high rotating cross at the top. The church was to seat more than 2,000 and have a basement space with a gym, bowling alley, and pool. Needing $4 million for his church, the reverend sought funds from New York's wealthiest (John D. Rockefeller, for one) and its regular folks (the billboard urges passers-by to help out with 5% bonds). By the start of the Depression, the two Deco apartment houses had been completed, but the church itself was far from its planned 725 feet. Stalled until the 1940s because of debt, construction on the much more restrained edifice (only three stories as compared to 40) was begun again in 1947 and the temple was completed in 1952 (with no rotating cross). The final design was completed by Shreve, Harmon and Lamb, the firm that designed the Empire State Building.