Van Cortlandt Vault, ca. 1891. When the Van Cortlandt estate was acquired for city parkland in 1888, one of the features of the estate was the family burial place. The first burial in the stone-walled vault was Frederick Van Cortlandt in 1749. The family continued to use the vault until 1888 when they purchased a plot in Woodlawn Cemetery. The remains once sealed in the vault were removed to the new plot. Frequently vandalized in the mid to late 20th century when all of the headstones were removed, today all that remains are the stone walls and iron gate.

Broadway and Lakeview Place, 1935.

This sprawling Mediterranean Revival House was built for Elisa T. Galban by architect Dwight James Baum in 1928. Baum had built over forty Mediterranean Revival Houses during his career in New York and Florida. The house is nestled on a terraced lot, bound by stucco-covered perimeter walls and posts flanking its entrance. The house is notably set back from the road, affording it the aesthetic of a Spanish House on a hillside. The house featured clay-tile covered hipped, and gable-on-hip roofs. Its chimneys were hooded, and the entire facade was coated in stucco, with historic battened wood shutters and ornate wrought-iron balconies. Upon entry to the villa-like home, guests would pass through the front door framed with ceramic tile. At the time it was built, the house followed the guidelines of the Fieldston Property Owners Association, who developed the entire neighborhood. The house was sold to Victor House, of the law firm House, Holthusen & Pinkham of Manhattan, in 1936.

Horace Mann School, undated postcard. The elite prep school, Horace Mann was first established in 1887 as an experimental co-educational institution of Teachers College at Columbia. Originally located in Greenwich Village, the school moved to the Columbia Campus in Morningside Heights in 1894, sharing a building with Teachers College. In 1901, they moved into their own building nearby. Horace Mann became independent of the university in the 1940s. The education of male and female students separated in the early 20th century, with the all-boys facility moving to the Bronx in 1914. (The girls' school remained at Teachers College, merging with a new school before closing in 1946). The new campus in the Bronx, seen here, overlooked Van Cortlandt Park. Over the second half of the 20th century a number of new buildings were added to the campus and in 1975 the school once again became co-educational. Famous alumni of Horace Man include Seymour Durst, real estate developer; Beat writer Jack Kerouac; illustrator Rockwell Kent; and Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times among other well-known artists, actors, scientists, and politicians.

The area of Fieldston in the Bronx is a privately owned neighborhood that was largely developed in the 1920s. The area was managed by the Fieldston Property Owners Association. Buyers of land in the area followed strict requirements: first, they were required to buy a minimum of three lots which each averaged $5,000; second, their home was to be designed by an association-approved architect; third, the drafted plans of their design were to be approved by the Architectural Committee of the Fieldston Property Owners Association. Lots were by design varied in terrain in order to discourage "flat uninteresting rows of suburban houses" according to engineer Albert Wheeler, who finalized the plan of the area in 1914. Houses of the area exemplified various styles of American Revival Style Architecture. This story provides a look at some of the picturesque homes in Fieldston designed by architect Dwight J. Baum, many of which have remained almost completely untouched. Baum was chosen by the Property Owners Association for his work in Revival Architecture. Recognizing the opportunity that this presented, Baum moved his office to a lot across the street from the Fieldston sales office after building his own house in Fieldston in 1915.

My grandpa Ray Sr. was a shutterbug, and this is my Dad's neighborhood team. They hailed mostly from the Fordham Road area. It's Grandpa's writing and my Dad, Ray Jr., is the black-haired boy in the second row holding a glove. \--Carolyn Crapo

Old Albany Post Road (221 West 251st Street is the apartment at left), 1935. The buildings at left front Post Road, but their back (seen here) line an old dirt road that was once a vital intrastate thoroughfare. This dirt road (which still looks much the same today) is a remnant of the Old Albany Post Road, one of the oldest routes in New York State. Following a well-worn Native American trail, the early Dutch settlers of the city used this path to traverse the island of Manhattan from their settlement at the south to the island's northern tip. In the mid 17th century the city's government designated a postal route between the city and Albany, given the need for communication between the the area's two most populated communities. Though not much more than a narrow, wooded path (often following Native trails) at the beginning, by the start of the 18th century, the road was widened to a "breadth of 4 rods" (whatever that means). During the next century the road was more properly surveyed, laid out, and marked with milestones. The road provided for important early mail service and, in times of war, the movement of troops and supplies between the city and the eventual state capital (so named in 1797). By the middle of the 19th century, with the introduction of train service, the stage coach path was less necessary. The Old Albany Post Road was straightened and became the thoroughfare known today as Route 9 (and all its various local designations).