A blog on 18th & 19th century New York & other distractions.
Maiden Lane
Over three hundred years ago, a rippling brook wended down the lane. It’s now Chinatown.
Collect Pond
Once upon a time, a forested countryside expanded into a lush valley that emptied into a sizable and deep freshwater pond fed by underground springs, emptying into salt marshes that would one day become meadows, reaching all the way to the Hudson River.
Love, Liberty, and Quarantine: The Story of Bedloe’s Island
Quarantines are nothing new in America. Liberty Island in New York Bay, once called Bedloe’s Island, has a long history as a quarantine station.
The Sons of Neptune
Prior to 1765, a secret society composed of a diverse, radical group of sailors in the American colonies formed. They called themselves the Sons of Neptune.
The Burning of Fairfield, Connecticut 1779
The British threaten to attack the fictionalized town of Turtle Bay in A Widow’s Guide to Scandal (coming July 2020). This was based on the very real attack on Fairfield, Connecticut by the British in 1779.
Think You Know Bagels?
There is some debate over the genesis of the bagel. It mostly depends on how one defines a bagel. By ingredients? Shape? Country of origin?
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