Potpourri
click on any picture to see enlargement

linus_william.jpg (31343 bytes)

<<===  Brother Linus William Hall, first Master of Juniors in Esopus.

 1952 photo at St. Ann's Academy
by Rich Foy

 

rail bridge.jpg (62731 bytes)

<<===  Although not directly connected to the Payne estate, the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge is an important element in Ulster County history.

photo November 2001 
by Victor VanCarpels

 

Brother Lawrence Hanshumaker and David Kammer (both natives of Wheeling, West Virginia) passed through Esopus to view  construction of the English Village in the summer of 1952.  ===>>

photo Summer 1952
 by Rich Foy

hans_and_dave.jpg (15201 bytes)

The original water tower was located just outside the new English Village construction.  It was dismantled and replaced with tanks within the new building.  ===>>

photo Summer 1952
 by Rich Foy

water_tower.jpg (38986 bytes)
weitze home.jpg (61797 bytes)

photo 21 Sept 2002
Rich Foy

<<=== The do-it-yourself pioneer trait has not disappeared.   The Weitze family (with help from dad, Bob Richter) constructed this home on seven acres directly north of the Brothers' property. Bob gave parcels to each of his daughters, and transferred the remainder of his land along the Black Creek to Scenic Hudson for a nature preserve

weitze family.jpg (48914 bytes)

<<===  U. Peter Weitze and  children standing on the porch of their new home overlooking the Hudson River.  Their home is built on the same level as the main buildings on the Payne estate.   

photo 21 Sept 2002
Rich Foy

 

The land for Sacred Heart R. C. Church in Esopus was donated by Robert Livingston Pell, who also contributed to its construction.  ===>>

photo November 2001
by Victor VanCarpels

sacred heart church.jpg (75562 bytes)

Slabsides, the rustic cabin built by John Burroughs around turn of the century,  is now a historic site.  Land for the area was augmented by transfers from the Gordons.  Click here for more photos of the Burroughs family  ===>>

photo November 2001
by Victor VanCarpels

slabsides2.jpg (107177 bytes)

Photo November 2004
by Richard Foy

<<===  Perrine's Bridge is  the second oldest wooden bridges in the state.  It is located in Dashville, just west of Esopus, and can be glimpsed from the northbound lanes of the New York Thruway.

Photo November 2004
by Richard Foy

<<=== View from Perrine's Bridge of the Wallkill River looking towards the site of Dashville Falls, which were used by the sons of Archibald Russell to power their factories.  The falls have disappeared into a dam used by Central Hudson to generate electricity

 

       
five points in nov 2001.jpg (69636 bytes) <<===  The five points intersection in 2001 gives no evidence of what the slum looked like one hundred fifty years ago.  It is surrounded by government buildings and a small park

photo 17 Nov 2001
by Rich Foy.

five points baxter and worth.jpg (56047 bytes) <<===  The only link with the five points slum is the street sign indicating the intersection of Baxter and Worth.  The latter street was extended through the five points around the turn of the 19th century

photo 17 Nov 2001
by Rich Foy

In 2002 Transfiguration Parish celebrated its 175th  anniversary.  The parish was founded by Father Felix Varela, a Cuban-born priest who became vicar general of the archdiocese, to serve the wave of Irish immigra nts arriving in New York.  In 1853 the parish moved to the Mott Street building, built 201 years ago as an Episcopal church and later used as a Lutheran  church.  ===>>

transfiguration in 2001.jpg (27457 bytes)

The church, majestic in scope, is crammed into a small space along Mott Street where its architectural features are hard to envision.  These pictures were taken 17 November 2002 by Rich Foy as a service was being held for fallen firefighters from the Sept 11 bombing of the World Trade Center.  The area is now considered Chinatown for most modern New Yorkers.  ===>>

transfiguration on mott.jpg (41792 bytes)
 

photo 14 January 2004
by Bridget Foy

<< ===  About the same time Carrère and Hastings designed Payne's estate, they built the Frick town home,( now the Frick Collection Museum) at 70th street and Fifth Avenue as well as the New York Public Library  The similarity of architectural touches is evident.  The gallery (photo at far right) was added afterward as a separate project.  ===>>

frick_two.jpg (55459 bytes)

photo 27 October 2002
by Bridget Foy

photo 14 January 2004
by Richard Foy

Fifth Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets.  Apartment building at the right stands on the site of Oliver Payne's townhouse built around 1903.  Building at left stands on  site of Thomas Fortune Ryan's townhouse built around the same time. Real estate values   dictated demolition of these townhouses.  Fortune Ryan was a partner with William Clifford Whitney in the construction of the NYC subway and elevated train systems ===>>

photo 13 January 2004
by Richard Foy

The tiny townhouse between the Ryan and Payne sites gives a glimpse of what they may have looked like.  This now houses the delegation from Serbia and Montenegro.  Note police kiosk on sidewalk.  Payne paid $1,528.98 to the Park Department for the land occupied by the projecting bay of his house on Fifth Avenue.   ===>>

photo 13 January 2004
by Richard Foy

 

<<===  Oliver Payne gave Payne Whitney the land along Fifth Avenue near 79th street for his own residence.  The building was designed by McKim, Mead and White.  Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company designed the grand staircase.  Click on photo for more details.

photo 10 February 2004
by Richard Foy

<<===  Payne Whitney, (formerly William Payne Whitney) was one of Oliver's favorite nephews.  He inherited Oliver's Thomasville Georgia estate.  The Fifth Avenue townhouse , occupied by Payne's widow, Helen, until 1944,  houses  the Cultural Services for the French Embassy.

photo 10 February 2004
by Richard Foy

Guastavino Construction specialized in vault construction using layers of tile.  It probably was a subcontractor on the Esopus mansion.  Among its existing buildings is Church of St. Jean Baptist at 76th & Lexington, pictured at right, financed via gift of Thomas Fortune Ryan; Church of St. Vincent Ferrer at 68th & Lexington; chapel of Saint Paul on the Columbia University campus.  ===>>

photo 10 February 2004
by Richard Foy
click on photo for more pictures

 Temple Emmanuel now occupies the space along Fifth Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets once occupied by the townhouse of John Jacob Astor.  The townhouse was designed by Carrère & Hastings   ===>>

photo 14 January 2004
by Richard Foy

 

bulgari_and_bergdoff.jpg (42032 bytes)

photo 27 October 2002
by Bridget Foy

<<===  Oliver Payne purchased and gave the Stetson townhouse  on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street currently occupied by Bulgari, to his favorite sister, Flora Payne Whitney.  This cross street is now the most expensive rental for retail space in New York City.  Bergdoff-Goodman, Bulgari  and Tiffany occupy three of the corners;  new construction is in progress on the fourth.   More detail in diagram at right  ===►  

Greenwood Mansion in Thomasville after its restoration in 1997.  Click on picture to see a short history of this plantation estate owned by Oliver Hazard Payne  ===>>

photo downloaded from the Internet

  Harry Payne Bingham owned the townhouse at 690 Park Avenue, just opposite Hunter College  The townhouse now serves as the Italian Consulate.   ===>>

photo 27 October 2002
by Richard Foy

 
bingham_on_park_ave.jpg (71287 bytes)

<<=== The Ponce de Leon Hotel in Saint Augustine Florida was the first major work of Carrère & Hastings after they broke away from McKim, Mead and White.

postcard photo courtesy of Thomas O'Connor, Nov 2003

postcard photo courtesy of Thomas O'Connor, Nov 2003

<<=== Built in 1888, the Ponce de Leon now houses Flagler College, founded in 1968.  The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and is acclaimed as one of the finest examples of Spanish Renaissance Architecture in America

Based on their work for the Ponce de Leon Hotel, Henry Flagler commissioned Carrére & Hastings to design the Alcazar Hotel, now the Lightner Hotel and City Hall. ===>>

 

postcard photo by Henry E Hird courtesy of Thomas O'Connor, Nov 2003

Flagler also commissioned Carrére & Hastings to design the Presbyterian Church, built in 1889.  A find example of Venetian Renaissance Architecture, the dome is more than one hundred feet high and is topped by a Greek cross that rises twenty feet above the dome.  ===>>

postcard photo by Henry E Hird courtesy of Thomas O'Connor, Nov 2003

<<=== Whitehall, in Palm Beach, Florida, built for Henry Flagler by Carrère and Hastings in 1902.

photo scanned from postcard of Flagler Museum.  Click on picture to read history of this building.

 

<<    The great hall at Whitehall.  

photo scanned from postcard of Flagler Museum.  Click on picture to read history of this building.

 

A stereopticon or magic lantern  was discovered in the attic of the main house after the Marist Brothers purchased the property.  Click on photo to see further details about this object ===>>

photo by Richard Foy
29 August 2006

   

 

 
 most recent revision  30 August 2006
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