THE BRONX COUNTY THE BRONX HISTORIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY Newsletter of The Bronx County Historical Society 3309 BAINBRIDGE AVENUE JUNE 2016 – SEPTEMBER 2016 VOLUME 39 NUMBER 3 THE BRONX, NEW YORK 10467 PHONE: (718) 881- 8900 A HISTORIC LEGACY STILL BREWS FAX: (718) 881- 4827 Celebrating the Return of the Beer Brewing Tradition to The Bronx www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org ! Visit us on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. The Bronx County Historical Society, founded in 1955, is a private, non- profit educational and cultural institution chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. The Society is dedicated to the collection, preservation, documentation and interpretation of the history and ! heritage of The Bronx and its people from its earliest historical references Within the last two years, three craft beer breweries made The Bronx their home base for in the 17th century to the present. operation. The latest brewery to open in the borough was Chelsea Craft Brewing Company, which after spending over twenty years in the Chelsea Piers section of Manhattan, found The Society disseminates information more affordable space in the Tremont section of The Bronx. Although these latest by utilizing its collections in breweries might have been the first since Rheingold Beer, which operated out of the exhibitions, historical research, historic John Eichler Brewery, closed its doors in the early 1960s, the beer brewing legacy publications and documentaries, in The Bronx dates back to the 17th century. educational and cultural programming, the operation of our The Bronx received its first craft beer when the research library, The Bronx County Swedish merchant Jonas Bronck brewed on his farm Archives and two historic landmark Emmaus. During the 18th century, the prominent Van house museums - the c.1812 Edgar Cortlandt Family had their own brewing operation Allan Poe Cottage and the c.1758 on their estate (now Van Cortlandt Park.) Yet, it was th fieldstone farmhouse Valentine - not until the late 19 century that a thriving beer Varian House/Museum of Bronx brewing industry began in the South Bronx. By the 1870s, old South Bronx villages such as Melrose and History. Woodstock received an influx of German immigrants who arrived with their customs and expertise in This newsletter is published three beer brewing and elaborate beer gardens. It is said times a year as a service to members Top image: A 19th century engraving of the Ebling that by 1900 there were over fifteen breweries Brewery on St. Ann’s Avenue and East 156th Street. It and friends. was the largest brewery in the South Bronx at the within a 10-block radius. The Ebling Brewery took time. up blocks on St. Ann’s Avenue to accommodate a Above: Workers of the J&M Haffen Brewing Company The Bronx County Historical Society is hotel and casino. The J&M Haffen Brewing Company pose in the 1890s outside the facility, once located on Melrose Avenue,. partially supported through funds was another famous locale on Melrose Avenue near The Bronx County Historical Society Collections. and services provided by the NYC Third Avenue, where you would find the German Departments of Cultural Affairs and Brauerstern, or Brewer’s Star, imprinted on their Parks and Recreation, the Historic beer kegs. The Bronx’s very first borough president House Trust of New York City, The was Louis Haffen, who oversaw its incorporation Bronx City Council Delegation, the into Greater New York during the turn of the 20th Office of the President of the Borough century. of The Bronx, The Bronx Delegations Yet, the effects of Prohibition put a sudden end to of the NYS Assembly and the NYS the DDDD old German beer brewing legacy in the South Senate, the H.W. Wilson Foundation, Bronx. While many of the brewery buildings took on the Astor Fund, the Lucius N. Littauer different roles such as pickle factories and Foundation, The New York Times mushroom farms, others sold their operations to Foundation, the New York State fellow brewers. With the closing of Rheingold in The Society holds many artifacts from the old Library, the New Yankee Stadium 1962, The Bronx suffered a dry spell for hometown breweries of the South Bronx. Here, a Prohibition era Community Benefits Fund, the Susan book of prescription forms for medicinal liquor sits in craft beer until 2014 , when both the Bronx and Gun front of a tray from the old Eichler Brewery. Tane Foundation, the New York Hill breweries opened their tasting rooms. Today, The Bronx County Historical Society Collections. Public Library, and the New York The Bronx has three craft beer breweries, two Community Trust. distilleries, numerous draft houses selling Bronx brewed beers, and the Jonas Bronck Beer Company. The Bronx Historian Page 2 of 4 June 2016 – September 2016 Volume 39 Number 3 PURE GOLD COLLECTIONS DONATIONS Schools, businesses, The Society’s research library, object, and archival collections are a great resource. institutions, and We thank those who recently made the following donations (partial list): associations in The Bronx are noted. Anonymous: Timetable for the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway, 1924. Getz & Braverman, P.C. G. Hermalyn: Sol Hermalyn stamp collection. Law Offices 172 East 161st Street Arthur Hochberg (donated in memory of original owner, George Elliot Porcell): Book - Est. 1968 Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil, New York City, by William A. Tieck. Palomba Academy 974 East Gun Hill Road Kathleen MacMurrary: Photograph of Edward Rais at Bronx Park (Bronx Zoo), 1929. Est. 1955 Janet Norquist-Gonzalez: 24 Spanish LP records, a Hagstrom map, poster, and Sal & Dom’s Pastry Shop architectural designs from the Mosholu Preservation Corp. on the renovation of the 1108 Allerton Avenue Reservoir Keeper’s House. Est. 1964 Lynne K. Ranieri: P.S. 54 Program of graduation exercises program, 1911. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS J FINANCIAL DONATIONS (partial list) u Cash donations help The Society fund programming, publications, equipment purchases, Michael Anderson l and build endowments. To double your donation, check with your employer for any Susan B. Atkin i available matching gift programs. We are grateful for the following contributions: Edward Behringer e Michael Collins t $10 - $99 $100 - $999 $1,000 - $4,999 Peter Doherty a Nicholas DiBrino Dell Duffy Archie Arpiarian Herbert H. Lehman College Jennifer Duffy V Robert A. Burke Hutchinson Metro Center Robert Esnard Gregory Felix e Selig Eisenberg Monroe College CPJ Quality Foods John Gavin l John Fox Crowley for Congress Steven Heining Sandra Halpryn a EarthShare NYC Gives Sandra Erickson James G. Houlihan Family Second Catharine Ivins z O’Connor Institute Fund William Heyman Robert Johnson q Anne Payne Susan Goldy $5,000 - and over u Lynn Leissler Donald J. Petersen Jacqueline Kutner Fordham Associates e Lorraine Martinez Roland Riopelle Michael O’Neill The Lucius N. Littauer Foundation z Cindy McKenna Linda Nelin Sacewicz Joseph Rachlin Lloyd Ultan George Meyers Karl Stricker Arnaldo Velez Liene Bosque Muller N Mary Elizabeth Wendt Kelly Murphy i Frances Pandolfi n The Bronx County Historical Society would like to thank the a Leatha Recio New York Community Trust and the New York City Josephine V. Rizzo Department of Education’s Teen Thursdays program for John Savarese W supporting our education department’s endeavors. With the Mary Zehnter o h funds awarded, BCHS was able to offer two exciting programs, SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS: l Nancy Serra-Spencer – 4 photographs of Edgewater Camp, 1920s.Map It!: Exploring Your School’s Neighborhood and Know Your Autographed copY, add $10 Roots: Bronx Genealogy at no cost to six schools during the The Bronx: C 2015-2016 year. Then & Now a $21.99 r jjjjj o SUBMISSIONS FOR THE BRONX COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ANNUAL JOURNAL lSince 1964, The Bronx County Historical Society Journal has been one of the premier e history journals in the tri-state region. Its articles, written with clarity and scholarly substance, are of interest to all who enjoy accounts of people, business events, mercantile W gain, defending the nation’s interest, or the love of The Bronx. For Bronxites to share their Blacks in the i Colonial Bronx: spersonal experiences, The Society is accepting articles for its Journal. Do you have a Bronx A Documentary story you want told? Send an email to [email protected] and History e $18.00 mattach your article in Microsoft Word format along with 2-4 images or illustrations a(300dpi resolution). Please be sure to include your contact information. n J i The Bronx Historian Page 3 of 4 June 2016 – September 2016 Volume 39 Number 3 16th Annual BCHS Golf Tournament Thursday, September 22, 2016 Pelham Split Rock Golf Course/Pelham Bay Park Co-Chairs: Mr. Mark Engel & Mr. Greg Gonzalez Congratulations to our honorees: Mr. Ignacio Castillo - Exclusive Realty Mr. Billy Schur - Schur Management 10 AM Registration & Breakfast 11 AM Shotgun Start 4 PM Cocktail Reception & Awards Dinner Edgar Allan Poe $1,500 Per Foursome Cottage $400 Individual Player Poe Park $175 for dinner only Grand Concourse & For golf sponsorship opportunities, please contact Tournament Coordinator, Teresa Brown at East Kingsbridge [email protected]. To take an ad out in the Golf Journal, please contact Catherine Pellicano at Road [email protected]. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks, it is EXHIBITIONS AT THE MUSEUM OF BRONX HISTORY operated by The Bronx 3266 BAINBRIDGE AVENUE & EAST 208TH STREET County Historical Society. THE BRONX, NEW YORK 10467 (718) 881 - 8900 The house is a member of the MUSEUM HOURS: SAT 10AM - 4PM / SUN 1PM - 5PM Historic House Trust. (GROUP TOURS MON.-FRI. BY APPOINTMENT) Westchester town ðð ð ! bronx beginnings April 14 – October 9, 2016 Fall Exhibitions – Opening October 13th Museum of Bronx History/Valentine- Varian House Remembrance The 3266 Bainbridge of Pearl american Avenue Harbor presidency th & East 208 Street politics The Bronx & Owned by The Bronx Goes the To War County Historical Society, bronx the house is a member of the Historic House Trust.