Hastings Historical Society

Hastings Historical Society Documenting the history of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York since 1971. hastingshistoricalsociety.org/

Hastings Historical Society's latest home, the Observatory Cottage at Draper Park in Hastings, has a long and colorful history. In 1997, when the Historical Society was preparing to move into its new home from its previous quarters at 41 Washington Avenue, The Hastings Historian ran a four-page history of the building, which can be seen here http://hastingshistorical.org/cottagehistory.shtml

🏫 Six buildings. Six decades. One campus.The school campus on Farragut Avenue didn't appear all at once. It came togethe...
09/12/2026

🏫 Six buildings. Six decades. One campus.

The school campus on Farragut Avenue didn't appear all at once. It came together one building at a time over more than 60 years:
• Farragut Building, constructed in 1902
•Washington Building, erected in 1911
•High School Building, built in 1927
•Shreve Administration Building, erected in 1932
•School Street Building, erected circa 1934
•Cochrane Gym, added in 1963
It wasn't until the Administration Building went up in the early 1930s that the first five buildings were linked together.

📸 Photo 1: The high school marching band outside the schools, circa 1934–1936.

📸 Photos 2 and 3: The Washington Building after a fire in November 1937.

Remembering Barbara McManus today. ❤️❤️❤️Barbara was the beloved owner of The Office Ink on Warburton Avenue, and we wer...
09/08/2026

Remembering Barbara McManus today. ❤️❤️❤️

Barbara was the beloved owner of The Office Ink on Warburton Avenue, and we were privileged to have her serve as a trustee of the Hastings Historical Society for many years.
On September 7, 2008, the Historical Society hosted a dinner in her honor to celebrate her retirement from The Office Ink.

📸Barbara with Mayor Lee Kinnally, who presented her with a proclamation declaring September 8, 2008 Barbara McManus Day!

Forever part of our history. 💐

⚓ The Navy's first admiral called Hastings home, and his story starts in Spain.National Hispanic Heritage Month begins S...
09/08/2026

⚓ The Navy's first admiral called Hastings home, and his story starts in Spain.

National Hispanic Heritage Month begins September 15, and we're celebrating Admiral David Glasgow Farragut. His father, Jordi Ferragut Mesquida, was born in 1755 in Ciutadella de Menorca, Spain, making the famed admiral a proud part of Hispanic American history.

Read the full story on our blog.

https://hastingshistoricalsociety.org/2026/09/07/hispanic-heritage-month-admiral-david-g-farragut/ 📖

Did you know a photographer who changed American labor history lived right here in Hastings? Lewis Wickes Hine called Ed...
09/07/2026

Did you know a photographer who changed American labor history lived right here in Hastings?

Lewis Wickes Hine called Edgars Lane home from 1917 to 1940. His haunting photos of child workers in mines and mills helped push child labor laws into existence.

His other well knows series he did were on Ellis Island, Work Portraits, Men At Work, Empire State Building, Shelton Looms, Works Progress Administration, National Research Project plus many more.

These are some of Hine’s Hastings photos in the George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film collection.

Our School buildings stood apart for decades. 📚🚌 📝🏫Then 1931 changed everything.🏫 * Farragut building constructed in 190...
09/03/2026

Our School buildings stood apart for decades. 📚🚌 📝🏫Then 1931 changed everything.

🏫 * Farragut building constructed in 1902
🏫 * Washington building erected in 1911
🏫 * High School building built in 1927
🏫 * Shreve Admin building erected in 1932
🏫 School Street building erected circa 1934
🏫 Cochrane Gym added in 1963

It wasn’t until the Shreve Administration building rose in the early 1930s that all the buildings marked with an asterisk were finally linked. This 1931 photograph captures construction underway at Union Free School District 4: Farragut at left, the High School at far right, and the Washington building in the background.

📸Arthur C. Langmuir October 11, 1931

🍂 The Cottage is open in September! Come visit us:🗓️ This Saturday, Sept 5 from 2 to 4pm�🗓️ Mondays, Sept 14, 21 & 28 / ...
08/31/2026

🍂 The Cottage is open in September! Come visit us:
🗓️ This Saturday, Sept 5 from 2 to 4pm�🗓️ Mondays, Sept 14, 21 & 28 / 11am to 2pm�🗓️ Thursdays, Sept 3, 10, 17 & 24 / 11am to 2pm

While you’re planning your visit, have you read our latest blog post?

Meet Edward Wilkes Henry: newspaper publisher, gas station owner, and a man of very big dreams. He campaigned for a bridge across the Hudson decades before the Tappan Zee, tried to bring Admiral Farragut’s Civil War flagship to Hastings, and even pitched his ideas to his friend FDR, who once stopped by his Broadway gas station to fill up. ⛽📰

Swipe to the last slide for a fun find from our archives: a 1982 letter to the editor from Coral Jander Brown, recalling a letter her father-in-law Hugh Brown wrote to the paper 50 years earlier that mentions Edward Wilkes Henry.

👉Read the full blog post here: https://hastingshistoricalsociety.org/2026/07/06/the-big-dreams-of-edward-wilkes-henry/

08/03/2026

It’s a rainy Monday! We are open until 2pm, come see our exhibit on Hastings in the 1960s.

📍 Visit us this August! 🏡The Cottage is open Mondays & Thursdays, 11am–2pm:🗓️ Mondays: Aug 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31🗓️ Thursday...
08/01/2026

📍 Visit us this August! 🏡

The Cottage is open Mondays & Thursdays, 11am–2pm:
🗓️ Mondays: Aug 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31
🗓️ Thursdays: Aug 6, 13, 20 & 27

Stop by to explore local history — we’d love to see you!

Before Hastings built the pool at Hillside in 1965, now known as the Chemka Pool, residents had to find other ways to co...
07/19/2026

Before Hastings built the pool at Hillside in 1965, now known as the Chemka Pool, residents had to find other ways to cool off from the summer heat. Big draws were the Hudson River and the Saw Mill River. Another option was the Duck Pond, a natural swimming hole fed by a stream running from the top of Hillside near present-day Sugar Pond. It sat where the pool’s parking lot is today, until the county condemned it in 1951.

In September 1931, seven-year-old Catherine Fediw of 8 Dock Street was playing with friends on the wharf of the Hastings Lumber Company when she fell into the Hudson.

Her companions’ screams drew the attention of John Heuss, a 14-year-old drug store messenger from 26 Main Street who was fishing nearby; he dived in and brought the child ashore. As reported in the New York Times, September 7, 1931

Everyday heroes.

When the Hastings Youth Center opened in 1949, it made headlines 📰 the New York Times noted it was the first municipal c...
07/17/2026

When the Hastings Youth Center opened in 1949, it made headlines 📰 the New York Times noted it was the first municipal clubhouse in Westchester built specially designed for teenagers.

Built into a hillside, the modern building rose one story at the front but held three full floors in back, with windows overlooking a valley and brook. Inside: recreation rooms, meeting spaces, a library, and a kitchen; a world away from the old center’s cramped rented rooms at 8 Dock Street (now Southside Avenue) by the railroad tracks.

None of it would have happened without Martin Lowenfish, who worked side by side with the Village and local kids throughout the three-year project. The town dedicated the building to him in 1950. Though it was later replaced by the larger brick building we know today, his drive and generosity remain the lasting legacy of the project.

The SouthSide Social Athletic Club occupies now what was 8 Dock Street.

Address

407 Broadway. The Observatory Cottage In Draper Park
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
10706

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 2pm
Thursday 11am - 2pm

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