Week of November 29

November 28, 1874 – 150 YEARS AGO

Rockland County Journal

BLIND TOM

       Lovers of the curious in nature and art should not fail to hear and see this singular musical prodigy on Wednesday evening, at Smithsonian Hall. We listened to his performances at the Nyack Opera House, about one year ago, and were both delighted and astonished at the display of his singular gifts.

       Tom's mental construction is such that it is almost impossible for him to receive an education of the most limited description, and yet he will catch and retain the air of the most difficult piece of music, and perform it correctly at once, by ear. The New York Herald of the 17th inst. says of him:

       “Tom sings also, accompanying himself. and his singing is very peculiar. Besides the nicer compositions which he plays with perhaps the skill of our best amateurs, he is competent to play two simple airs, one with each hand, and sing a third simultaneously. He likes his own music and applauds himself vigorously. He sometimes makes a speech, which it may be inferred is amusing, and altogether gives enough of an entertainment to interest any one.”

November 27, 1924 – 100 YEARS AGO

Pearl River News

HONEYMOONERS ARE FIRST OVER BRIDGE — Lieutenant and Mrs. Hopewell Cross New Span at Start of Wedding Tour

       Although the new Bear Mountain Bridge will not be opened to the public until Thanksgiving Day, one automobile has already crossed the span—the first automobile to cross the Hudson south of Albany under its own power. In the car were Lieutenant and Mrs. Ellis Hopewell and the crossing of the bridge marked the first stage of their honeymoon. Mrs. Hopewell was formerly Miss Jessie Welch, daughter of Major William A. Welch, Superintendent of the Palisades Interstate Park. Her marriage to Lieutenant Hopewell took place at the Chapel at West Point at noon on Thursday.

       The wedding was a military affair and the Chapel was well filled with friends and relatives of the happy couple. The bride was attired in a white satin gown and wore a veil of rare lace. She carried a bridal bouquet of white roses and lillies [sic] of the valley.

       Miss Stasia Shankey of Haverstraw was maid of honor. She wore a green silk dress with hat to match and carried a bouquet of chrysanthemums and autumn leaves. The bridesmaids, the Misses Lillian and Marion Dickinson of Cold Spring, Miss Ethel Rogers of Washington, D.C., and Mrs. John B. Lawson, wore silk dresses with hats to match and carried bouquets of chrysanthemums and autumn leaves.

Following the ceremony a reception and dinner took place at the Bear Mountain Inn, attended by guests after which the bride and the groom left for an extended tour of the south, stopping at Lieutenant Hopewell's home in Tennessee.

       Following the honeymoon, Lieutenant and Mrs. Hopewell will take up their residence in Atlanta, Georgia.

       The Welch family is well known in Haverstraw, having resided on First Street, this village for a number of years. During their residence here, Mrs. Hopewell was one of the most popular of the young ladies of the village.

[Image: Undated postcard, Bear Mountain Bridge, Bear Mountain, NY. From the HSRC’s permanent collection.]

       This photo postcard was taken south of the bridge looking north. The east side of the river is on the right in the photograph, and the west back of the river is on the left.

       The Bear Mountain Bridge spans the Hudson River between Westchester in the east and the intersection of Rockland and Orange counties in the west. Construction began on the Bear Mountain Bridge in October 1923. It was built by the Bear Mountain Hudson River Bridge Company.

     The Bear Mountain Bridge opened on Thanksgiving Day 1924. New York State took over ownership of the bridge on September 26, 1940. According to the New York State Bridge Authority, the original construction cost was $2,900,000. The Bear Mountain Bridge is a suspension bridge more than 2,250 feet long, and the deck (where the cars drive) is more than 150 feet above the Hudson River. The Bear Mountain Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

November 27,  1974 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News

GRATIFYING LIFE —  OLD TIMES RECALLED —   SPOTLIGHT ON NANUET

       They're not tenting on the old campground anymore.

       The bungalows owned for many years by Abe and Belle Metlitz on Townline Road were torn down for the development of one of Rockland's many subdivisions about seven years ago, and the great times they and their summer guests had there are only memories now.

       The Metlitzs are happy in a modern brick ranch home built by John Knutsen to replace their bungalow habitat when the subdivision was put in. They have new furniture and a big car in the drive-way.

       But they reminisce about the times when they worked long hours at Metlitz's Bungalows, the summer vacation colony of 22 structures they used to run.

       They chuckle over an old story of Abe milking a cow and hearing a city woman say she thought they were milked by pumping and tail up and down.

       There were the nights during World War II when Belle was an air raid warden and had to tell the guests to turn their lights off.

       The truck that brought vegetables from farms in the area, the chickens fresh killed at their farm—all these things they remember.

       "I think we had more peace of mind,” Belle, 63, reflects.

       The neighbors in the development that took the land over from the camp are nice, but the Metlitzes miss the old visits where friends would be together for whole evenings rather than just an arranged hour.

       There was entertainment in the evening by the guests, and she says they were more enjoyable than the professionals whom the Metlitzes hired to entertain their tenants in later years.

        "We raised a lot of money for the USO," she says, "from the crowds that would come in to see the show."

        Nineteen acres of the land was bought by Abe's family in 1921, and they had a chicken farm there. Later, Abe bought more land and built the camp with Belle.

       The Depression years brought city vacationers to them and they managed to survive with the business, building the home for the guests and planting trees and lawns. The bungalows were duplexes, and 44 families were able to have a country summer in them.

Many of the former vacationers built their own homes in the county because they loved it, Belle says.

       "It was a hard life," Belle remembers, “but the results were very gratifying."

       They were crowded out by the taxes that continued to rise here in the years after the building boom hit. Abe says there was no other way out but to sell to a builder themselves. The area just grew too quickly for them in recent years, and there was a lot of vandalism, according to Abe.

       They were able to get out in time, and now they have time. But Abe, now 73, advises others contemplating a free life to think again.

       "Don't retire," he says.

This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan on behalf of the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2024 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.