Briarcliff Manor History Trivia Quiz - Notebook Vol. 2021-1. The Trivia Quiz Answers
Answers to Briarcliff Manor History Trivia Questions No1
We have provided some additional information and pictures on the sites mentioned in the quiz. More information can be found at BMSHS, the Brief History and Briarcliff Stories pages of our website, and on the internet especially Wikipedia thanks to the efforts of our trustee Michael Feist. As always if you have any questions contact us at mail@briarcliffhistory.org
We will also post the answers on the Briarcliff Notebook page of our website at https://www.briarcliffhistory.org/events-news and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BriarcliffHistory/
1. Briarcliff Steam Laundry was opened by Fred Stafford in 1909. At its peak it employed 100 people and served private customers and luxury hotels. Drivers dressed in chauffeur’s uniforms covered twelve routes in Westchester, Connecticut and New York City.
2. This building which currently houses March and other businesses contained the first three stores in the village (a drugstore, luncheonette, general store). Other buildings have been added over the years. Renovation of this block after a fire in 1916 eliminated the second floor apartments.
3. Operating Engineers Building is the headquarters of the Union of International Operating Engineers, Local 137, for heavy equipment operators. Built by James Stillman, President of National City Bank of New York, as a dairy, Walter Law converted it into the farm office after he purchased the farm in 1890. In 1901 Law established the offices of the Briarcliff Realty Company which handled the sales of his properties including the dairy farm which he moved upstate to Pine Plains in 1907 - 1908. From 1928 - 1930, the Briarcliff Public Library was housed in the tower room of the building.
4. Scarborough School was located at 590 Albany Post Road and closed in 1978. Its alumni included, in addition to the Vanderlip and Harden children, Benjamin Cheever, Eleanor "Sistie" and Curtis "Buzzie" Dall (Grandchildren of President Franklin Roosevelt), John Kelvin Koelsch (Medal of Honor recipient), lyasah Shabazz (author and daughter of Malcolm X), and Tina Louise (Actress). In 1980 - 1981 the school reopened as the Clearview School by the Association for Mentally Ill Children of Westchester for students from nursery school age to age twenty-one.
5. The Crossways Tea House operated out of the Joseph Whitson House from around 1900 until the late 1930s. It was a popular restaurant and tea house with the locals and the girls from the Dow School. We believe the building was demolished prior to 1943 because the property was used for village fairs in 1943 and 1944 and for performances of Van Leer’s circus in 1944 and 1945. The Parish Hall of Briarcliff Congregational Church was built in 1957. For more information see Briarcliff Notebook Vol 2.3 August/September 2019 Cross Roads/Crossways.
6. The Vescio Community Center occupies the former Tudor-style train station of the New York and Putnam Railroad Walter Law built in 1909 because he didn’t think the original station was grand enough for Briarcliff. In 1959, the rail road discontinued passenger service and the village purchased the building and converted it into a library. In 2007, an addition was built onto the original train station and the library moved into these larger quarters. The train station building stood vacant until 2016 when it was renovated and became the Vescio Community Center. For more information see Briarcliff Notebook Vol 3.5 The Library
7. Carrie Chapman Catt lived at Juniper Ledge from 1919 until 1929. She served as President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and following the adoption of the 19th amendment helped form the League of Women Voters. In 1921 She hosted an event for over 100 members of the League of Women Voters where she joked that she bought Juniper Ledge so the juniper berries could not be used to produce gin. For more information see Briarcliff Notebook Vol 3.2 August 2020 Carrie Chapman Catt: Warrior for Women.
6. The mansion, Haymount House, at 25 Studio Hill Road, now houses the restaurant, The Briarcliff Manor. It was built in 1910 by Williamson Whitehead Fuller, a lawyer and the general counsel for the American Tobacco Company. For more information see Briarcliff Notebook Vol 2.1 Haymount.
9. Atria Senior Living on Pleasantville Road was built in 1966 on the site of the Pace Village Center which had been the Briarcliff Middle/High School. The original building was built in 1908 as an elementary school for grades 1 – 8. High School students attended Ossining High School until 1918 when the building was expanded for high school education. In the 1980’s it was leased to Pace University following the construction of Todd School and the Middle - High Schools.
10. These columns flank the original entrance to the Beechwood estate of Frank and Narcissa Vanderlip on the Albany Post Road. During a renovation of the facade of the First National Bank at 55 Wall Street in 1908, two columns were “left over” and Frank Vanderlip, Vice President of the bank, had them moved to Beechwood. The columns were too tall for the gate and they were shortened by being buried to approximately ½ of their height. Additional information on Beechwood can be found in Briarcliff Notebook Vol 1.1 Beechwood.
