Crossroads/Crossways What's the Diff? Notebook Vol. 2019-2
Bob Fetonti – BMSHS Trustee
We appreciate all the feedback we receive from The Briarcliff Notebook. Two recent emails concerning our article on ”Haymount” are worth sharing.
The first from Tom Vincent, Past President of BMSHS, speaks to the “grey” area of history, especially local history. We try to be careful in separating fact from lore. Sometimes the facts are just not known. In the article, we stated the photograph below on the left (Figure 1) is “believed” to show elephants from Van Leer’s Holland Classic Circus boarding the train in Briarcliff. Tom wrote that he had been told by the late Village Historian, Eileen Weber, that the photograph was of elephants from a Barnum & Bailey Circus facility in Somers being loaded back into their cars while on route to New York City, after a water and rest stop in Briarcliff. Although “Old Bet,” as immortalized by the Elephant Hotel in Somers, did live in the Somers area, we could not find any mention of a Barnum & Bailey Circus facility in Somers. Additionally, the Somers Historical Society could not identify the photograph. The Barnum and Bailey Circus did have winter quarters for some of their animals on farms near Pine Plains, NY(1), and the circus did travel between shows by train, so it is certainly possible that circus elephants in route to New York City on the New York and Putnam Rail Road stopped in Briarcliff. We also know, based on newspaper accounts, that elephants from the Holland Classic Circus were housed in the barn at Haymount in the 1940s.(2) Either explanation could be correct. We thank Tom for the information and pass it on.
The second email from resident Jaime Malanowski refers to the photograph above on the right (Figure 2) which we erroneously labeled as occurring at the “Crossroads across from Law Park.” Jaime wrote to ask about the “Crossroads.” While there is a “Crossroads” in Briarcliff, the location of the picture was the “Crossways” which was the site of two performances by the Holland Classic Circus horses. Jaime thank you for catching this.
Figure 3: BMSHS Collection ca 1906
Figure 4: Photo from “A Village Between Two Rivers”
In any event we decided to take this opportunity to talk about both locations: “The Crossroads” and “The Crossways.”
The “Crossways”, shown in the photo above taken around 1906, was by this time a teahouse located at the corner of Pleasantville and South State roads where the parish hall of the Briarcliff Congregational Church now stands. The date of this photograph is another example of the “grey area” of local history. There are several dates associated with this photograph in our files: ca 1900, ca 1904, and ca 1906. The photograph shows utility poles with power lines. According to notes from a meeting of the Village Trustees on February 25, 1904, the first 29 electric street lights were installed by Walter Law’s Briarcliff Power Company in 1904. We decided ca 1906 was the safest bet.
The “Crossways” was built in 1820 by Joseph Whitson and was the home of John Whitson. The Whitson Family owned 400 acres of farmland and had several houses in the area and so the intersection of Pleasantville and South State roads became known as Whitson’s Corners. The house later served for a short time as the Whitson’s Corners Post Office. Around 1900, the Whitson House became the Crossways Tea House.(3) It was a very popular meeting place among locals and the young ladies of Mrs. Dow’s School and later Briarcliff Junior College.
We don’t know exactly when the teahouse was demolished, but a photograph in the collection of BMSHS dated ca 1945 shows a vacant lot. In 1953 the Briarcliff Congregational Church purchased the land to build the parish house, Beebe Hall, which was constructed in 1957.
Figure 5: Photo C Everett Garrie 1952 BMSHS Collection
Figure 6: The Five Corners Sketch by Danny Donati 2014
The “Crossroads” according to Village Historian Karen Smith is the intersection of Route 9A and North State roads.(4) As you see from the photograph below, the area has changed since 1952(5). The Crossroads Housing Development, which was built along North State Road for veterans returning from World War II and completed in 1952,(6) is marked on the map. We have also marked the location of a few notable buildings like the Village Hall which is now The Patio Restaurant, the Post Office which is now images art gallery, and the Recreation Department and Village Library building which now houses Thalle Industries. The sites now occupied by Squires’s Restaurant and Mrs. Greens are also indicated.
Long-time resident, Danny Donati, says the interesction was also called “The Five Corners” because Pierce Road, which no longer exists, ran from the intersection to Pleasantville Road through the gas station which most residents still call Whitson’s or Birritella’s Garage (See sketch).
As always, we welcome comments. Additional information can be found in the collection of the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society, the local history section of the Briarcliff Library, and the internet. We invite everyone to come and stop by for a visit. The BMSHS is located in the lower level of the library next to the Recreation Department and is open most weekdays from 10 am to 4 pm. We also invite you to submit questions, and topics for future Briarcliff Notebooks.
FOOTNOTES
1. “Pine Plains Was an Ideal Location for Housing Circus Animals” by Anthony Muso, Poughkeepsie Journal, 8/29/2017
2. “A Look at Old Briarcliff” by Betti Logan, The Citizen Register, 4/28/1970
3 Together We Build, Briarcliff Congregational Church, 1955
4. Email from Karen Smith to Jaime Malanowski, 6/4/2019
5. Aerial View of Village photo by C Everett Garrie, 1952
6. Changing Landscapes by Mary Cheever, P. 145
SOURCES
Changing Landscapes, Mary Cheever, BMSHS, 1990
The Ville – Once meant the Crossways, Today It plays a Big Role in College Life by Constance Jackson, Briarcliff Circle, Briarcliff Jr College Alumnae News, Winter 1954
Together We Build, Briarcliff Congregational Church Publication, 1955
Whitson’s Corners by Karen Smith, BMSHS Newsletter, May 2015
The Whitson Family & “Whitson’s Corners”: Our Noble Villages Forebears by Tom Vincent, BMSHS Newsletter, Fall 2014
A Look At Old Briarcliff by Betti Logan, Citizens Register, 4/28/70
A Village Between Two Rivers, BMSHS, 1977
Briarcliff Manor 1902-1952, Committee of the Semi-Centennial, 1952
Sketch of the Five Corners, Danny Donati, 2014
Excerpts from the Minutes of the Board of Trustees of the Village Briarcliff Manor: 1902 - 1917