September 2018 – Bookworm History

Last time on “City Full of History”, we traveled to Inwood Hill Park to visit the Native American caves. Come along this week as we pay a visit to Frederick Catherwood’s Panorama, one of the most popular entertainment spots in early New York City!

By the time Frederick Catherwood arrived in New York City in 1836 he was already well-traveled beyond his 37 years of age. Born in London in 1799 he served as an architect’s apprentice for 6 years, took art classes at the Royal Academy, and spent 13 years studying and drawing ancient ruins around the Mediterranean. Returning to London he worked for Robert Buford at his panorama in Leicester Square, where he learned the business of popular entertainment. Buford painted several panoramas based on Catherwood’s drawings, while Catherwood gave lectures on his travels to an interested public.

Continue reading “Catherwood’s Panorama – ‘City Full of History’ Episode 8” →

Last time on “City Full of History”, we flew with the ‘Bremen’, the first airplane to cross the Atlantic Ocean non-stop from East to West! Come along this week as we visit Inwood Hill Park and dig in to the history behind New York City’s Native American Caves!

Inwood Hill Park is a unique place on the island of Manhattan. While Central Park, Manhattan’s other sprawling woodland area, was designed and built from the ground up, the area that would become Inwood Hill Park was largely undeveloped. By the end of the nineteenth century only a few small farms and the occasional mansion called the northern tip of Manhattan home. Because it went mostly untouched the Washington Heights and Inwood areas were ideal for archaeological digging and in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s a dedicated group of amateur archaeologists answered the call.

Continue reading “Inwood Native American Caves – ‘City Full of History’ Episode 7” →