creating a wider passageway south. In doing so, it cut off a piece of ManhattanâMarble Hillâturning it into an island. When the county of the Bronx was created by the state on January 1, 1914, Marble Hillâstill an islandâwas officially included as part of Manhattan. Unfortunately for mapmakers everywhere, the old path of the Harlem River fell into disuse and was filled in sometime during that same year. Marble Hill was, from that point on, a neighborhood in Manhattan that was paradoxically attached to the Bronx but not to Manhattan itself.
For more than two decades, no one seemed bothered by this. However, in 1939, Bronx borough president James F. Lyons tried to capitalize on this curiosity and turn it into some publicity for himself. He went to the neighborhoodââunarmed and escorted only by his chauffeur,â in the words of the New York Times âand climbed to the summit of a rocky hill, where he planted the flag of Bronx County. Symbolically, he was claiming the neighborhood for his borough. While residents of Marble Hill jeered him, Lyons was unperturbed, comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln and noting that some disliked Honest Abe for freeing the slaves.
The news media ate it up, just as Lyons had hoped. The Times article featured a picture of him, grinning widely, holding the Bronx County flag on a rock atop the hill, his chauffeur-assistant standing stoically next to him. Everyone seemed to appreciate the joke, but the Times , for some reason, did not carry Lyonsâs self-comparison to Abe Lincoln. Instead, they saw a different person in Lyons, one who doesnât seem so funny to modern ears: Adolf Hitler.
The Times casually referred to him as âthe Bronx Fuehrerâ multiple times in its coverage of his âbloodless coupâ the next day. Further, the Times called Marble Hill the Bronxâs âSudetenland,â a reference to the section of Czechoslovakia that the Nazis had annexed a year prior. All of this was done tongue-in-cheek, of course, but apparently in the spring of 1939, it was perfectly okay for a major U.S. publication to jokingly liken an American politician to Adolf Hitler.
As for Marble Hill itself, the attempted annexation failedâit had no lasting impact on the geography of New York City. To this day, the neighborhood remains a part of Manhattan, although residents go to schools in the Bronx and are serviced by Bronx-based emergency responders.
BONUS FACT
On the day of Lyonsâs attempted annexation of Marble Hill, reporters thought that he had brought in reinforcementsâthere were four tanks sitting near the border between the neighborhood and the Bronx. It turns out that was a coincidence. An enterprising entrepreneur had bought fourteen surplus tanks from the government and was shipping them to South America to be used as tractors. Ten of the fourteen had already been shipped, but the other four were sitting there, unmanned and uninvolved, as Lyons and his driver invaded Marble Hill.
REVERSE CARTOGRAPHY
THE MAP THAT PREDATED THE TOWN
Travelers starting in the New York City area and making their way across New York Stateâperhaps to a resort in the Catskills or to Binghamton Universityâmay stop at the Roscoe Diner . It sits on Route 17, one of the main thoroughfares between the city and points westward, and has a reputation extending for miles, in part because you can get some very good French toast there. Otherwise, you are in the middle of nowhere. Roscoe, the town (and itâs not really a town, but a âcensus designated placeâ), has only 900 or so residents. The nearby municipality of Agloe has even fewer: no one lives there.
But thatâs because it only kind of exists.
If two companies make a map of the same area but do so independent of each other, the maps should have some identical data. Towns and roads and bodies of water need to be represented accurately or drivers and others using the maps
For more than two decades, no one seemed bothered by this. However, in 1939, Bronx borough president James F. Lyons tried to capitalize on this curiosity and turn it into some publicity for himself. He went to the neighborhoodââunarmed and escorted only by his chauffeur,â in the words of the New York Times âand climbed to the summit of a rocky hill, where he planted the flag of Bronx County. Symbolically, he was claiming the neighborhood for his borough. While residents of Marble Hill jeered him, Lyons was unperturbed, comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln and noting that some disliked Honest Abe for freeing the slaves.
The news media ate it up, just as Lyons had hoped. The Times article featured a picture of him, grinning widely, holding the Bronx County flag on a rock atop the hill, his chauffeur-assistant standing stoically next to him. Everyone seemed to appreciate the joke, but the Times , for some reason, did not carry Lyonsâs self-comparison to Abe Lincoln. Instead, they saw a different person in Lyons, one who doesnât seem so funny to modern ears: Adolf Hitler.
The Times casually referred to him as âthe Bronx Fuehrerâ multiple times in its coverage of his âbloodless coupâ the next day. Further, the Times called Marble Hill the Bronxâs âSudetenland,â a reference to the section of Czechoslovakia that the Nazis had annexed a year prior. All of this was done tongue-in-cheek, of course, but apparently in the spring of 1939, it was perfectly okay for a major U.S. publication to jokingly liken an American politician to Adolf Hitler.
As for Marble Hill itself, the attempted annexation failedâit had no lasting impact on the geography of New York City. To this day, the neighborhood remains a part of Manhattan, although residents go to schools in the Bronx and are serviced by Bronx-based emergency responders.
BONUS FACT
On the day of Lyonsâs attempted annexation of Marble Hill, reporters thought that he had brought in reinforcementsâthere were four tanks sitting near the border between the neighborhood and the Bronx. It turns out that was a coincidence. An enterprising entrepreneur had bought fourteen surplus tanks from the government and was shipping them to South America to be used as tractors. Ten of the fourteen had already been shipped, but the other four were sitting there, unmanned and uninvolved, as Lyons and his driver invaded Marble Hill.
REVERSE CARTOGRAPHY
THE MAP THAT PREDATED THE TOWN
Travelers starting in the New York City area and making their way across New York Stateâperhaps to a resort in the Catskills or to Binghamton Universityâmay stop at the Roscoe Diner . It sits on Route 17, one of the main thoroughfares between the city and points westward, and has a reputation extending for miles, in part because you can get some very good French toast there. Otherwise, you are in the middle of nowhere. Roscoe, the town (and itâs not really a town, but a âcensus designated placeâ), has only 900 or so residents. The nearby municipality of Agloe has even fewer: no one lives there.
But thatâs because it only kind of exists.
If two companies make a map of the same area but do so independent of each other, the maps should have some identical data. Towns and roads and bodies of water need to be represented accurately or drivers and others using the maps
Similar Books
