When Manhattan had a Tower Just for Manufacturing Lead Bullets, the Youle Shot Tower
in 1823, a lead shot tower belonging to George Youle dominated the Midtown waterfront landscape, created for the manufacturing of bullets and ammunition.
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When Soho Had 10,000 Square Foot Illuminated Panorama Painting Showing Exotic Places Around the World
In 1830s Soho there was a 10,000 sq ft rotunda that showed illuminated panorama paintings showing views of Jersualem, Niagara Falls and other exotic places.
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Inwood Hill Park’s Secret Native American Caves
On a visit to Inwood Hill Park on the northernmost tip of Manhattan, dig into the history of the Inwood Native American Caves amongst the schist and rock.
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The Secret Plot to Kidnap Benedict Arnold in NYC
It was October, 1780, and George Washington had a problem. General Benedict Arnold, decorated officer, the hero of Saratoga, had just defected to the British.
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Find the Stone Pillars Used to Test Grand Central’s Facade with ‘City Full of History’ Episode 4
In 1905 the New York Central Railroad needed to figure out what to build Grand Central Terminal out of. Their experiment is still in Van Cortlandt Park!
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Why NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is Crowned With Piles of Blocks
Almost no one notices the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s most curious design feature: the four piles of uncut, unfinished stone blocks atop the museum’s entrance.
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Bowling Green Park Has the Oldest Fence in NYC, A Cast Iron Witness to the American Revolution
While Bowling Green has changed a lot since the Revolution, there is one witness that bears the scars of those events: Bowling Green’s cast-iron fence.
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The Norwegians Who Crossed the Atlantic from NYC in a Rowboat in 1896
In 1896 Norwegian immigrants George Harbo and Frank Samuelsen set out to make their fortune by rowing an 18-foot rowboat across the Atlantic Ocean
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Grand Central Terminal’s Fly-On-The-Wall (Or Technically, the Ceiling)
Much is said about Grand Central Terminal. One overlooked detail is hidden in plain sight, the proverbial fly-on-the-wall. Or in this case, a fly on the ceiling
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The Hidden History of Grand Central Terminal’s Celestial Ceiling
Every New Yorker knows of Grand Central Terminal’s celestial mural, but they might not know the stories it hides. In fact, it’s not even the original mural!
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Meet Ezra Meeker: The 76-year-old Who Drove a Covered Wagon Down Broadway in NYC to Save the Oregon Trail
In September 1907, Ezra Meeker, a 76-year-old pioneer, drove his ox-drawn covered wagon down Broadway and over the Brooklyn Bridge to save the Oregon Trail
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The Great West Point Chain Hoax That Conned Mayors and Musuems
In the late 1800s a junk shop owner and secondhand arms dealer conned everyone from a NYC mayor to the Smithsonian by selling links of the West Point Chain.
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