Hudson River and Spuyten Duyvil Bridge viewed from Inwood Hill Park; photo by Roger W. Smith

This photo of mine shows the northernmost end of Inwood Hill Park. with the Hudson River and Spuyten Duyvil Bridge (which connects Manhattan with the Bronx).

The author Theodore Dreiser briefly was employed on a work gang that was constructing the bridge. Recovering from a nervous breakdown, he took a job in 1903 on his older brother, Paul Dresser’s, recommendation as a day laborer on the New York Central Railroad for a dollar and a half a day.

Dreiser lived in the area for a while — in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, which is only a few blocks walk above Inwood (the northernmost neighborhood in Manhattan).

Dreiser had already published Sister Carrie, but it was not a commercial success.

Paul Dresser, a popular songwriter and man about town, had an in with the railroad boss. He was associated with the Tin Pan Alley firm Howley, Haviland & Company (also known as Howley & Dresser), which was located on East 20th Street. Paul died in 1906.

Spuyten Duyvil mill town (Kingsbridge Historical Society)

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   August 2026