Marble Hill

It's time for interesting facts that no one cares about! Marble Hill is a small hill across the river at the northern tip of Manhattan. While it is technically located in the Bronx, it is legally considered part of Manhattan, also known as New York County.

Marble Hill is naturally part of Manhattan. The river ran up around the hill when the Dutch settlers first arrived in the early 1600s. (FYI: the exchange where European settlers purchased Manhattan from the Indians for $24 took place around there, in Inwood). In the 1890s, the Army Corps of Engineers built a canal for shipping routes, known as the Harlem River Ship Channel, which essentially rendered Marble Hill an Island. In 1897, the Greater New York Charter designated the island of Marble Hill as part of the borough of Manhattan. Even when the Bronx was established on January 1, 1914, Marble Hill remained part of Manhattan.

Later in 1914, the old river running north of the island was filled in, connecting Marble Hill to the rest of the Bronx. Despite many efforts by the Bronx to take over Marble Hill, the residents have maintained their connection to Manhattan. It was even referred to as the Bronx's "Sudetenland," a clever reference if you know about Hitler taking over Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland in 1939. In 1984, the issue was ended once and for all when New York State Legislature passed legislation declaring the neighborhood part of Manhattan.

I look forward to your comments expressing how "boring" this post is. Shut up, Matt!