A sketch of the Getty House when it opened on South Broadway in the 1850’s
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, Chair of Revolutionary Yonkers 250, President
Emerita Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Member of the Yonkers
Landmarks Preservation Board, and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, July 15 th
July 15, 1920: Allan Helffrich was selected for the US Olympic Team; this made Helffrich,
a “half-miler,” the second Yonkers man to be a member of an Olympic team. The first was
Thomas Morrissey in 1908; marathoner Morrissey later joined the Yonkers Police Department.
July 15, 1942: Rear Admiral Husband Kimmel, Retired, who moved to 280 Bronxville
Road in Yonkers after retiring from the Navy, joined the Frederick Harris firm in New York City;
Retired Admiral Harris’s firm worked on top secret projects. Kimmel was Commander of the
Pacific Fleet on December 7 th 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, was relieved of command
shortly afterward and faced Court Marshall for dereliction of duty. The Roberts Commission
found him not guilty of dereliction of duty.
Tuesday, July 16 th
July 16, 1939: Yonkers City Court Interpreter Charles Civello received a cable
announcing his son-in-law Lew Yancey of Lawrence Street had safely landed in London. Yancey
had made a non-stop flight across the Atlantic from Buffalo with co-pilot Russell Roger.
July 16, 1942: Helen Friberg of the Women’s Red Cross Production Unit announced her
volunteers sold War Stamps totaling $645.05 at Empire City Racetrack that day!
Wednesday, July 17 th
July 17, 1934: Sailors from the USS Salt Lake City apparently had a very good time
during their previous visit to Yonkers; while their ship was docked at Camden, fifty sailors
chartered a bus for a return visit to Yonkers to spend the day!
July 17, 1942: Yonkers merchants sponsored the Yonkers’ Hero’s Day program in Getty
Square to honor World War II servicemen and women… and to sell War Bonds and Stamps!
Promptly at 11:30 am, trumpeters from Sacred Heart Church sounded their horns calling
Yonkers to this special event; more than 2,000 people responded! Ensign Richard McShane
from the USS Marblehead, which played a key part in the Battle of Macassar Strait, stirred the
crowd. He spoke about Keynote speaker was James Braddock, former World’s Heavyweight
Champion; other speakers were Yonkers Red Cross Chapter Chair Justin McCarthy and
Reverend Edward McGrath from the Church of the Immaculate Conception (St. Mary’s) gave
the invocation, Reverend of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church led those gather in prayers, and Rabbi
Aaron Kahan of Lincoln Park Temple gave the benediction. Colonel Lesley Sutherland presented
special certificates to companies selling bonds.
Thursday July 18th
July 18, 1904: City Judge Kellogg fined six midnight Hudson River bathers $2 each. Why
the fine? They failed to make use of their bathing suits during nocturnal swimming in the river.
The fine came with a warning that a second offense would be met with the maximum allowed
$5 fine.
July 18, 1950: The Yonkers Board of Education hired its third African American teacher,
Willieanna Crier, to be an elementary teacher at School Six. Miss Crier, who had a BS from
Hampton Institute and an MA in Education from Columbia University, came from a
distinguished family. Her father, Colonel Douglas Crier, served our country during WWI and
WW II; during his second round of service, he was appointed commander of the 23 rd Internal
Security Battalion. Afterwards, he worked in Yonkers City Court, and served as President of the
NAACP.
Friday, July 19 th
July 19, 1928: Albert Jost of Riverdale Avenue patented a safety device for airplanes he
worked on for a year, a device enabling planes to land softly from any altitude in case of engine
problems. The device, a parachute attached to the top wing of a plane, opened by pulling a
le$50,000ver inside the cockpit.
July 19, 1939: Otis Elevator announced it received the contract to install 18 escalators at
the Sixth Avenue Line’s 34 th Street Station. Otis’ bid was $438,979; this was about $50,000 less
than the Westinghouse Electric Elevator Company bid. The NYC Board of Transportation
announced the escalators were to be the “most commodious and modern and most beautiful
of those in any station in New York, if not the world.”
Saturday, July 20th
July 20, 1871: Plans were announced for improving the little park in Getty Square. For
several years, the railing and retaining wall were in bad condition; planned improvements
would rectify this lack of maintenance. Yonkers widened the sidewalk in front of the Getty
House four feet, reducing the “carriage way,” now South Broadway. The little park would be
narrowed by four feet to return the street to its formal width. The park would be shortened ten
feet at the southern end and six feet at the north, and round its corners. The public water
pump would be moved to the northwest corner and the streetlamp to the opposite corner.
When the new building for St. John’s Church was completed, there would be few village centers
that would equal our Yonkers!
July 20, 1924: Yonkers’ own Vincent Richards became the first American to win gold in
the Olympic Men’s Tennis singles! Richards still holds the record as the youngest male to win a
major championship; at the age of 15, he won the 1918 Men’s Doubles Championship with Bill
Tilden.
Sunday, July 21 st
July 21, 1907: Governor Charles Evans Hughes signed two bills affecting Yonkers. The
first was an act prohibiting building elevated structures on Riverdale Avenue and South
Broadway; the second authorized Yonkers to grant the New York Central Railroad land for
“railroad purposes.”
July 21, 1927: Westchester County Park Commission temporarily closed down Tibbetts
Brook swimming pool for two days to remove bath house checks and bathing accessories that
had been dropped into the pool and blocked the drains.
July 21, 1928: Although Yonkers experienced a terrible storm, the recently constructed
flume running under the new City Plaza (now Van der Donck Park), acted like a bed for the
Nepperhan River and proved itself to be more than adequate.
Questions or comments on this column? Email YonkersHistory1646@gmail.com.
For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, Sherwood House and upcoming
events, please visit our website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email
info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org
