Bath House on Yonkers Avenue, still standing but not in operation
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Municipal Historian, 1977 recipient of the Key to the City of Yonkers, President Emeritus Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board Member, Founder of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, July 13th
July 13, 1935: John D. Reilly, Yonkers resident and President of the Todd Shipbuilding Corporation, joined President Roosevelt at a weekend party at the Jefferson Islands Club on the Potomac River.
Reilly, one of Yonkers Special Deputy Public Safety Commissioners, was one of several Democrats who came together to promote harmony in the party. Although officially a “fishing trip,” Senators, Congressmen, Cabinet members and other government officials joined a few citizens on the weekend outing aimed to heal an interparty riff. Former Yonkers resident Harry Hopkins also was in the gathering. Maryland Republican Governor Harry Nice’s steamboat brought the group to the President’s ship.
Today, the Jefferson Islands Club encourages bipartisanship and national unity. It presents annual Citizen of the Year awards; in 2025, the awards were presented to Senators John Boozman (Arkansas) and Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota).
July 13, 1953: Twelve hundred Alexander Smith employees were back on the job for short term resumption of plant operations. Reopened to finish the work in progress when it closed the month before, they also dismantled plant equipment.
Tuesday, July 14th
July 14, 1918: The Yonkers War Garden Committee held an official inspection tour of some of Yonkers’ war gardens. Approximately 2500 gardens were tilled here, averaging 25 by 50 feet. They announced Yonkers had more gardens per capita than any other city in the country.
July 14, 1960: Refined Syrups & Sugars came to the aid of Northeast Yonkers! Two water lines shut down two days earlier after “mishaps.” The company filled two 4500-gallon tank trucks with water, then drove them to the Grassy Sprain Heights section to distribute water to residents. Refined Syrups & Sugar sent a third 4500-gallon tank truck with water the next day.
A 20-inch water main joint had blown; area water was shut off. Ninety minutes later, a large rock fell and smashed a newly installed 12-inch line; that area’s water was turned off.
Greenburgh ran a hose to a Yonkers hydrant to provide water. Yonkers Raceway agreed to lend the city two tank trucks… but their trucks were only used on track grounds and didn’t have license plates! They couldn’t drive on our streets.
Water was restored the next day. DPW Commissioner Noonan expressed Yonkers’ gratitude to Refined Syrups, Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers Fire Department and Yonkers Police Department for their assistance during the emergency.
Wednesday, July 15th
July 15, 1915: Although Yonkers spent $250,000 building the Seventh Ward Swimming Pool and Bath House, Yonkers didn’t have the money to hire its four needed attendants… it remained closed, although officially, it opened July 4th.
July 15, 1925: “Constructing Engineer” Ethelbert Fraser, working in his St. Andrew’s Place home laboratory, invented an electrical device, according to the Yonkers Herald, that would eliminate “all gear transmission, reduce operation and maintenance costs and provide surer braking facilities,” was awarded patent rights by the US Patent Office in Washington DC.
His steel invention was attached to the crank case. Operated from the driving wheel, the device eliminated gear shifts, the starting motor, clutch, fly wheel, gear transmission and the service brake. Its energy came from gasoline but used only half the amount. The paper reported Fraser was negotiating with General Motors, who wanted “to place the device on automobiles of their manufacture.”
He had invented a high speed elevator and formed the Fraser Elevator Company in San Francisco to manufacture his fast elevators. Once Otis bought his patent, it hired him as a consulting engineer.
He shared his Yonkers laboratory with pioneer automobile builder Arthur Garford, who had patented the Garford Motor Truck.
Thursday, July 16th
July 16, 1943: President of the Yonkers Federation of Churches, Reverend Otheman Smith was the pastor of Church of the Redeemer on Valentine Lane. During his vacation, he also was an assembly line worker at Henry Ford’s Willow Run Bomber Plant!
July 16, 1954: Alexander Smith, Inc., announced some Yonkers employees would be assigned to branches in Greenville, Mississippi and Philadelphia when the plant closed.
Friday, July 17th
July 17, 1938: More than 9,000 workers in the largest companies in Yonkers began two-week vacations; 6,700 were from Alexander Smith Carpet Company and 2,300 from Otis Elevator Company. During the vacation, both companies had a skeleton work force on duty.
July 17, 1946: Dr. William Crocker, head of Boyce Thompson Plant Institute, announced Yonkers citizens had produced more than half a million dollars of vegetables in their WWII victory gardens!
Saturday, July 18th
July 18, 1917: St. John’s Riverside Hospital announced it would give free treatment to any man who volunteered for service in the war but was rejected for a small physical problem.
July 18, 1920: Admiral Purnell Harrington unveiled a bronze tablet in the YMCA vestibule in memory of Alexander Saunders, donor of the land on which the Y stands on.
July 18, 1933: After touring Yonkers subsistence gardens, State Emergency Relief Administrator Wilfred Georgia announced ours were among the finest in New York State!
Sunday, July 19th
July 19, 1902: Yonkers Common Council Aldermen adopted a resolution giving the new Oak Street firehouse to the Yonkers Board of Fire Commissioners, who refused to accept the firehouse until gas fixtures were installed.
The Fire Commissioner stated it was the duty of the Common Council to complete the building; he would not accept the building until it was.
July 19, 1940: Mulford Gardens, Yonkers 552 home project, was dedicated to Municipal Housing Authority Chairman Matthew Kelly. Kelly had spearheaded Yonkers effort to build our first low income project.
If you have questions on this column, email yonkershistory1646@gmail.com.
For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, the Sherwood House Museum or upcoming events, please visit their website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.
