Pelham Once Had its Own Toboggan Course

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The Olympic sport of luge is one of the most thrilling winter sports.  Racers rocket down icy chutes that twist and turn to the finish line at speeds of nearly ninety miles per hour.  They travel on the very precipice of death, always at risk of an icy wreck that makes all wince even to consider. 

Pelham, it turns out, once had its own such course, albeit a nineteenth centry version on which toboggans rocketed down icy chutes.  The story behind construction of the course is fascinating.

It truly is impossible to trace the origin and history of the "toboggan."  According to one book published on the subject:

"THE word 'Toboggan' is said to have originated among the North American Indians who applied it to the flat wooden sledges which they used for carrying provisions from camp to camp.  From them the use of the toboggan spread to the more civilised inhabitants of Canada, and for many years tobogganing has been looked upon as the great winter amusement of that country.  Of late years it has been taken up keenly in the United States, where 'coasting' and 'Bob-sleighing' have now become very popular. . . ."

Source:  Gibson, Harry, TOBOGGANING ON CROOKED RUNS, p. 18 (London and New York:  Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894).  

During the 1880s, toboggan fever swept the world.  The first International Race among toboggans was run on February 12, 1883.  id., p. 23.  For a brief summary of the many, many toboggan clubs and courses that popped up in the northeastern United States and in lower Canada during the early 1880s, see Outing, Vol. VII, No. 6, p. 712, col. 2 & p. 713, cols. 1-2 (Mar. 1886).  Though it took a little time, by late 1885 toboggan fever had reached the tiny little Town of Pelham on the outskirts of New York City.  

At the time Pelham was the site of one of the nation's earliest "Country Clubs."  Known simply as "The Country Club," "The Country Club at Pelham," and "The Country Club at Westchester," the organization was begun in the Autumn of 1883.  At that time a group of Pelham Manor residents led by James M. Waterbury joined with a group of New York City “club men” and organized a new “Country Club” dedicated to the enjoyment of all “legitimate sports.” 

By 1884, the Club commenced operations in the nearly-34-acre area encompassed by the Suydam / Morris Estate adjacent to the Bartow property (the site of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and carriage house. The group converted a mansion on the property known as “Oakshade” (built by artist James Augustus Suydam between 1846 and 1848 and later owned by Richard Lewis Morris) into a clubhouse. The group was unable to buy the property, so it leased the property for five years. 

The property was adjacent to and just northeast of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum property, but straddled today's Shore Road with most of the property on the Long Island Sound side and about one-third of the acreage on the opposite side of Shore Road now covered by a portion of the Pelham Bay Golf Course.

The Country Club was extraordinarily successful.  Yet, it faced issues.  One such issue was that revenues and member interest declined precipitously during the winter months despite the fact that the Club offered a host of winter sports.  That seemed to change in the winter of 1885-1886.  The President of the club, James M. Waterbury, paid for construction of, and donated to the club, a massive toboggan course that quickly became "the most popular attraction of anything ever started there."

Actually, the course was a marvel.  It was a pair of toboggan slides (known as "chutes") that ran parallel to each other permitting informal and formal races.  Built by James Henderson in about mid-December 1885, various reports described the course as between 750 feet and 800 feet long with a decline of about thirty degrees from its top to its base.  Thus, the two "slides" as they were called were at least as long as two and one-half modern football fields.  

The toboggan chutes began near the clubhouse formerly known as the Oakshade mansion originally built by famed Hudson River School artist James Augustus Suydam.  The clubhouse stood on the Long Island Sound side of today's Shore Road only dozens of yards away from the carriage house that stands on the grounds of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.  The toboggan chutes extended from near the clubhouse toward Long Island Sound and, shortly before reaching the water's edge, turned southward where, according to one account, the chute emptied onto the adjacent Bartow estate.  The image below shows a very rough approximation of the location of the toboggan chutes built in late 1885.

Google Maps Detail With Arrows Showing A Very Rough Approximation

of the Location and Direction of the Toboggan Chutes Built and Used by

Members of The Country Club in the Winter of 1885-1886.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

The toboggan course was opened by at least January, 1886.  It became an immediate success.  Parties of happy tobagganers spent afternoons and evenings racing down the chutes, then ended each day with a fine dinner in The Country Club dining room followed by a relaxing evening in front of a roaring fire in the clubhouse fireplace.  According to one report published on February 5, 1886:

"Members and their friends come in large groups from the City to enjoy the sport, returning the same day.  The slide is patronized by all the elite of society.  Messrs. Delancy [sic] and Woodbury Kane, and Smith Haddon, of New York, also Messrs. Bull, F. A. Watson, Wm. Watson, Sands Waterbury and others, have given toboggan parties during the season.  The club grounds pay much better with the toboggan slide, than during the summer with polo and tennis."

Another account published at about the same time said:  "Small and gay parties . . . have gone out there almost every afternoon and, after enjoying the slide, have dined and spent the evening around a blazing wood fire in the clubhouse."  

Club members and their guests found that roaring down the toboggan chutes was thrilling and exhilarating.  One account describing the toboggan chutes at Pelham said:  "Who that has ever ridden can forget the swift mad rush through the air, with the sensation of flying that it brings, the streaming eyes and tingling cheeks, and then the gradual and delicious slowing down, and then the toiling up the hill to return, a task made light by pleasant companionship and cheery laughter."

The sport of tobogganing, of course, was new to Pelhamites at the time.  It seems they could not agree on what should be the proper attire for the sport -- something that seems to have been particularly important to members of The Country Club at Pelham.  One publication noted Pelhamites' faux pas in this respect:

"There is a wide divergence of opinion among society men and women as to what is the proper and respective tobogganing costume, and all resident Canadians or persons who have visited Canada during the winter are eagerly consulted as authorities upon the subject.  Some of the hurriedly made costumes are gorgeous in the extreme, but hardly suited to the rough sport.  The general idea of the proper attire is that it shall surround the body with layers of wool, impervious to cold and invaluable as padding in case of a tumble, for a Canadian tobogganer, when pitched from his conveyance, simply rolls and bounds down the slide after it, like a foot-ball, until he either brings up against some obstacle or reaches the level.  Mr. and Mrs. Teall have set the fashion in tobogganing costumes at Orange, but there is somewhat of a chaos of ideas regarding them at the Country Club."

It appears that the toboggan chutes operated each winter until The Country Club moved its facility across Pelham Bridge to the opposite side of Eastchester Bay at the end of the 1880s.  For a time, however, it was an amazingly successful winter sport embraced by Pelhamites and members of The Country Club at Pelham.

"WINTER SPORTS IN ALBANY.  THE RIDGEFIELD TOBOGGAN CHUTE"

in 1886.  Lithograph.  This Shows a Pair of Side-by-Side Toboggan Chutes

Similar to the One that Once Stood in the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

German Toboggan Course Shown in 1886 Lithograph From

Illustrated Journal of The Times, Published in Germany.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

"TOBOGGANING 1886," a Lithograph Published in 1886 by L. Prang

& Co.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. . . .

-- The members of the Country Club intend to enjoy themselves this winter in Canadian style.  They are building a 'toboggan' slide, between 700 and 800 feet long, from the house toward the Sound, and then turn off on to the Bartow estate.  Mr. Jas. Henderson is doing the work. . . ."

Source:  LOCAL INTELLIGENCE, New Rochelle Pioneer, Dec. 19, 1885, p. 3, col. 1.  

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND. . . .

The toboggan slide at the Country Club grounds, has become the most popular attraction of anything ever started there.  It is 750 feet long and was built and donated to the Club by Mr. J. M. Waterbury, the president of the Club.  Members and their friends come in large groups from the City to enjoy the sport, returning the same day.  The slide is patronized by all the elite of society.  Messrs. Delancy [sic] and Woodbury Kane, and Smith Haddon, of New York, also Messrs. Bull, F. A. Watson, Wm. Watson, Sands Waterbury and others, have given toboggan parties during the season.  The club grounds pay much better with the toboggan slide, than during the summer with polo and tennis. . . ."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 5, 1886, Vol. XVII, No. 855, p. 1, col. 6.  

"A SLIDE has been built on the grounds of the Country Club, at Pelham, Westchester county.  The slides are two in number, facing each other, after the fashion of the Russian ice-mountains.  Their length is 800 feet.  Steps lead from the sharp ascent up which the toboggan shoots to the starting platform of the other track.  The angle of descent is about 30 [degrees].  It was through the exertions chiefly of Mr. James M. Waterbury, the president of the club, that the slide was built.  The secretary is William Kent."

Source:  Outing, Vol. VII, No. 6, p. 713, cols. 1-2 (Mar. 1886).

"THE WORLD OF SOCIETY.
-----
WINTER SPORTS AFTER LONG WAITING NOW THOROUGHLY ENJOYED.
-----
Sleighing and Tobogganing Monopolize the Attention of the Members of the Gay World -- The Opera and Three Private Dances the Leading Society Events of the Week in the City -- Numerous Teas and Receptions -- The Season Continues Dull -- Weekly Budget of Notes from Connecticut Towns -- Notes from Philadelphia and Albany.

After long delay, the desired advent of the snow king has brought to society its long-desired opportunity for the indulging in winter sports, and almost everything else has been forgotten in preparations for and enjoyment of sleighing, skating, and the new and imported pastime of tobogganing.  The toboggan slides erected by the Essex County Club at Orange, and by Mr. James M. Waterbury in the grounds of the Country Club at Bartow, have been resorted to every afternoon and evening of the week by merry parties of New Yorkers, many of whom have experienced for the first time the delights of the sport, and who, overcoming their first feeling of timidity, are now its devoted enthusiasts.  Would that all imported pastimes and customs were as healthful and beneficial as tobogganing.  Who that has ever ridden can forget the swift mad rush through the air, with the sensation of flying that it brings, the streaming eyes and tingling cheeks, and then the gradual and delicious slowing down, and then the toiling up the hill to return, a task made light by pleasant companionship and cheery laughter.

While the Orange slide has been widely described and heralded, that of the Country Club has crept into notice very unpretentiously.  Small and gay parties, however, have gone out there almost every afternoon and, after enjoying the slide, have dined and spent the evening around a blazing wood fire in the clubhouse.  There is a wide divergence of opinion among society men and women as to what is the proper and respective tobogganing costume, and all resident Canadians or persons who have visited Canada during the winter are eagerly consulted as authorities upon the subject.  Some of the hurriedly made costumes are gorgeous in the extreme, but hardly suited to the rough sport.  The general idea of the proper attire is that it shall surround the body with layers of wool, impervious to cold and invaluable as padding in case of a tumble, for a Canadian tobogganer, when pitched from his conveyance, simply rolls and bounds down the slide after it, like a foot-ball, until he either brings up against some obstacle or reaches the level.  Mr. and Mrs. Teall have set the fashion in tobogganing costumes at Orange, but there is somewhat of a chaos of ideas regarding them at the Country Club. . . ."

Source:  THE WORLD OF SOCIETY -- WINTER SPORTS AFTER LONG WAITING NOW THOROUGHLY ENJOYED, The World [NY, NY], Jan. 17, 1886, p. 16, col. 1.  

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I have written extensively about The Country Club at Pelham and its famous steeplechase races, rides with the hounds, baseball games, polo matches, and other such events of the 1880's.  For a few of many more examples, see:  

Bell, Blake A., The Pelham Steeplechase Races of the 1880s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIV, Issue 12, March 25, 2005, p. 10, col. 2.

Thu., Mar. 23, 2006:  Baseball Fields Opened on the Grounds of the Westchester Country Club in Pelham on April 4, 1884.

Tue., Apr. 14, 2009:  1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

Wed., Apr. 15, 2009:  More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.

Thu., Apr. 16, 2009:  A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.

Fri., Apr. 17, 2009:  A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.

Wed., Sep. 09, 2009:  1884 Engraving of Winner of the Great Pelham Steeplechase, Barometer, and His Owner and Rider, J. D. Cheever. 

Wed., Sep. 16, 2009:  September 1884 Advertisement for The Country Club Steeplechase.

Thu., Sep. 17, 2009:  Controversy in 1887 When The Country Club Tries to Dedicate a Large Area of Pelham as a Game Preserve.

Wed., Sep. 30, 2009:  Score of June 1, 1887 Baseball Game Between The Country Club and The Knickerbocker Club.

Mon., Oct. 19, 2009:  Polo at the Country Club in Pelham in 1887.

Fri., Oct. 30, 2009:  Preparations for Annual Country Club Race Ball Held in Pelham in 1887.

Thu., Apr. 15, 2010:  Account of Baseball Game Played in Pelham on June 9, 1884: The Country Club Beat the Knickerbockers, 42 to 22.  

Tue., Feb. 25, 2014:  An Interesting Description of the Country Club at Pelham Published in 1884.

Mon., Mar. 03, 2014:  The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam.  

Fri., Sep. 12, 2014:  Reference to an 1884 Baseball Game Between the Country Club of Pelham and Calumet.

Fri., Feb. 27, 2015:  Brief History of the 19th Century "Country Club at Pelham" Published in 1889.

Thu., Jul. 16, 2015:  More on the History of the Country Club at Pelham in the 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 03, 2015:  A Major Tennis Tournament was Played in Pelham in 1885.

Tue., Feb. 09, 2016:  Polo Played in Pelham in 1887.

Wed., Sep. 07, 2016:  Origins of the Country Club at Pelham and the Move to its New Clubhouse in 1890.

Thu., Jan. 26, 2017:  The First Formal Country Club Hunt in Pelham Began on October 2, 1886 at 2:30 P.M.

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More on Brutal Winters in Pelham During the 1850s

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Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
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Pelham experienced a series of terrible winters during the 1850s.  The first was the winter of 1852-53.  Another was the winter of 1855-56.  A third was the winter of 1856-57.  I have written before about some of these terrible winters and the major storms they produced.  See, e.g.:

Thu., Jul. 27, 2017:  Terrible Storm of 1856 Wrecks Dozens and Dozens of Ships Including Many on Pelham Shores.

Fri., May 26, 2017:  The Significance of the Wreck of the Steamer Plymouth Rock in Pelham in 1855.

Winter of 1855 - 1856

On January 5, 1856, a terrible nor'easter and monster blizzard pounded the New York region and continued overnight and well into the following day.  Pelham, Long Island Sound, and Long Island were particularly savaged by the massive storm.  More than a dozen ships were wrecked on Pelham shores including the massive steamer Plymouth Rock about which I have written before.  (See above.)

Within a few weeks, the brutal cold of the winter and the repeated snow storms meant that Long Island Sound off Pelham shores was completely iced over from the mainland to the shores of Long Island.  Near Throgg's Neck, the ice was more than a foot thick and was covered with an additional foot of snow.  Indeed, the ice was so thick by early February that, according to one account, teams of horses could "pass over from Morrisport on the West side [the mainland], to Sand's Point, on the Long Island Shore."  

Viewers who climbed to the masthead of a ship anchored at Hart Island in the Town of Pelham could not see any water at all -- only ice -- as far as the eye could see.  Thick ice covered Long Island Sound in an area about eighteen miles long above Hell Gate.  

This, of course, was devastating to local shipping.  About thirty vessels including brigs, schooners, sloops, and others were ice-bound between Sand's Point and Riker's Island.  The thick ice and brutal cold brought efforts to re-float the massive Plymouth Rock from where it wrecked on the shores of City Island to a standstill.  Indeed, the ship's crew abandoned the steamer for a time, leaving it in the care of one or two members of the crew.

By late February, a few moderate days started to reduce the ice on the Sound.  A Brooklyn newspaper reported that:

"A few more moderate days will open the East River for navigation.  On Friday last the propeller Westchester, from Providence, which, with many other vessels, has been ice bound in the vicinity of Hart Island, started to work her way through, if possible; the Pelican, also from Providence, following in her wake.  On Saturday they had proceeded round Throgg's Point, a distance of three or four miles.  They were aided in their progress by nicking with the ice axes at intermediate Points ahead of them.  When off Throgg's Point, the ice was so soft that three of the men who were employed in the operation fell through, but were taken out safe."

By early March, the weather had moderated and the Sound was open to navigation.  Finally the Plymouth Rock was re-floated off the shores of City Island in Pelham.  

Winter of 1856 - 1857

The following year, the brutal cold arrived even earlier in the winter.  By January 9, 1857, there was "considerable ice" in the East River.  Indeed, the massive ice "cakes" were so dangerous to shipping that they began to delay shipping.  Ships picking their way through the considerable ice were delayed for hours as they made their way to the docks of New York City.

The brutal cold was even more relentless than that of the previous winter.  By January 10, according to one report, there was "as much ice in the Hudson river now as at any time during last winter."  Cakes of ice a third of a mile wide and five or six inches thick were plaguing the New York City region, causing ferry delays and requiring some vessels that were so suited to cut through the ice to make good time navigating the region's waters.  

At sunrise on January 10, the temperature in the New York region was two degrees above zero.  That morning, two homeless people were found frozen to death, one in New York City and the other in Brooklyn.  By sunset of that day, tides and wind had caused an aggregation of a massive field of ice from the Battery to Brooklyn that, according to one account, "made the crossing to and from Brooklyn easy."

Within a few days, a massive field of ice was blockading the East River and beginning to cause "marine disasters."  A Philadelphia newspaper reported:

"A variety of marine disasters in the [New York] harbor are reported.  Schr. Isaac M. Conkling, that had been employed in getting the ship Cultivator's anchor and chain sunk off Whitehall, was cut through off pier 7, East River, and went to the bottom at once.  The crew were saved.  Steamer John Hart went ashore at the Narrows, in the forenoon, but was subsequently relieved.  Br. schr. Hero, from Montego Bay, was driven ashore at Fort Hamilton, but has been got off with loss of rudder. . . ."

By January 13, 1857, the mouth of the East River was blocked by a fifteen-acre field of ice through which nothing could pass.  That day a Hamilton Avenue Ferry became ice-bound for several hours.  The U.S. Frigate Wabash became ice bound at its dock.  In fact, so many vessels began having significant difficulties in the ice -- so much so that the local Board of Underwriters decided:

"to send out a vessel, at their own expense, provided with clothing, provisions and an extra complement of men, to cruise off the harbor of New York, in a circuit of two or three hundred miles, to give relief to any vessels to be found needing assistance.  The Treasury Department at Washington city have telegraphed to Captain Faunce orders to fit out the revenue cutter Washington, from this port at once, and proceed to sea in search of vessels in distress."

By the same day (Jan. 13), the snow on Long Island had become so "unusually deep" with massive drifts that the Long Island Railroad shut down on the eastern end of the island.  Then, on Saturday, January 17, 1857, a memorable event witnessed by thousands of New Yorkers occurred.

That day, an ice bridge formed between Manhattan and Brooklyn strong enough and reliable enough to permit passage back and forth.  A group of entrepreneurial New Yorkers grabbed long ladders and propped them on the shores of Manhattan and Brooklyn leading down to the ice and began charging New Yorkers two cents a pop to use the ladders to clamber on and off the ice bridge.

New Yorkers began scrambling back and forth across the ice between Thompson's Slip in Brooklyn and the foot of Wall Street in Manhattan.  News of the unusual event spread quickly and over a five-hour period an estimated 25,000 people crossed back and forth on the ice including a few venturesome women according to docks.  

Thousands lined the shores simply to watch the madcap scramble.  Indeed, the sight was "a magnificent one" according to one account.  The unbroken mass of ice covered an area of about five square miles.  The massive white surface was speckled with thousands of dark, moving specks as predominantly men and boys cavorted on the ice.  Everyone "seemed to think it very fine fun" . . . . until the unthinkable.  

At about 4:00 p.m., the tide began to turn and the water level in the bay began to lower as the tide ebbed.  Thousands realized it was time to get off the ice and did.  Many, many others, however, did not heed the fissures that began to appear in the ice near the shorelines.  People on the shore were the first to realize what was about to happen and began shouting to those on the ice to get off.  

The fissure on the Manhattan side soon was too large to cross.  Those on shore shouted for those on the ice to run to the Brooklyn side to get off.  As the alarm spread, nearly five hundred people still on the ice began running for the Brooklyn shore where only a few clamored ashore before fissures opened in the ice along the Brooklyn shore.  The ice mass was now a monumentally-large floating ice cake with hundreds and hundreds of New Yorkers trapped on it.  

According to one account, the hundreds who had failed to heed the alarm and now were trapped began "running wildly from side to side, not knowing what to do -- the ice in the meantime drifting slowly down the river with a precious freight of human lives upon it."  People on the docks realized the gravity of the situation and began to fear that many lives would be lost.  

Within minutes, however, three tugboats and countless small boats made their way to the floating ice cake where they hoped to take aboard the "terrified ice bridge travelers"  The vessels, however, found it virtually impossible to pull alongside the floating ice cake and moor themselves in any way that would allow the safe transfer of the frightened people.

One of the steam tugs named the "Ratler" tried a new approach.  It backed away from the ice cake and revved its engine.  It started headlong into the ice cake and "pushed into the floe so as to bury her bow in the thick drift."  The tug then lowered a ladder and began taking aboard the terrified people on the ice, as many at a time as possible.

It took time, but at last the whole five hundred were removed from the floating ice cake.  Within an hour, the tide and winds had carried the massive ice bridge away.

By the following day, the temperature had plunged to four degrees above zero.  Even at that brutally-low temperature, a massive snowstorm blanketed the area for more than twelve hours.  By midnight "it blew a hurricane and the air was full of snow."  The ice returned.  

For the next few weeks, the ice grew worse and worse.  By late January. the East River and Long Island Sound well past Pelham were iced over with thick ice.  The effect on shipping was so devastating that merchants of New York City actually raised money to charter the steam tugboat Webb to cut through ice off the Brooklyn shore between Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Before the tug could do its work, however, the temperature moderated and a massive rainstorm let loose over the region.  Over the next few days small parts of the East River and the Sound began to clear.  Ice along the Long Island shore from Hamilton Ferry to Gowanus parted from the shore and began to float down the bay with the ebb tide forming an ice floe a mile and a half wide.  A "strait" opened in the ice on the north shore opposite Rye opened up, but the area of the Long Island Sound near Pelham and particularly surrounding Execution Rocks Lighthouse remained iced over for quite some time.

Indeed, it was well February and early March before the last of the ice began to clear.  Spring finally made it to Pelham after two brutal winters in a row.

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Winter of 1855 - 1856

"A Fleet Frozen Up.

According to accounts, which were yesterday given by pilots and captains of vessels, who had just come in from City Island and vicinity, the ice in the river above Hell Gate, is more abundant and solid than it has been for many years past.  The whole river, they say, is frozen over, between Lent's Point, above the Gate, to Sand's Point, a distance of about 18 miles.  Near Throgg's Point the ice is over a foot thick, and much of it covered with snow of an equal depth.  Teams can pass over from Morrisport on the West side, to Sand's Point, on the Long Island shore.  No water can be seen by a person looking in the direction of the Sound, from a vessel's mast-head at Hart Island.

About thirty vessels, brigs, schooners, sloops, &c., are ice-bound between Sand's Point and Riker's Island, among which are the following that were not reported on the 22d ult.  British brig Elsworth Horton, from Nova Scotia; British schooner Emma, from St. Johns, N. B.; schooners Start, from Boston; Angler, for Bridgeport; Caroline H., from Eastport; Delaware, from Rockland; Lion, for Providence; sloop Empire, from Southport, Conn., and a schooner from Saco, name not known, which lies beyond Sand's Point.  Also, three propellers, the Pelican and Westchester, from Providence, and the Westernport, from Portland.  Schooner Vulcan, with coal, bound to Norwich, was cut through and sunk at the pier just below Throgg's Point.  Beside the captains, who have thus left their vessels, the crew of the steamer Plymouth Rock, at City Island, having despaired of getting her away at present, have abandoned her, leaving her in charge of but one or two as boat-keepers."

Source:  A Fleet Frozen Up, N.Y. Times, Feb. 7, 1856, p. 4, col. 4 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"The Ice in the East River. -- The New York Evening Express, of the 7th inst., (which we have in advance of the mail,) says:

According to accounts which were given yesterday by pilots and captains of vessels, who had just come in from City Island and vicinity, the ice in the river above Hell Gate is more abundant and solid than it has been for many years past.  The whole river, they say, is frozen over between 70th street, above the Gate, to Sand's Point, a distance of about eighteen miles!  Near Throgg's Point the ice is over a foot thick, with much of it covered with snow of an equal depth.  Teams can pass over from Morrisport, on the west side, to Sands's Point, on the Long Island shore.  No water can be seen by a person looking in the direction of the Sound, from a vessel's mast head, at Hart Island.

About thirty vessels -- brigs, schooners, sloops, &c. -- are ice-bound between Sands's Point and Riker's Island."

Source:  The Ice in the East River, The Times-Picayune [New Orleans, LA], Feb. 15, 1856, p. 4, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"NEW YORK BLOCKADED BY ICE. --  According to accounts, which were yesterday given by pilots and captains of vessels who had just come in from City Island and vicinity, the ice in the river above Hell Gate is more abundant and solid than it has been for many years past.  The whole river, they say, is frozen over, between Lent's Point, above the Gate, to Sand's Point, a distance of about 18 miles.  Near Throg's Point the ice is over a foot thick, and much of it covered with snow of an equal depth.  Teams can pass over from Morrisport on the West side, to Sand's Point on the Long Island shore.  No water can be seen by a person looking in the direction of the Sound, from a vessel's mast-head at Hart Island.  About thirty vessels, brigs, schooners, sloops, &c., are ice-bound between Sand's Point and Riker's Island.  Buttermilk Channel is frozen over from South Brooklyn to Governor's Island.  -- N. Y. Times, 7th."

Source:  NEW YORK BLOCKADED BY ICE, The Morning Democrat [Davenport, IA], Feb. 16, 1856, p. 4, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"EAST RIVER. -- A few more moderate days will open the East River for navigation.  On Friday last the propeller Westchester, from Providence, which, with many other vessels, has been ice bound in the vicinity of Hart Island, started to work her way through, if possible; the Pelican, also from Providence, following in her wake.  On Saturday they had proceeded round Throgg's Point, a distance of three or four miles.  They were aided in their progress by nicking with the ice axes at intermediate Points ahead of them.  When off Throgg's Point, the ice was so soft that three of the men who were employed in the operation fell through, but were taken out safe."

Source:  EAST RIVER, Brooklyn Evening Star, Feb. 25, 1856, p. 2, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  "The Sound Boats.

Winter of 1856 - 1857

"JAN. 9.  --  There is considerable ice in the East River causing delay to navigation.  The Fall River boat, State of Maine, arrived about 9 o'clock.  The Stonington and Norwich boats did not reach their docks until nearly one o'clock."

Source:  The Sound Boats, Hartford Courant [Hartford, CT], Jan. 10, 1857, p. 3, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"Balls and Festivals -- The Transit Company's Troubles -- Ice in the Rivers -- Difficult Navigation -- Frozen to Death -- Fare on a Ferry Boat, &c. . . .

There is as much ice in the Hudson river now as at any time during last winter.  The ferry-boats are much delayed in their trips.  Some of the cakes of ice yesterday appeared to be one-third of a mile in width and five to six inches in thickness.  The boats of the Jersey city and Hoboken ferries were in some instances delayed an hour in crossing yesterday.  The jersey city ferry-boats, being heavy and strong, are better adapted to cutting through the ice than other ferry-boats are, and usually make good time in crossing.

At sunset the East river, from the Battery to Governor's Island, was blockaded by a field of ice, which made the crossing to and from Brooklyn easy.  Previous to this the boats ran at long intervals.

Two of the South Ferry boats got on to a cake about mid day, and were floated down to Governor's Island, where they were comfortably moored in for several hours.

The weather continues intensely cold.  At sunrise this morning the mercury in the thermometer marked only 2 degrees above zero.  Two persons were frozen to death last night, one in Brooklyn and the other in New York.  Both were miserable, homeless beings. . . ."

Source:  Balls and Festivals -- The Transit Company's Troubles -- Ice in the Rivers -- Difficult Navigation -- Frozen to Death -- Fare on a Ferry Boat, &c., The Baltimore Sun, Jan. 10, 1857, p. 4, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"Milder Weather -- Porridge Ice Plenty, but no Blockade.

There is a great deal of misapprehension outside of New-York about the amount of ice in our harbor.  The loose way of stating things has conveyed the notion that we are suffering an ice blockade, than which nothing could be less true.  No ice has yet made in the rivers, nor from present appearances will any, for the mercury last night at 11 o'clock stood at 26 [degrees], instead of 10 [degrees] as the night before.  But from the Hudson River we have been enjoying very liberal supplies during the cold snap, which seems to have reached the highest point yesterday morning.  It will be remembered that the tide sets flood two hours earlier in the East than in the North River; this gives all the ice that comes down on the last of the North River ebb two hours to flow up the East River.  It is this chopped 'porridge ice,' with occasional large cakes, that is filling up our rivers at certain hours of the day, and leaving them entirely or almost clear again at others.  No ferry accidents (except, of course, on the Staten Island route) have occurred yet, though the delays have been sufficient to furnish a fruitful topic of gossip.  Indeed, the ice has been a godsend to our people, who were beginning to weary of the usual Winter entertainments, such as big parties up town, sleigh-riding on the avenues, and slipping down on the sidewalks.  They have hailed, with a hearty welcome, the sport to be had daily now on the ferries, and many turned out, last night, especially to enjoy it.  It was a magnificent night by the way.

The Canadian and Amboy Railroad boat John Potter in going to Perth Amboy, goes outside Staten Island, instead of taking the usual route up the Kills, which are frozen completely over.  The Water Witch and Red Jacket, which also go up the Kills, are not able to make their trips twice a day, as usual, but get through once only, by a narrow channel, which is kept open with great difficulty, and through which their progress is very slow.

The steamboat Connecticut, of the Norwich and Worcester line, on entering her slip between 9 and 10 o'clock on Thursday morning, came in contact with a large cake of ice, and carried away her stem, which disabled her from making her usual trip on Thursday evening.  Yesterday workmen were engaged in replacing her stem-piece, and they have also put on a sheathing of oak, extending 30 feet on each side from the bow, which is covered to the distance of six feet from that point with a double thickness of boiler iron.  The workmen in doing this had to stand on the drift ice, in the slip which had wedged itself in as solid as a rock.  The C. will resume her trips to-night."

Source:  Milder Weather -- Porridge Ice Plenty, but no Blockade, N. Y. Times, Jan. 10, 1857, p. 4, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"THE ICE. -- The accumulation of ice in the East River has rendered the trips of the Peck Slip ferry boats so uncertain that a great many people take the cars down to Fulton ferry and thence to New York, that being the quickest and most reliable mode of reaching the lower part of the city."

Source:  THE ICE, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jan. 12, 1857, p. 3, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"BY MAIL PILOT LINE.
-----
[Correspondence of the Public Ledger.]
THINGS IN NEW YORK.

NEW YORK, Jan. 12.

The East River was in a state of blockade this morning.  From Buttermilk Channel to Green Point, on the Long Island shore, the ice was almost impenetrable.  The South Ferry ran a boat only once an hour.  The Hamilton Avenue Ferry was obliged to suspend its trips altogether.  The Fulton managed to wedge a boat through occasionally, but at great hazard of knocking a hole through the hulls.  The Peck Slip boats did not attempt to break the embargo at all, and the consequence was that thousands of mechanics who desired to cross over to New York, so as to be at work by 7 o'clock were disappointed, and had to lose half a day.  On the turn of the tide, about 10 o'clock, the harbor was temporarily cleared, and communication was resumed.

A variety of marine disasters in the harbor are reported.  Schr. Isaac M. Conkling, that had been employed in getting the ship Cultivator's anchor and chain sunk off Whitehall, was cut through off pier 7, East River, and went to the bottom at once.  The crew were saved.  Steamer John Hart went ashore at the Narrows, in the forenoon, but was subsequently relieved.  Br. schr. Hero, from Montego Bay, was driven ashore at Fort Hamilton, but has been got off with loss of rudder. . . ." 

Source:  BY MAIL PILOT LINE -- [Correspondence of the Public Ledger] -- THINGS IN NEW YORK, Public Ledger [Philadelphia, PA], Jan. 13, 1857, p. 2, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"NEW YORK, Jan. 13.

The Ice in the Rivers -- Relief for Disabled Vessels -- Young Men's Bail -- Huntington -- Advances in Breadstuffs, &c.

The mouth of the East river was blocked up yesterday morning by a field of ice about fifteen acres in extent, through which nothing could pass.  One of the Hamilton avenue ferry boats got fast in it, and was detained there for several hours.  The East river ferry boats were much obstructed by ice during the day.  The U.S. frigate Wabash, which arrived and took her position opposite the Mississippi, Sunday evening, was frozen about so solid that yesterday morning the crew of the St. Mary's passed over it several rods in extent, with all their luggage, to the dock.  Never, it is said, since the famous winter of 1852, have the difficulties on the ferries been as sever as this.

The Board of Underwriters have determined to send out a vessel, at their own expense, provided with clothing, provisions and an extra complement of men, to cruise off the harbor of New York, in a circuit of two or three hundred miles, to give relief to any vessels to be found needing assistance.  The Treasury Department at Washington city have telegraphed to Captain Faunce orders to fit out the revenue cutter Washington, from this port at once, and proceed to sea in search of vessels in distress.  The Washington was expected to leave port last evening.

The snow is unusually deep and drifted on the eastern extremity of Long Island, and the trains of the Long Island Railroad have discontinued running beyond Riverhead. . . ."

Source:  NEW YORK, Jan. 13 -- The Ice in the Rivers -- Relief for Disabled Vessels -- Young Men's Bail -- Huntington -- Advances in Breadstuffs, &c., The Baltimore Sun, Jan. 14, 1857, p. 4, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"There is more ice in the East River at the present time that there has been for years previous; not because the weather has been unusually cold, but because there have been no strong winds.  A stiff north wind would blow most of the ice out to sea so far that the tide would not float it back, but now all the ice that accumulates remains inside of the Narrows."

Source:  [Untitled], The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jan. 15, 1857, p. 3, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"HARD NAVIGATION.

NEW YORK, Jan. 14. -- This morning immense floes of ice entirely choked up the East River, so that most of the ferry boats ceased running.  The ice was about six inches in thickness, and some times formed unbroken fields of several acres.  --  The shipping was greatly exposed to serious injury.  Navigation around the city was never more difficult, vessels being frequently detained several days, from the impossibility of leaving the harbor.  Most of the ferry boats are more or less disabled, so that the number available for service is quite reduced."

Source:  HARD NAVIGATION, The Tri-Weekly Commercial [Wilmington, DE], Jan. 17, 1857, p. 2, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"New York, Jan. 17.

An ice bridge was formed in the East River this afternoon, and numbers crossed between New York and Brooklyn on foot."

Source:  New York, Jan. 17, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 19, 1857, p. 1, col. 6 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"Ice Bridge across the East River.

Not since the year 1852 until the present time has the East river being frozen over sufficiently strong to permit personal travel thereon until Saturday last, when it is calculated that 25,000 persons must have taken advantage of the circumstance to walk, instead of sail, from New York to Brooklyn and back.

On the change of the tide that morning the vast flood of ice in the bay were swept up the East River, which being already full of ice, soon wedged together and formed a homogeneous mass, extending from shore to shore, and bounded on the north by Fulton Ferry.  The fact that the river was frozen across soon became known and about half past ten o'clock the first adventurous traveller [sic] made his way over to the Brooklyn side.  The first attempt was made by four boatmen who tested the strength of the congealed element by pushing a boat before them from near the Wall street ferry to this side, which they accomplished with success.  --  They then procured short ladders and stationed themselves two on each side of the river, and aided parties to descend and ascend to and from the Ice Bridge, for which service they charged two cents, and from appearances we should say made a very profitable days work of it.  The news spread, and soon a continuous stream kept pouring across from the foot of Wall street, most of whom landed at Thompsons slip on the other side.  The novelty of the exhibition soon drew crowds to witness it, and the docks and ships soon became filled with interested spectators.  For five hours the travel was kept up, the ice to all appearances being strong enough to support a horse and cart on any part traversed by the multitude who were crossing.  Not only were men and boys taking advantage of this state of things, but females also ventured on the ice and over a hundred of them passed to this side.  The crowds on the docks cheered the courageous women loudly, and every body seemed to think it very fine fun.

The sight was a magnificent one.  Below lay an unbroken mass of ice, covering an area of five square miles -- the surface though of but one color, was variously tinted and relieved here and there by moving specks, for such the men and boys on the river seemed to be.  The shores on either side were lined with people shouting hurrahing and having a good time generally, and the utmost hilarity prevailed.

This continued until 4 o'clock, when the tide began to turn and the water sensibly to lower in the slips.  The mere cautious left the ice and came ashore, but it seemed impossible to warn the boys and men who were in the centre of the stream.

In a little while the ice near the docks became fissured on the New York side, and it was evident that the ebb tide would soon make short work of the ice.  The people on the dock saw this, and shouted to these on the ice to come off 'for God's sake,' but they had done so much shouting before that they were not heeded.  In a little while there was a great chasm near the shore this side, when the alarm spread to those on the ice to run to the other side.  At this time nearly five hundred persons were on the ice and running for the Brooklyn shore, where a few got off; but the ice broke there also, and matters began to look serious, as all communication with the shore was cut off, and the five hundred were running wildly from side to side, not knowing what to do -- the ice in the meantime drifting slowly down the river with a precious freight of human lives upon it.

At this time the anxiety of the people on the docks was intense, as it was feared that many lives would be lost.  While this fear was at its height, however, as if by magic three tow boats and numberless small boats made their appearance for the purpose of taking off the now terrified ice bridge travellers [sic].  They were all unsuccessful, until one of the tugs named the Ratler dashed down the river with the tide, and pushed into the floe so as to bury her bow in the thick drift.  A ladder was then put out, and soon the adventurers were seen clambering up to her decks.  All this was witnessed with breathless interest by the excited crowd, and as the men and boys were taken off one by one loud cheers were given and much enthusiasm betrayed.

At last the whole five hundred were taken off by the different boats, and the river in an hour's time was entirely clear of ice.  The South, Fulton and Grand street ferries were all running without much difficulty that night.

On Saturday the South and Hamilton ferries made about three trips.  Yesterday the boats at the Fulton ferry were the only ones that made any trips with success, but they were few and far between.  They were hauled off at 12 o'clock last night until seven this morning.  There was but one boat on each of the Houston, Grand, Division ave. and Peck Slip ferries.  During the forenoon the river was full of ice, and the boats ran more frequently.  The Peck Slip boat was withdrawn at dark last night and the night previous.  Saturday night no boat left the Grand street New York side from 9 P. M. until 9 A. M.  About 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon the beam of one of the Houston street boats got on half centre, and she was drifted to a dock some distance below the Navy Yard, and was still there at dark.

The oldest inhabitant would be puzzled to remember a snowstorm in this latitude with the temperature only four degrees above zero.  Usually the weather becomes milder, at midnight, although it had been snowing twelve hours, the mercury had fallen two degrees.  At midnight it blew a hurricane and the air was full of snow.

As this storm undoubtedly extends over an immense surface of country, we may expect of the mails being very much detained for some time.  Great damage is also to be apprehended to the shipping on the coast, as the wind last night blew directly upon the shore."

Source:  Ice Bridge across the East River, Brooklyn Evening Star, Jan. 19, 1857, p. 2, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).   

"CLEARANCE OF ICE. -- Last week money was raised among the merchants of New York for the purpose of cutting through the compact ice in Buttermilk Channel.  On Saturday the steam tug Webb was chartered to do the work, but the heavy rain which set in during the forenoon made its services unnecessary.  The ice along the Long Island shore from Hamilton Ferry to Gowanus, soon parted from the shore and floated down the bay with the ebb tide, forming a floe a mile and a half wide, but leaving the shore clear for the first time this month.  The field of ice was carried by the spring tide into the East River again, and so blocked up the river that the South and Wall Street Ferries relinquished their trips for some time.  In the course of the afternoon the tide and the strong East wind carried the ice out of the river.  The steamship Atlantic, for Liverpool, left her dock Saturday noon, and proceeded as far as Quarantine, where she encountered impassable fields of ice, and was compelled to put back.  She left this morning at nine o'clock, with an extra mail made up after the closing of the regular mail."

Source:  CLEARANCE OF ICE, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Feb. 2, 1857, p. 2, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"The Ice at New York and Vicinity. -- A letter, dated Glen Cave [sic], on the 2d inst., to the New York Journal of Commerce, says:

The East River below Martinscock is still firmly closed by ice, notwithstanding the northeast storm.  A strait is opened on the north shore about opposite Rye, to the east, apparently about a mile wide.  The propeller opposite Execution light is in communication with the shore, via the ice bridge.  Sleighing is still good, and our only real safe communication to the city is by stage."

Source:  The Ice at New York and Vicinity, The Times-Picayune [New Orleans, LA], Feb. 11, 1857, p. 1, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

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