New-York tribune., 1917-10-28
Past
Is Revived by
Bronx Exhibit
300 Years Stretch Between
Clatter of Dutch Bowling
and Whirr of Factory
Present Population Sees
Prophecy Made by Jonas
Bronck Fulfilled

The romance of the settlement OF
The Bronx three hundred years ago,
which will be commemorated next May
by the opening of the Bronx Interna-
tional Exposition, fingers in the men,
ories of older residents and lends a
real community spirit to the borough's
newcomers.
In the passing Of the centuries the
rumbling Of Dutch ninepin balls has
given way to the whirring Of machinery
in many factories. The broad territory
which once held acknowledged agri-
cultural supremacy in New York now Is
attaining industrial leadership.
The last fifty years of Bronx history
have contained rush to cover the
land with bricks and mortar rather than
with grain and vegetables, with the re-
suit that the old landmarks have been
constantly disappearing. Numerous So
cieties have done their best at preser-
walton and various museums have been
filled with relics. But the real monu-
ment to the old Bronx will be the ex-
position at 177th Street and the Bronx
River.
Opens With Borough Day
Officials of the exposition and of the
Bronx Board of Trade are preparing g
programme for May 81, 1918, which will
be Bronx Borough Day. The Bronx
Board of Trade has arranged to appoint
committee of twenty-five members,
which in turn will select a committee
of one hundred residents, who will
make the dedication plans. There will
be spectacular pageants and parades,
as we'll as exercises and speechmaking
by noted citizens.
The Bronx has rich past from
which to select pageant material.
Hendrick Hudson gazed at the green
fields from the deck of his ship, the
Half Moon, on his trip up the river
which now bears his name. Hudson
anchored off Spuyten Duyvil and the
mouth of the Harlem River, but did
not 90 ashore.
The borough takes its name from
that of Jonas Bronck, who was the
pioneer settler, coming thirty years
after the visit of Hendrick Hudson.
Several years before the arrival Of
Bronck. Adrien Block sailed up the
East River from Long Island Sound
and camped temporarily on the east
side of The Bronx. Block was the first
white man to touch Bronx soil.
Jonas Bronck came from Hoorn, Hol-
land, and he located his family and his
household effects on the north side OF
the Harlem River, on 500 acres OF land
bought from the Indians. The Bronck
homestead was called Emmaus, and was
situated near the present crossing or
132d Street and Willis Avenue.
Bronck fell in love with his property
and at one time he wrote the following
"The invisible hand Of the Almighty
Father surely guided me TO this beauti-
full country, a land covered with virgin
forest and unlimited opportunities. IL
is a veritable paradise, and needs but
the industrious hand of man to make
il the finest and most beautiful region
in all the world"
The people Of The Bronx believe
their community is in fair way OF
exceeding the traditional hopes OF
Jonas Bronck.
The settlement started by Bronck
was Joined in 1912 by Anne Hutchin-
son, the ill-fated English woman, who
was driven from Massachusetts, and
Rhode Island because Of her belief that
freedom in religious worship meant
freedom from laws. She met her death
in an Indian uprising. For many years
the Eastchester Creek was known as
Hutchinson River.
Historic Names Survive
Other early settlers whose names
are revered by old residents were:
John Throckmorton, who located on the
present Throg's Neck, near West
chester Greek; Thomas Cornell, who
settled on the present Clason Point;
Adrien Won Der Donck, who erected a
home where the Van Cortlandt mansion
now stands; Thomas Pell. who located
near the present Pelham Bay Park.
The first organized attempt to col
onize The Bronx was made by Jordan
I. Mott. who came from Manhattan in
1841. Mott bought tract of land
bounded approximately by the pres,
ent Third Avenue, One Hundred and
Thirty-fourth Street and the Harlem
River. He erected an iron foundry
and a mansion. He gave the name
Mott Haven" to his property. and
the name remains.
The first growth in population dates
from 1874, the year in which all the
territory west of The Bronx River
was added to New York County from
Westchester County and became part
of the City OF New York. The district
had fifty sparselly settled villages: wltn
population OF 30,OOO. In 1871 the
population had increased to $4,000 and
five years later the figure reached lOO'-
600. In the last twenty-five years the
population of The Bronx has touched
the 100000 mark.