FIREHOUSE: SPUYTEN DUYVIL
Riverdale Avenue at 245th Street
MAY 5, 1937. ABBOTT FILE 235

When the firehouse of Engine Company 52 was built in 1884, the surrounding area was rural. In the 1920s, the neighborhood directly behind the firehouse was developed as the private residential community of Fieldston; its stately homes can be seen in the background of Abbott's photograph. In 1937, when Abbott photographed the firehouse, the Henry Hudson Parkway was under construction along this stretch of Riverdale Avenue, a threat that may have inspired Abbott's visit. The Victorian firehouse was replaced with a new building, and Engine Company 52 still proudly occupies it. The new structure emulates the old, with a tower abutting a gabled building.

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