• The Early Years of Roosevelt

  • When a new high school for the northeast section of Yonkers was first proposed, the surrounding neighborhood was countrified with orchards and nurseries.  Since Roosevelt's construction in 1924, it has become a fixture in the community. Central Avenue has since become a major commercial corridor and Tuckahoe Road now features a great deal of business development with hotels and the Ridge Hill complex.

    Old map of Yonkers

    This 1883 map of the area shows the intersection of Central Avenue and Bronxville Road. Tuckahoe Road did not fully make it over the hill to actually reach the Village of Tuckahoe and there was a pickle factory where the Will Library now stands.

     

    1926 rhs

    A 1926 view of Roosevelt, fenced in and probably just finished being constructed.  Notice the gas street lamps and the Tuckahoe Road trolley tracks visible in the extreme foreground.

     

     

    aerial shot

    An aerial perspective of the early days of Roosevelt High School.  The greenhouses of a nursery are visible where the Sadore Lane apartment buildings are today. Central Avenue was a modest country road at the time. Notice the long winding driveway to the the circle in the front of the building. The long thin line that appears between the track and Central Avenue is a small brook that continues on the other side of the roadway.  

    1929 pic

    Here we see the newly landscaped school.  Accounts from that time mention that that staff arrived mostly by trolley or walked. There was no separate parking lot; the few staff members with cars parked them in the circular driveway as you see in this 1929 photograph.

    roosevelt map 1930

    This 1930 map shows the original neighbors of Roosevelt High School.  The nursery to the north is still present with the small brook flowing through the properties.  Across Tuckahoe Road was a golf course.

     real estate ad

    Roosevelt became the anchor of the new housing development of Homestead where lots were available for as little as $550.  This real estate advertisement promotes the local selling points -- bus lines to the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, the New York Central train station in Tuckahoe, the Bronx River Parkway (the first public limited-access highway in the world) and, of course, Roosevelt High School.

     

    There's a lot more to learn about Roosevelt High School.  Watch the video The Roosevelt Legacy here.