(Top: Google Street View)
_____
In 1970, Seymour Levy
(seen above) and
his Hudson Office
Supply occupied the
storefront just east of
this building’s center
door (Mr. Levy later
moving a bit further up
Main St.). Why does it
say Vanderbilt at the top
of this building (above)?
No, it wasn’t bilt by
a Mr. Vander! In 1897, a
Charles Vanderbilt
erected this structure,
which is most often
referred to now as
the “Masonic Temple”
(with a Masonic Lodge
remaining active on
the premises). Originally,
however, this structure–
built as the Corporation
Building–was designed
to house the Village of
Tarrytown offices.
_____
In that earlier era, the
areas of the building
on either side of the
main door housed
two fire companies: the
Conqueror Hook &
Ladder Co., on the east
side; and the Hope
Hose Co., to the west.
The Police Dept.
occupied the middle
space (that area later
becoming the Chamber
of Commerce office). A
special feature for the
police station was a
vehicle passage, allowing
patrolmen to drive
through to the south side
of the building. I believe
that its entrance was
present where the
easternmost door is
located today.
_____
One of the most memor-
able days for the
local police in that era
occurred on May 30,
1914. The International
Workers of the
World, a well-known
socialist group, staged
a protest against John
D. Rockefeller Jr.:
initially, picketing the
family estate; then
later, attempting to
stage an open-air mass
meeting in Tarrytown,
proper. As each
“rabble-rouser” began
speaking to the crowd,
they were each sum-
marily arrested (around
ten, total, including one
woman) and brought
to the jail at the
Corporation Building.
