322 The Story of The Bronx 



would ever be within the corporate limits of New York City. 

 The cemetery comprises four hundred acres on the westerly 

 side of the Bronx River in the former township of Kingsbridge, 

 with Webster Avenue for its eastern, and Woodlawn Road 

 and Jerome Avenue for its western boundaries. On the north 

 it extends to East 233d Street and on the south almost to the 

 Gun Hill Road. The ground is high and is on the northerly 

 end of the Fordham ridge, which separates the Harlem and 

 Bronx valleys. In colonial days it was heavily wooded, and 

 it was within the sheltering shadows of its trees that Colonel 

 Simcoe placed his own rangers and the dragoons of Tarleton 

 upon August 31, 1778, when he planned the ambush for the 

 force of Colonel Gist and his Indian allies. 



In 1900, the city took a strip from the eastern side of the 

 cemetery for the extension of Webster Avenue. This de- 

 stroyed the beautiful pond and the parterres of flowers which 

 were so conspicuous for many years to the passengers on the 

 Harlem and New Haven railroads. A fine granite bulkhead 

 with iron-railed top now constitutes the eastern side of the 

 cemetery. The southerly boundary is a fence which cuts off 

 the approach to the old Revolutionary redoubt constructed 

 by the orders of General Heath to command the Boston 

 Road and the bridge over the Bronx River. The old fort is 

 only a few feet within the fence. 



The cemetery has two main carriage entrances, one at the 

 northeast corner, close to the Harlem Railroad station, and 

 the other at Jerome Avenue at its junction with Woodlawn 

 Road. Near both are situated monument makers, gardeners, 

 florists, and "hotels. " Why is it that near cemetery entrances 

 there are always located so many "hotels," whose chief func- 

 tion seems to be to dispense liquid refreshments? Are mourn- 

 ers and drivers of hearses and coaches such a thirsty lot? 



