Riverside Park New Deal Sites - Photo #113 - Riverside Park 124th Street to 181st Street

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Clarement Inn in the 1930s Riverside Park: Claremont Playground on the site of the historical Claremont Inn, dating from 1806, which was renovated in the 1930s by the WPA, but which burned down in stages between 1949 and 1951. The Inn, and now the playground, sit on a promontory that looks up the river towards the George Washington Bridge.
References:
  1. NY City Department of Parks press release of September 28, 1934: “Claremont Restaurant would be closed on Monday, October 1st [until December], in order to install a heating system adequate for the Winter months and for minor alterations to provide an enclosed space for patrons of the restaurant to enjoy the up-river view.”
  2. NY City Department of Parks press release of October 19, 1934, MEMORANDUM ON ORGANIZATION OF WORK RELIEF PROJECTS: “Claremont Inn on Riverside Drive has been renovated and opened as a popular priced restaurant”.
  3. NY City Department of Parks press release of April 30, 1937: “The historic Claremont was built in 1806, and is recognized as one of New York's landmarks, overlooking the Hudson River on Riverside Drive north of Grant's Tomb. The exterior has been repainted and the interior has been renovated.”
  4. NY City Department of Parks press release of April 6, 1939: “The Department of Parks announces that the historic Claremont Inn built in 1806, and recognized as one of New York's landmarks on Riverside Drive north of Grant's Tomb will reopen at noon on Saturday, April 8th."
  5. Cohen, Marjorie, The Claremont Inn: A Lost Treasure on the Banks of the Hudson, West Side Rag, February 7, 2012.