The Man with the Mercury Hammer, the Avenging Sourdough, and Other True Tales of a Bloomingdale Family 
Thursday, Feb. 27   6-7pm via Zoom  Free for LW! Members

Members of Bloomingdale's Dixon-Tripler family were major Upper West Side landowners in the second half of the 19th century, with more property in the blocks between 100th and 110th Streets than such Manhattan real estate luminaries as Astor or de Peyster.  

Now entirely forgotten, the Dixons declined through a succession of disastrous marriages to cranks, schemers, and even a killer! Rob Garber (we all adored his dive into the Greatest Photo of Morningside Heights for LW!) brings us their stories: from Gilded Age highs to alarming lows. He'll take us from the old Bloomingdale Road to one of the first air-conditioned theaters in the world all the way to Alaska during Gold Rush days—with cameo appearances by Jack London and Howard Hughes.  

Our speaker:

Robert Garber is a longtime resident of the Upper West Side and has an interest in neighborhood history. He serves on the Planning Committee of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group.

Illustration courtesy of Robert Garber