Haunted Follow-Up

By on November 3, 2010 5:24 am in Architecture, Arts and Entertainment

A reader tipped us off to a New York Times article from August 7, 1899 that reports the death of five-year-old William Foster, who tragically fell from the balcony at 20 Columbia Place. Could this be the ghostly presence recently reported? (Or there may be more than one?) Interestingly, according to Property Shark the building we know now at 20 Columbia Place was built around 1900 (Ed. Note: it’s the “B” building of the Riverside Apartments, built in 1890,more Willowtown history here.- HF)—does anyone know what it looked like before then?

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  • william

    The site at 20 Columbia Place was only used for industrial purposes prior to Alfred T. White building the Riverside Apartment Complex there in 1889 – 1890.

    The location once housed a brewery owned by Philip Livingston, which was seized by the British in 1776. Later there was a gin distillery owned by the Pierrepont family, and then a sugar refinery, and a candle factory at the present Riverside Apts site.

    In 1750, the high-waterline for NY harbor crossed at 20 Columbia Place, and it ran up towards Willow Place and then towards Atlantic Avenue.

    There was a ferry landing at the base of Joralemon Street in the 1700s, and it has been reported that some of Washington’s army departed from the landing and shores of the cove area in 1776.

    Maybe the reported moans are coming from the GYN/OB doctor’s office at 18 Columbia Place? Or maybe some of George Washington’s dead soldiers are still hanging around and looking in the doctor’s windows today.