Quiz: Test Your Sparkill Knowledge

The Sparkill History Project (www.sparkillhistory.org) was formed last year by local residents dedicated to recognizing, preserving and promoting the hamlet's rich history.

We held an event last July at Christ Episcopal Church that celebrated Sparkill's storied past and honored Christ Church for its 2011 listing on the state and national Registers of Historic Places. Last Friday (Feb. 24), the Tappantown Historical Society honored our group with one of its annual awards, during a dinner at the '76 House.

How much do you know about Sparkill history? Take the quiz below:

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Sparkill History Q&A (answers at the end)  

1. Rockland Cemetery on Kings Highway was created by this first president of the Erie Railroad, who envisioned a cemetery that would become prominent as the final resting place for the deceased of the New York City area.  

2. Regarded as Sparkill’s greatest entrepreneur during the hamlet’s early years, this founder of a real estate and insurance agency that still bears his name also served as publisher of the hamlet’s only newspaper, which circulated from 1914 to 1934. Name this towering figure and the newspaper he published.  

3. Sparkill takes its name from the creek that flows languorously through the hamlet and which originally drew settlers to the area. But it answered to several different names prior to 1870. Name one.  

4. The Post Office on Main Street formerly housed what municipal offices?  

5. This prominent Sparkill resident once owned an ice pond with ice house at the present skating pond site bordering Piermont, as well as a popular meat market. He also served with distinction as chief of the Sparkill Fire Department (John Paulding Engine Co. No. 1.)  

6. The DeLongis Court development bordering the Joseph Clarke Rail Trail is the former site of what Sparkill landmark?  

7. The former Relish Restaurant used to be the location of what much-beloved Sparkill grocery store?     

8. The old railroad tracks at the junction of Main Street and Piermont Avenue acquired this pithy moniker from the merchant who owned a grocery store on the same corner and whose home occupied the site now hosting the Bauer-Crowley building.  

9. The Bauer building also housed the offices of this well-known dentist who is recalled fondly by generations of Sparkill families.  

10. This 1,260-foot-long, structural steel engineering marvel was built by the state Department of Public Works in just 52 working days. Completed in 1928, and rebuilt nearly 10 years ago, the structure soars gracefully over the Sparkill Creek.  

11. The Rev. Charles Babcock, one of the country’s foremost architects in the mid-to-late 19th century, designed this hallowed house of worship, which recently earned a listing on the state and national registers of historic places. A. Christ Episcopal Church  

12. The site of the former Diplomat Gardens apartment complex on Route 9W (technically in Piermont) once echoed with the joyful sounds of children who received their foundation of learning at this beloved institution.  

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Answers: 1. Dr. Eleazar Lord; 2. Oswald A. Bauer and the Sparkill Herald; 3. Tappan Slote, Blanche’s Crossing, Kipp’s Crossing, Upper Piermont; 4. The Orangetown police station and courts; 5. Henry Boss; 6. Graney’s sand pit; 7. The A&P; 8. Kipp’s Crossing, after Wesley A. Kipp; 9. Dr. A.C. Munson; 10. The Route 9W Viaduct; 11. Christ Episcopal Church; 12. Sparkill Grammar School.