A steep ridge south of Riverdale, overlooking the entry of the Harlem River into the Hudson, the Indians called it "Shorrack-kappock," which is why there is a Kappock Street in the area today. It was named Tippett's and Berrian's Neck, after early settlers who had homes on the hillside. But Spuyten Duyvil is the name the Dutch used, variously explained. Washington Irving attributes it to Peter Stuyvesant's trumpeter, who swore to row across the rough stretch where the waters met "in spite of the devil." What was once Spuyten Duyvil Creek, meandering east, south around the Johnson Iron Works, and then north past Marble Hill, has been straightened and widened into today's Harlem River Ship Canal. Originally to be crossed only upstream at Kingsbridge, it is bridged today by the steel arch of the Henry Hudson Bridge (1936), carrying a parkway, which touches the Bronx not far from the column in Hudson memorial Park. The hill at Spuyten Duyvil is covered with tall apartment houses built in the 50s and 60s.


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