Blog Posts tagged as: history

Color postcard image of a castle-like tower with ivy growing on it

POTW: A Castle in Brooklyn

Diana

Bliss Castle, color postcard, circa 1910s, POST_0180; Brooklyn postcards collection, BCMS.0060, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Did you know there was once a "castle" in Bay Ridge? Today's Photo of the Week is a color postcard depicting the observatory and tower at the Eliphalet Williams Bliss estate, which eventually became Owl's Head Park. Bliss had purchased the estate from famed NY state senator Henry Cruse Murphy, under whose ownership the property "was the Mecca of prominent politicians, men…

Leafing Through History: Another Booklist About Tasty Teas

Carl

Earlier this year, I shared a booklist focused on tea and sympathies in the world of cozy tea shops and murder most foul. But if your interests in the steaming brews have a historical bent, or you're curious about tea and the makings of a good cuppa, try this blend of tantalizing tea titles: Infused: Adventures in Tea by Henrietta Lovell Lovell, an evangelist for and an owner of an artisanal loose tea shop, leads readers on a journey across the globe searching for the world’s best and most extraordinary teas. Traveling to such places as Sri Lanka, Scotland, Norway, Italy, Mexico and…