Sputnik, buildings fill the sky

1957

Space age

In October 1957, a group of high school students walked into the Fieldston School "ham" radio shack to listen to Sputnik (the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth) as it raced by in the skies.

It was the first time that a group of Riverdalians had been able to pick up the satellite on radio. Seeing Sputnik was harder. The school's powerful telescope couldn't spot the satellite, launched by the Soviet Union because of how quickly the metal ball was orbiting. Riverdalians were invited to try to spot the satellite with lowpowered binoculars and telescopes.

The sky wasn't the only place to look for dramatic changes. The face of Riverdale and Kingsbridge began transforming this year, with the promise of thousands of new apartment buildings and industrial complexes. The Nov. 7 issue of The Press showed a large picture of Spuyten Duyvil topped with the headline, "Within a Few Months This Picture Will Change." New apartment house construction had begun; industrial growth would eliminate century-old houses, the article warned.