Tag: Bronx Facts

Bronx Population Growth Fastest in City & State as NYC Hits 8.5 Million Residents

If you feel subways and buses are crowded now more than ever—it’s not just your imagination.

For the first time in New York City history, the population has hit above 8.5 million people according to US Census estimates issued for last year—and The Bronx is leading not just the city in terms of growth but also the State of New York.

The Bronx is Close to Breaking Its Population Record Set in 1970

In 1970, The Bronx registered a historic population record of 1,471,701 residents—and then the great decline led to a 20% drop by 1980 as over 300,000 people fled the chaos our borough was thrown into by government officials with planned shrinkage, landlords torching their properties, redlining, and a host of other systemic issues that plagued our borough of which we still feel the impact today.

Now, as of 2014 census estimates, The Bronx has an estimated population of 1,438,159—just 33,542 shy of our historic high in 1970.

When Edgar Allan Poe Lived in The Bronx

207 years ago today, one of The Bronx’s most notable residents was born—the poet Edgar Allan Poe who once lived in what was known as the Village of Fordham in what was once Westchester County.

The famed writer and poet, one of the most important in American history, moved to The Bronx when his wife Virginia became ill from tuberculosis and he thought the fresh country air would help her condition.

Bronx History: The Lorillard Spencer Estate and The Birth Of Allerton

A French Huguenot family, the Lorillards, settled in the area which is now known as Allerton as well as parts of the New York Botanical Garden back in the late 1700s. The family became extremely successful in the tobacco industry and their company would eventually give rise to Lorillard Inc, which makes Newport, Kent, and other cigarettes.

By 1840 they had built what is now known as The Snuff Mill at NYBG which according to the New York Times, “…tobacco was ground into smokeless, powdery form called snuff, which could be flavored and inhaled.”