Among the treasured documents in the society’s archives are the recollections, written and oral, of long-time town residents. Mildred Haight Struble, for example, lived as a child in the early 1900s at the Horace Greeley House, which her family rented from Greeley’s daughter, Gabrielle Greeley Clendenin. The quote above is how she recalled the popular winter pastime of bobsled racing when she was growing up.

Bobsleds were invented independently in Switzerland and upstate New York during the 1880s. They differed radically from ordinary coasting sleds or horse-drawn sleighs, for they had two sets of runners, front and rear, and so could be steered. Thus, they were ideal for racing down curving slopes. And in New Castle, the ideal slope was King Street, from the top of the hill near Bedford Road down to its end beyond the railroad tracks.

A twelve-rider bobsled preparing to race at Albany, New York, about 1900. Library of Congress.

These bobsleds were also very different from the sleek, four-rider models that compete in today’s Olympics. Their bodies were essentially plain platforms, long enough to hold several riders. In addition to the steerer in the front, there was usually one in the back as well. There were three bobsleds that raced in Chappaqua, the Senator, the Shoemaker, and the Jumbo. The largest, heaviest, and fastest was the Jumbo, which had 18 riders. 



Race winners might be determined by time, but more often by distance – how far the bobsleds could pass beyond the railroad tracks onto what is now Hunts Place. The riders might be seated, as shown in the photographs, but men might lie prone on the backs of one another, to cut down air resistance. On curves, they would shift their weight to the inside, to counteract centrifugal force.

A bobsled with eight riders, "leaning into the curve" on Central Drive in Briarcliff Manor, about 1900. Westchester County Historical Society.

The steel runners were considered the most important elements of the sled. They were forged by skilled blacksmiths and polished to a mirror gloss. Mrs. Strubel’s father’s bobsled was probably the Senator, and the runners were fashioned by Thomas Farrington in the shop next to his house on Bedford Road, directly opposite the intersection with King Street. The Shoemaker was probably made at John Young’s blacksmith shop on North Greeley Avenue, not far from the shoe factory, and crewed by the young men who worked there. The Jumbo was definitely the product of blacksmith and wheelwright George Crosson, whose shop was in the front yard of his home at what is now 45 Hunts Place. 

In winter, King Street would have been only lightly plowed, if at all, since sleighs, sleds, and bobsleds all required beds of packed snow to run on. The era of street bobsled racing undoubtedly came to an end when horse-drawn vehicles gave way to trucks and automobiles, the wheels of which needed better traction than snow provided. From then on, the roads were salted, sanded, and plowed to get rid of the snow as quickly as possible. 

In fact, the era probably extended over just a few decades, from about 1890 to 1920. But it sure must have been fun while it lasted.