‘Marble Hill’ comes from marble deposits found beneath the neighbourhood.
Marble Hill gained its name in 1891 from the Inwood marble deposits discovered under it. Once part of Manhattan Island, it became a separate island in 1817, when a narrow canal was dug; in 1895 the canal was enlarged into the Harlem River Ship Canal. Land reclamation joined Marble Hill to the Bronx in 1913 or 1914 (sources differ), yet it is still legally part of Manhattan.