"Spuyten Duyvil" may be literally translated as "Spouting Devil" or Spuitende Duivel in Dutch, a reference to the strong and wild tidal currents found at that location.

[6][7][8] Historian Reginald Pelham Bolton, however, argues that the phrase means "spouting meadow", referring to a fresh-water spring at Inwood Hill.

Set in the 1660s, the story tells of trumpeter Antony Van Corlear summoned by "Peter de Groodt" to warn settlers of an attempted British invasion, with Corlear attempting to swim across the "Harlean river" from Fort Amsterdam to the Bronx mainland "in spite of the devil (spyt den duyvel)", Irving writes.

"[11][7][8][12][13] An extensive appendix to Studies in Etymology and Etiology (2009) by David L. Gold, which includes commentary by Rob Rentenaar, professor of onomastics at the University of Amsterdam, goes into great detail about all the various translations for "Spuyten Duyvil" which have been mooted over the years.

[4] The tracks originally crossed Spuyten Duyvil Creek and into Manhattan on the west side, but Cornelius Vanderbilt wanted to consolidate his railroad operations into one terminal, so he had tracks laid along the north side of the Harlem River so that trains coming south from Albany could join with the Harlem and New Haven lines and come into Manhattan down Fourth Avenue into his new Grand Central Depot.

Large high-rise apartment buildings, which later became condominiums and cooperatives, began to be built in the 1950s and continued through the 1980s, bringing in affluent families attracted by its scenic qualities, as well as by the area's closeness to desirable neighborhoods such as Fieldston and Riverdale.

[4] On July 18, 2013, a freight train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station due to an excessively wide gauge at one point.

[18] Less than six months later, on December 1, a commuter train derailment near the Spuyten Duyvil station resulted in 4 deaths and over 70 injuries, 11 of them critical.