Though development of much of lower Westchester County was to await the arrival of the railroad, the governmental units were put into place to enable such development.  On March 7, 1788 the County of Westchester was divided into four townships.  What had, until then, been known variously by such designations as the Manor of Pelham, Pel's Mannor and Pelham's Manor became -- officially -- the Town of Pelham.  (Barr, p. 62). 

Still, travel was difficult on the Boston Post Road.  Consequently, much of the development in what was then the Town of Pelham (which included much of today's Bronx County and all of today's City Island) occurred along Pelham Road -- now known as Shore Road -- near the Long Island Sound.  The area of today's Village of Pelham remained substantially undeveloped in the early 19th century. 

According to a history of the Village of North Pelham published in 1946, the area that came to be known as Pelhamville (much of today's Village of Pelham, excluding the Heights) began around 1825:

The actual identity of the village [that is, the Village of North Pelham] can be said to have begun around 1825, according to historians.  The Town of Pelham had been established as a political identity, covering the present Township and also a large area of what is now the East Bronx, including Pelham Bay Park, and City Island, which was the chief village.  The seat of government was nearer the latter place with the Town Hall on the Shore Road close to what is now the road to Orchard Beach.  During this era there came into being a settlement known as Pelhamville. . . .

Village of North Pelham, Souvenir Program Golden Jubilee Celebration of Village of North Pelham Westchester County, New York, p.6 (Village of North Pelham 1946). 

The Rise of the Railroad System

Between 1826 and the 1880s nearly 100 independent railroads were constructed in southern New England according to a "History of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad" prepared by the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center of the University of Connecticut Libraries.  According to the same history, "[t]he New Haven traced its founding to 1826, when one of its predecessor companies originated" (although the New York, New Haven and Hartford was not chartered until 1872). 

The "main line" of the New Haven opened in December, 1848.  The "station" located within today's Village of Pelham was called "Pelhamville".  For a time prior to 1872, Pelhamville was merely a "flag stop" on the New Haven Line.  This meant that trains on the New Haven Line did not stop there regularly.  Rather, a "flag" was raised as a signal to the engineer to stop the train so that passengers at the station could embark.  According to Thomas Fenlon in his book on the history of Pelham, "[w]hen the flag stop was instituted, Pelhamville had 245 residents.  On the south side of the tracks, in what was later to be incorporated as the Village of Pelham, the only residents were living on Wolfs Lane, on the Sparks farm west of Wolfs Lane, and in the old McLellan and Corlies homes East of it."  Fenlon, Thomas B., Pelham New York Memories of a Century After Incorporation, pp. 32-33 (Klein Information Resources, Inc. 1996).

The Railroad Prompts Development of Pelhamville

With the arrival of the railroad, development proceeded more quickly.  In fact, according to Thomas Fenlon, "map filings confirm that real estate activity was particularly active up to 1908.  It appears that subdividing began in 1851, paused for the Civil War, resumed again by 1870, was active in the early years after 1874, and generally remained active in the recovery that ended with the panic of 1907."  (Fenlon, p. 10).

According to J. Gardiner Minard, a former historian of the Village of North Pelham (now merged with the original Village of Pelham to form today's Village of Pelham), "Pelhamville, proper, lay entirely north of the New Haven railroad tracks but [the name] was generally misapplied to the unincorporated section of the town lying between the New Haven railroad tracks and what is now known as Colonial Avenue.  The half dozen residents of that section got their mail at the Pelhamville post office and used the Pelhamville station on the New Haven road."  Minard, J. Gardiner, Pelhamville and North Pelham, 28(4) The Westchester County Historical Bulletin, pp. 108, 110 (Oct. 1952).

At some point prior to 1850-51, two real estate promoters named Lewis C. Platt and Henry Marsden created an association named the Pelhamville Village Association  "to develop certain tracts of unincorporated property in the Town of Pelham lying north of the Railroad and east of the Hutchinson.  This Association purchased Wolf Farm and laid out streets, residential plots and a business district."  (See Barr, p. 135.)  The development was planned to cover approximately 110 acres.  According to the Index of Maps, Office of the Register, Westchester County in White Plains, on June 21, 1851 the subdivision map of Pelhamville was filed. 

The Old Stone House

One of the early homes built in the new and soon to be growing New York City suburb of Pelhamville was the Old Stone House that still stands at 463 First Avenue, corner of 6th Street.  The home, which "has accumulated many myths and traditions", sits on a lot that was sold by Lewis C. Platt and Henry Marsden to Alexander Diack.  According to Lockwood Barr:  "Alexander Diack was born in Dundee, Scotland, and he copied the house of one of his ancestors. Alexander Diack sold the place to James Diack, his brother, on February 16, 1855. James Parrish in New York bought the house, October 15, 1855, and his widow transferred the house to Wm. H. Sparks, in whose home she resided in her later days."  Some of the windows in the building contain colored glass brought from England at the time the home was built. 

The Community Begins to Grow

Barely eleven years after the railroad began running through Pelhamville, there were enough souls in the neighborhood to warrant the creation of a church.  The Bolton family, so integrally involved in the development of Christ Church in today's Village of Pelham Manor, were involved in the creation of Pelhamville's first church:

In the early days of Pelhamville there were no churches.  Residents of the district petitioned Christ Church in Pelham Manor to establish a Chapel, and in 1859 a Sunday School was started in Pelhamville by daughters of Rev. Robert Bolton, Rector of Christ Church.  Subsequently a congregation was organized and a chapel built and put into service under the guidance of Christ Church.  In 1864 a tract of land was bought at Fourth Avenue and Third Street and later a church erected.  On February 17, 1872 there was incorporated the Church of the Redeemer. . . .

Barr, pp. 136-37.

Pelhamville Grows To Become a Regular Stop on the New Haven Line

A map entitled "Town of Pelham City Island" published in the 1868 edition of Beers Atlas shows that there were 46 structures within Pelhamville on both sides of the New Haven Line tracks to what is now known as Colonial Avenue.  (A detail from that map showing much of Pelhamville appears to the right.)  North of the tracks there are 41 structures apparently consisting of 39 residences, a school and the railroad station.  South of the tracks southward to what is now Colonial Avenue are 5 structures apparently consisting of 4 residences and a structure housing "N.Y.L. Co." near the railroad station.

In 1872, a ticket office opened and New Haven Line trains began to make regular stops at Pelhamville.  The Pelhamville station was a small, simple wooden building sitting only a few feet north of the two tracks, which essentially ran east and west at that location.  It was described as "a bleak building . . . a two-and-a-half story building situated on the north side of the tracks" that later also housed the post-office, established in 1878.  (Village of North Pelham Souvenir Program Golden Jubilee, p. 7.)

At this time, the population of Pelhamville grew rapidly.  By 1881, there are basically only three undeveloped tracts of land in what was then known as Pelhamville (later North Pelham).  "A map of the town of Pelham dated 1881, giving the Pelhamville district, shows three undeveloped tracts at that time. First:  the extreme northern tip, now Chester Park, was marked 'Andrew Browse,' being bounded on the south by what now is approximately 7th Street; Second:  a tract marked 'Andrew Heisser,' bounded on the west by Third Street, on the north by the Browse tract, and on the east by New Rochelle; Third:  the triangular tract north of the railroad and west of the New Rochelle line, marked 'Col. R. Lathers,' now Pelhamwood."  (Barr, p. 133).

The "Remarkable" Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885

With traffic on the New Haven Line growing, so did the risk to life and limb.  On December 27, 1885 at approximately 6:00 a.m., The Boston Flyer filled with Christmas celebrants traveling from Boston to New York City wrecked near the Pelhamville station killing the train's fireman and injuring the train's mail clerks and a number of passengers. 

The accident was featured on the front cover of the January 16, 1886 issue of the prestigious scientific journal Scientific American due to its cause:  the local topography had funneled wind during a windstorm beneath the Pelhamville station's wooden passenger platform and flipped the wooden platform over onto the track where it was struck by the steam locomotive pulling the train, causing the train to  derail.  There is only one known photograph of the accident scene shortly after the wreck, although the Scientific American article about the accident included a number of artist engravings of the accident and the accident scene (see below).

The Locomotive and Tender After the Wreck
from Scientific American

Artist's Depiction of Platform on Track from Scientific American

Efforts to Clear the Wreck After the Accident from Scientific American

 

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