The Heights

By the late 1880s, other real estate development was underway.  Indeed, in 1889 three tracts of land that together formed The Heights (the original Village of Pelham before its later enlargement through merger with the Village of North Pelham) were laid out near the train station as a suburban commuting village.  According to Barr:

"The tract near the station was known as the Johnson property.  The McClellan property was to the south.  The Henry Grenzebach tract was on the east end, towards New Rochelle.  Benjamin L. Fairchild, who had real estate interests in Mt. Vernon, secured control of the Grenzebach and McClellan tracts.  Benjamin F. Corlies, of Pelham Manor, secured control of the Johnson tract.  Fairchild, Corlies and their associates, with John Fairchild as engineer, in 1889, laid out the three tracts as a suburban commuting village, building streets, installing water, sewers, gas, etc.. . . "  (Barr, p. 139).  Development of The Heights continued throughout the early 1890s.

[The image above shows what is generally believed to be the oldest tree in Pelham, located in The Heights.}

Pelham Heights was developed by Benjamin Fairchild and Benjamin Corlies.  In 1896, Benjamin Corlies incorporated the area as the "Village of Pelham".  It was described as the "smallest village in the United States" since it covers an area of only .368 square mile.  Only nine families lived there at the time. 

One of the more interesting stories often told about The Heights is the way in which several of its streets got their names.  Benjamin Fairchild, one of the two principal developers, earlier was shipwrecked off the Alaskan coast.  On his return to Pelham, he memorialized the experience by naming several streets after landmarks associated with his travails.  The ship involved was The "Ancon".  "Loring" is the name of the Island on which he was shipwrecked.  The steamer that rescued him was the George W. "Elder".  The steamer line owned another ship named the "Corona".  "Monterey" was reportedly among the California towns Fairchild visited. 

Chester Park

Within two years, developers were working away at the undeveloped tracts at the northern tip of Pelhamville to create a restricted residential neighborhood to be known as Chester Park.  A subdivision map for Chester Park was filed in the Office of the Register, Westchester County, White Plains on August 20, 1891.  (Barr, pp. 130, 132-33).

The area was a portion of a 36-acre tract owned by John Coutant.  That portion of the tract devolved to William and Elizabeth Standen who deeded the Chester Park "Green" on August 8, 1892 to an entity known as the Pelhamville Land and Homestead Association.  (The existence of that association ended when all of the original 89 building lots were sold.)  The Standens reportedly were responsible for the name of the development, naming it after Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States. 

Title to the Chester Park Green now rests with the property owners of Chester Park. 

Services to Serve the Growing Community

As the area north of Colonial Avenue grew, its need for schools, houses of worship, fire protection and all the amenities of a municipality arose.  The community rose to the occasion.

The first public school in what we know as today's Village of Pelham was opened some time before 1866.  It was known as the Pelhamville School.  (A painting of the "Pelhamville School District No. 1" by Edward Penfield appears immediately to the left of this paragraph.)  According to Lockwood Barr, a "new school building was opened January 8, 1889.  It is now the Hutchinson School on Fourth Street, the modern building having been erected in 1914 and the addition added in 1928.  (Barr, p. 151).

The Pelhamville School stood near the site of today's Hutchinson School.  Isaac C. Hill served as principal of the Pelhamville School and other Pelham schools for more than 40 years.  Interestingly:

"In an article in The Pelham Sun of Dec. 20, 1913, he told of his transfer to the school from the old Prospect Hill School in Pelham Manor, in January, 1878.  Pelhamville, he said, was 'a little village of 48 houses'.  The school was a small frame building containing two classrooms and accommodated 50 pupils.  The original Hutchinson School was opened in January, 1890.

Village of North Pelham, Souvenir Program Golden Jubilee Celebration of Village of North Pelham Westchester County, New York, p.8 (Village of North Pelham 1946). 

By the 1890s, with the population of the community growing steadily, fire protection became of paramount importance.  Forty local taxpayers petitioned the Board of Supervisors of the County of Westchester to create a fire district for protection of the community.  On February 20, 1893, the Board of Supervisors of Westchester County established the "First Fire District of the Town of Pelham". 

Photo Courtesy of the Office of the Historian
of the Town of Pelham

As the population grew, houses of worship sprang up to serve the spiritual needs of the community.  The Church of the Redeemer began as a chapel under the guidance of Christ Church (on Shore Road at Pelhamdale Avenue in Pelham Manor) in 1859.  St. Catharine's, still an active and vibrant force in our community, was established on January 11, 1896. 

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