New York City Annexation

On January 1, 1896, New York City annexed more than half the land that previously made up the Town of Pelham.  This move had a profound effect on what we know today as the Village of Pelham. 

Until "The Annexation", Pelham's Town Hall was located on Shore Road between City Island and the Pelham Bridge.  As a result of the annexation, Pelham's Town Board purchased land on the east side of Fifth Avenue and built a Town Hall that consisted of a small frame building with a courtroom, two jail cells, a Town Clerk's office and and Board rooms.  This, of course, changed the location of the heart of the Town of Pelham.

Incorporation of the Village of North Pelham

The Village of North Pelham was incorporated on August 29, 1896.  A first hand account of the incorporation process has been related by one of those who was principally involved -- J. Gardiner Minard -- in 1946.  He wrote:

In January, 1896, the late John F. Fairchild, along with others petitioned to change the name of the post office from Pelhamville to Pelham.  New Haven Railroad officials had assured the petitioners that if the name of the post office were changed they would also change the name of the local station from Pelhamville to Pelham.

On March 1, 1896, the first copy of the Pelham Press, a weekly, came off the press.  It was the only newspaper in town.  Many townspeople came to me and asked my help in advocating the incorporation of Pelhamville as a village.  Although no name was suggested, it was tacitly understood that 'Pelham' would be the new name.  In the next issue I had an editorial urging the incorporation of the place.  It brought a storm of protest from the old-timers in the hamlet who charged that the only object was to create a lot of salaried offices.

On April 18th, Postmistress Merritt received word from the Postmaster General that on and after July 1st, 1896, the name of the local post office would be changed from Pelhamville to Pelham.  This spurred the advocates of incorporation in Pelhamville to greater efforts. 

The champions of incorporation now called a meeting to be held in the Town Hall and subscribed the funds necessary to cover the costs of incorporation, and on August 29th, incorporation became a fact and 'Pelhamville' became a name in history only.

Village of North Pelham, "The Birth of a Village" by J. Gardiner Minard in Souvenir Program Golden Jubilee Celebration of Village of North Pelham Westchester County, New York, p.14 (Village of North Pelham 1946).

The incorporation issue was not a forgone conclusion.  Indeed, "[t]he vote to incorporate the Village of North Pelham . . . was decided by only one vote more in favor than opposed."  Fenlon, at p.15. 

Incorporation of The Heights

The Village of Pelham Manor reportedly sought to include The Heights in its incorporation proceedings in 1891.  But, state laws involving ratios relating to population and acreage reportedly brought the effort to a halt.

The efforts in 1891 were not the first time The Heights was close to being incorporated into Pelham Manor.  "The Heights was almost combined with the Manor in 1873, when there was organized The Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association, to develop unincorporated property in the Manor (except Prospect Hill), and all the property in the Heights, except the Johnson Tract. The old Map of that real estate project, has on it 'Pelham Manor' on the section south of the Post Road, and 'Huguenot Heights' on the section north of Colonial. Out of this project came the Village of Pelham Manor, incorporated in 1891."  (Barr, pp. 140-41).

Lockwood Barr further wrote that: 

"The Heights several times narrowly escaped being combined with one or the other of the two villages. The first reference to the area, now the Village of Pelham, is to be found in the archives of Westchester, under the date of March 3, 1729, when Thomas Pell, 3rd Lord of the Manor, sold to one Edward Blagge, of New York City, a portion of all the land north of Colonial Avenue, which is now both the Village of Pelham and the Village of North Pelham.

The next official reference to the tract, now the Village of Pelham, was a map dated October 11, 1851, showing a sub-division into streets and residential plots of the land bounded on the north, by the Railroad, on the west by Fifth Avenue, on the east by what is now Cliff Avenue, and on the south by what is now Second Street. This map is labelled [sic] 'Map of Building Lots, being a Continuation of Pelhamville, Westchester County, N. Y., the property of John B. Coppinger.' On a plot 200 x 200, now the corner of Wolf Lane and First Street, where stands the Honor Roll, is shown a building--the only one on the tract--and it is labelled [sic], Hotel Ground. The Railroad Station is shown as being at the comer of Fifth Avenue and 1st Street, North Pelham.

(Barr, at pp. 140-41).

Still, The Heights was incorporated into the Original Village of Pelham.  Only nine votes were cast to decide the issue.  "In 1896, when the Pelham Heights section was incorporated into the Village of Pelham, there were just nine votes cast -- one for each of the nine families then living on the tract."  (Barr, at p. 142). 

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