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Historic Pelham Blog Archive
September 28, 2007
350TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
BOOK: "THOMAS PELL
AND THE LEGEND OF THE PELL TREATY OAK" -- $11.95 (PROCEEDS AFTER
PRINTING COSTS WILL GO TO
BARTOW-PELL MANSION MUSEUM).
CLICK HERE TO BROWSE BEFORE YOU BUY!
LEARN MORE.
Friday, September 28, 2007
When Incorporated, The Original Village of Pelham Needed More Elected
Officials Than It Had Voters
One of the oddest pieces of trivia relating to the history of Pelham
arises from the incorporation of the tiny little Village of Pelham in
1896. The original Village of Pelham encompassed the area known today as
Pelham Heights. The Village of North Pelham, north of the New Haven line
tracks, and the tiny Village of Pelham merged to form today's Village of
Pelham in the 1970s.
When first created in 1896, the tiny Village of Pelham had only sixteen
registered voters. Yet, by law, if it had been required to fill all seats
on its Board of Health, the little Village would have had more offices for
elected officials than it had voters. The New York Times made
note of this curious fact on June 10, 1896. It said:
"HAS MORE OFFICES THAN VOTERS.
Pelham Is The Smallest Incorporated Village of Record.
MOUNT VERNON, N. Y., June 9. - The new village of Pelham, which was
created by a special act of the Legislature that was signed recently by
Gov. Morton, comprises the territory known as Pelham Heights, and is one
of the smallest incorporated villages of record. There are but sixteen
voters in the place, and there are eleven offices to be filled. If a full
Board of Health should be elected there would be offices for all the
voters and some left over.
The village covers that part of Pelham bounded by the village of Pelham
Manor, the New-York, New-Haven and Hartford Railway, Mount Vernon, and
New-Rochelle. The new village is the home of Congressman Benjamin L.
Fairchild."
Source: Has More Offices Than Voters, N. Y. Times, Jun. 10, 1896.
Please Visit the
Historic Pelham
Web Site
Located at
http://www.historicpelham.com/
Click here to see a
single index of all Historic Pelham Blog Postings to date.
posted by Blake A. Bell @
4:57 AM
Comment
Click Here To View the Actual Blog
Posting for September 28, 2007.
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