Historic Pelham Blog Archive
October 16, 2009
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, October 16, 2009
The Famed "California Ramblers" and the "Ramblers Inn" that Once Stood
on Shore Road
Yesterday I received an inquiry regarding
the location of the "Ramblers Inn" that once stood along Shore Road
inside Pelham Bay Park just beyond Pelham's border with the Bronx. The
inquiry prompted me to jot a note summarizing some of what I have
learned about the "Ramblers Inn" also once known as the "California
Ramblers Inn". The story is an interesting one.
The Morris family once owned an estate with
a lovely home that stood slightly north of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion
Museum along Shore Road opposite today's Pelham Bay Golf Course (part of
today's Pelham Bay and Split Rock Golf Courses). During the 1880s, the
forerunner to today's New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
arranged the acquisition of the property including the home on behalf of
the City. The red arrow on the map detail below shows the location of
the Morris home in 1868.
At some point, a man named Shanley leased the property, renovated and
changed the home, then turned it into a roadhouse called the "Pell Tree
Inn".
Click here to see a post card image showing the exterior of the structure.
Click here to see a post card image showing an interior view of one room
of the Inn.
By the 1920s, the business had changed hands and was known as "Ramblers
Inn". In those years, of course, jazz bands played in many of the local
roadhouses. Among those who played at Ramblers Inn were members of a group
that included Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey.
To see an undated picture of the group, please click on this link.
To read a little about the background of the band, please click on this
link.
Tradition has it that the group became so successful so quickly, that they
named themselves the "California Ramblers". They supposedly took the name
of the Inn where they became famous and changed the name slightly to add
the panache of a name that included a reference to the sun-drenched state
on the West Coast. One thing is certain, however. During the 1920s, the
group became one of the most successful of their day. The group recorded
hundreds of successful jazz tunes on many record labels including Columbia
Records throughout the 1920s. One of the oddest "facts" about the band is
that it recorded under a very, very large number of "pseudonyms" during
the 1920s. One fan has attempted to assemble a list of nearly 100 such
pseudonyms.
Please click on this link to view that list.
By the early 1930s, the business had changed hands once again and was
known as the Hollywood Gardens. Paul Whiteman and his orchestra played
to large crowds at the Hollywood Gardens until Robert Moses ordered the
structure razed in the mid-1930s while work was being done to destroy the
bungalows at old Orchard Beach.
Reviews of old newspapers reveal that the Inn was often referred to as
"California Ramblers Inn". Searches of such materials can be annoying
because there were many institutions throughout the area (and the country)
known as "Ramblers Inn".
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 @
5:14 AM
Comment
Click Here to View the Blog Posting for
October 16, 2009.
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