City Island Historical Society Nautical Museum Expected to Recover From Arson Fire That Damaged it on July 13, 2007

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Shortly before 9:00 p.m. on Friday, July 13, 2007, one or more arsonists set a fire on the front porch of 190 Fordham Street, City Island, Bronx, NY. The resultant fire destroyed the entrance to the City Island Historical Society Nautical Museum. According to an

1885 Report Notes Decline of Oyster Industry Near City Island in the Town of Pelham

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1885, the Commissioner of Fisheries of the State of New York issued a gloomy report about the decline of oysters in New York waters. The report focused on the area around City Island in the Town of Pelham as "typical" of such declining oyster beds.A news account

Possible Origins of the Oyster Feud Between City Islanders and Huntington, Long Island

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Yesterday I posted to the Historic Pelham Blog a small item published in 1869 describing a dispute among the oystermen of City Island in the Town of Pelham and those of Huntington, Long Island. There is an intriguing legend that sheds light on the likely origins of

Pelham's City Island Oystermen Feud with Long Islanders in 1869

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1869, a feud arose among City Island oystermen in the Town of Pelham and Long Island oystermen who plied the waters of Huntington Bay. A number of ugly incidents arose as a result. Today's Historic Pelham Blog contains the text of an early article about the

Yesterday Was the 100th Anniversary of the Inauguration of Regular Electric Rail Service to Pelham

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the commencement of regular electric rail service to Pelham. According to a press release issued by the New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association, Inc.:"On July 24, 1907, the first regularly scheduled all electric

Article About the Pell Treaty Oak Published in 1909

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Yesterday I wrote about the fiery death of the Pell Treaty Oak in 1906. See Monday, July 23, 2007: 1906 Article in The Sun Regarding Fire that Destroyed the Pell Treaty Oak. Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of an article that appeared

1906 Article in The Sun Regarding Fire that Destroyed the Pell Treaty Oak

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.For many years a gigantic, ancient oak stood on the grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion in Pelham Bay Park. According to tradition, Thomas Pell met with local Native Americans beneath the branches of that oak on June 27, 1654 and signed the so-called "treaty" by which

Account of Early Baseball in Pelham: Pelham vs. the New York Athletic Club on Travers Island in 1897

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Those who read the Historic Pelham Blog regularly know that periodically I have posted to the Historic Pelham Blog research regarding early organized baseball in Pelham. In fact, I have written extensively on the topic. Among the material I have prepared on the topic

Members of The New York Athletic Club Were Duped Into Believing the Club Created a Small Nine-Hole Golf Course in Pelham Manor in 1897

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1895, "golf fever" swept across Pelham. In response to the craze, two members of the Hazen family, Mrs. John Cunningham Hazen and Miss Edith Cunningham Hazen, organized "The Pelham Manor Golf Club". The founders laid out a small course on Prospect Hill. The course

Another British Military Unit History that Notes Participation in the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.I have previously posted to the Historic Pelham Blog a number of excerpts from British military unit histories that note participation in the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776. See:Wed., November 1, 2006: Two British Military Unit Histories that Note Participation

Mention of the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776 in Writings of Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Aide-de-Camp to British General Clinton

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Yesterday I published to the Historic Pelham Blog a brief item entitled "Mention of the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776 in Revolutionary War Diary of David How", an American soldier who fought in General Washington's Army. Today's posting provides a British view

Mention of the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776 in Revolutionary War Diary of David How

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.There is a very brief reference to the Battle of Pelham that occurred on the 18th of October, 1776 in a diary kept by David How, a private in Col. Paul Dudley Sargent's Regiment of the Massachusetts Line. The brief entry sheds light on the perceptions of the battle

Midnight Fire Destroyed Pelham's Town Hall in October 1908

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.At midnight on October 24 1908 -- just after a Republican rally ended in the building -- Pelham's town hall suffered a major fire that nearly burned it to the ground. The fire began in the cell area at the rear. Thankfully, no prisoners were in the cells at the time.

The Infamous Burglary of the Girls of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor in 1905

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a school for girls stood at the corner of Boston Post Road and Esplanade in Pelham Manor. It was known as Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.In 1905, an employee of the school committed what became an infamous crime; she

Using the Free "Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers" Database to Perform Local History Research

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Last March the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities unveiled a beta version of the "Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers" database. Presently the database includes newspapers from 1900 to 1910 from the following states: New

An Early Event in the History of Pelhamwood

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Just north of the Pelham station of the New Haven Line is the lovely neighborhood known as Pelhamwood. The neighborhood was developed in the early 20th Century by Clifford B. Harmon and his company, Clifford B. Harmon & Co. A full history of the neighborhood was

Burglars Learn To Use Technology to Rob Pelham Manor Homes in 1901

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1901, a technology that we take for granted today -- the telephone -- was still in its infancy. Barely two decades old, the technology was embraced by the bad guys who learned how to use it to further their illicit goals. The article below from The Sun (published

Fatal Train Wreck Near Pelham Manor in 1902

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.On September 26, 1902 there was a fatal train wreck on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad line near Pelham. The conductor of the train, George Hart, was killed in the accident.A brief account of the wreck appeared in The Sun on September 27, 1902. It read

An Odd Incident in Pelham Manor in 1902

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.On September 19, 1902, The Sun published an article about an odd incident in Pelham Manor that involved a number of prominent Pelham citizens. A young man who tried to catch a train departing from the Pelham Manor Station on the branch line fell from the rear car and

1857 Real Estate Advertisement for Sale of the Pelham Bridge

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.On January 27, 1857, a brief advertisement appeared in the New York Daily Times offering the Pelham Bridge for sale. The advertisement appears below, followed by a citation to its source."FOR SALE - THE PELHAM BRIDGE, OVER East Chester Creek, Westchester Co This is a

1855 Tax Collection Notice for Pelhamville and Prospect Hill Village

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Two small hamlets were developed in Pelham at essentially the same time in the early 1850s: Prospect Hill Village and Pelhamville. New York City land speculators snapped up lots in both the tiny developments. In fact, so many New York City residents owned lots in

Notice of Auction Sale of Lots at Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham in 1874

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.I have written extensively about "Bartow-on-the-Sound", a tiny hamlet carved from lands around the Bartow / City Island train station that once stood on the Branch Line not far from today's Pelham Bit Stables on Shore Road. See, e.g., Bell, Blake A.,