Brief Description of Pelham's Clay Avenue and Washington Avenue Area in 1913

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In 1913, The Pelham Sun published a brief description of the then-unincorporated section of the Town of Pelham in the area of Clay Avenue.  The area was not yet part of the Village of Pelham Manor.  Although part of the Town of Pelham, it was not part of any of the incorporated villages.

The item describes the area at a time of major change -- just as it was evolving from rural pastureland to suburbia.  The item is transcribed below.

"Town's Unincorporated Part
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The unincorporated part of the Town of Pelham (that part being within the town limits, but not in the incorporated village of Pelham Manor, has progressed considerably during the past few years.  Not so long ago Clay avenue was only to be found on the map.  Washington avenue was only a name, while blackberry bushes abounded especially in a part of what is now Pelham Bay Park.  'My cow,' said Mr. A. L. Hammett, an old resident, 'used to pasture on Clay avenue and the property of the Windsor Heights Company was a mass of woods.'

That company has been very progressive.  It has laid out fine roads, water mains, sewer pipes, installed electric lights, etc.

Mr. Crane's fine stucco house with its beautiful grounds has redeemed a large part of this property and money invested in this part of the town will be a good investment.

With a prospect of a sewer system in the near future, the unincorporated part of the Town of Pelham will be in a position to hold its own as a desirable residential section."

Source:  Town's Unincorporated Part, The Pelham Sun, Vol. 4, No. 41, Dec. 20, 1913, p. 12, col. 5 (newspaper page in the collections of the Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham, NY; digital copy in author's files).

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