Pelham's Train Station on the New Haven Line Was NOT Built in 1893 as Claimed
Today's Historic Pelham Blog posting details a little of the history of the train stations that have stood in Pelhamville (today's Village of Pelham) and will outline the nature of the construction of the station that took place in 1895 -- not 1893.
Plaque on the Exterior Façade of the Pelham Train Station: "BUILT 1893"
Photograph by the Author.
Plaque Hanging Inside the Pelham Train Station. It States:
"PELHAM STATION ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED IN 1893
BY THE NEW YORK, NEW HAVEN AND HARTFORD RAIL ROAD
FOR THE RESIDENTS OF PELHAMVILLE REFURBISHED AND
REDEDICATED TO THE CITIZENS AND COMMUTERS OF PELHAM
ON MAY 9, 1986 METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
METRO-NORTH COMMUTER RAILROAD"
Photograph by the Author.
The Coming of the Railroad and the Earliest Known Pelhamville Station
Pelhamville Station was established on the New Haven Railroad line in 1848, according to The Encyclopedia of New York State. See Eisenstadt, Peter R. & Moss, Laura-Eve, The Encyclopedia of New York State, 1190 (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005).
Some form of station or depot seems to have been built in Pelhamville either in 1848 or within a few years after the stop was added to the New Haven Railroad Line in 1848. Cf. FOR SALE . . . A GREAT BARGAIN FOR $250 -- EIGHT LOTS, Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, Mar. 15, 1855, Vol. LI, No. 9550, p. 7, col. 3 (advertisement notes that the eight lots for sale are "within sight of the Pelhamville Station, on the New York and New Haven Railroard"). A station of some sort seems to have still stood in Pelhamville in 1869. Although the reference is ambiguous and certainly not dispositive, there is at least one source that suggests that the depot that stood in Pelhamville in 1869 was "new" at that time. See SALES AT AUCTION - AT AUCTION Peremptory Sale. Valluable Villa Plots of Westchester County Property, N.Y. Herald, Apr. 3, 1869, Triple Sheet, p. 9, col. 5 (Advertisement references "the new Pelham depot"). This may have been about the time that the station that once stood at today's One Wolfs Lane location (the Pelham National Bank Building) was built. (See only known image of the station below, showing it standing right next to the pair of tracks.)
I have written about the predecessor to today's Pelham Station on a number of occasions. See:
Wed., Apr. 21, 2010: Town Petition to Move the Pelhamville Depot in 1887.
Mon., Apr. 19, 2010: Early Talk of Moving the Pelhamville Train Station from its Original Location.
Mon., Feb. 02, 2009: Brother Shoots Brother in the Pelhamville Train Station in 1880.
Fri., Aug. 12, 2005: The Little Pelhamville Depot: Forerunner to the Train Station Serving New Haven Line Passengers Today.
Only Known Depiction of the Pelhamville Station Replaced by
The Pelham Train Station that Stands Today.
Source: A Remarkable Railroad Accident, Scientific American,
Jan. 16, 1886, Vol. LIV, No. 3, cover and pp. 31-32.
Detail from Image Above Showing a Closer
View of the Pelhamville Station in 1885.
In any event, prior to 1873, there were no regularly-scheduled train stops in the tiny hamlet of Pelhamville. Indeed, only four trains passed the area each day: two in the morning at 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. and two in the afternoon at 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. See THE OLD DAYS IN PELHAMVILLE, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jan. 19, 1927, Special Pelham Section, p. 9, col. 4.
In recognition of the slow but steady growth of Pelhamville, in 1873 the railroad placed a ticket agent at the station. The railroad tracks crossed Fifth Avenue at street level in those days. The ticket agent or his paid designee became responsible for managing hand-operated safety gates that could be lowered and raised in connection with passing trains.
A local Pelhamville resident, Charles H. Merritt, was appointed by the railroad to serve as the first Pelhamville station agent beginning in 1873. Merritt served in that role for 22 years until his tragic death in a freak accident, described in detail below, that occurred while construction of the new Pelham Station was underway during the summer of 1895.
The Decision to Move the Pelhamville Depot to a New Site
By 1887, Pelhamville was a well-established population center. Local residents wanted to replace the old Pelhamville Depot. At that time, Colonel Richard Lathers, a New Rochelle land owner with large holdings in west New Rochelle that extended into the Town of Pelham in the area we know today as Pelhamwood , sensed an opportunity. If he could convince local residents and the railroad to move the location of the Pelhamville Depot onto his land just north of Fifth Avenue and then cut a road from west New Rochelle to connect to a new train depot, he would position himself to develop, plot and sell the lands that became Pelhamwood as well as a portion of his holdings in west New Rochelle. Col. Lathers offered to donate a plot of land on the eastern side of Fifth Avenue north of the railroad tracks.
Pelham residents understood the need for a larger station and a location with more room to accommodate an increasing number of passengers and the many carriages that dropped them off and picked them up daily at the station. They wanted a new station. As one might imagine given the longstanding tradition of avid public debate in Pelham, two camps emerged: one that wanted the station moved to the land donated by Lathers and a second group of "traditionalists" that wanted the station to remain where it was.
There was one twist. Apparently at the instigation of Col. Lathers, who lived in a Tuscany-style mansion on a New Rochelle estate he named "Winyah Park," the supporters of the move wanted to rename the new station "Winyah Park."
One newspaper article published on June 3, 1887 set forth the position of those who supported the station move. An excerpt from that article provided:
"There is to be a new passenger and freight depot at Pelhamville, and the people there want the location changed, and with this end in view, are circulating a petition to the Superintendent of the railroad, praying that the depot be located on land generously donated by Col. Richard Lathers, in Winyah Park, on Fifth avenue, north of the track. The plot is 400 x 75 feet, and it is understood that Mr. Johnson, the owner of the property on the opposite side, will give a like portion. The conditions under which Mr. Lathers gives the land is that it be kept in good condition by the Railroad Company, and that the station be known as Winyah Park."
Source: Pelham and City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], June 3, 1887, Vol. XVIII, No. 990, p. 3, col. 2.
In an anonymous letter to the editor published two weeks later, the writer set forth the position of opponents of the move. The writer labeled himself as "ONE OF THE FOUNDERS" of Pelhamville:
"PELHAMVILLE alias WINYAH.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRONICLE:
Dear Sir: -- Just now there is quite a flurry of excitement in the village of Pelhamville. The N.Y. & N.H. Railroad Company contemplate building a new depot there. Speculators who are always on the alert, are boring the company to move the depot out of Pelhamville, and put it opposite their land, and as an inducement have proffered a strip of land to be called Winyah Park Station. Such an outrage we seldom hear; or brazen insult to a corporation like the N.Y. & N.H. Company; as if their honor could be bought by a strip of land.
The founders of Pelhamville built the present depot and with the land it stands on, was deeded to the Railroad Company to be a passenger and freight depot for Pelhamville, not for a day nor year, but for all time; and was accepted as such by the company; and the founders have full faith in the integrity of the officers of said company, that they will not attempt to violate their honor -- let that be inviolable.
ONE OF THE FOUNDERS"
Source: PELHAMVILLE alias WINYAH, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], June 21, 1887, Vol. XVIII, No. 995, p. 2, col. 2.
The majority of local residents supported the move. They circulated a petition in support of the move and submitted it to the Superintendent of the railroad. The petition was signed by virtually every notable citizen who lived in Pelhamville. Transcribed immediately below is a newspaper account of those developments published a week later on June 28, 1887.
"The people of Pelhamville are working earnestly to have the railroad station moved, and its name change [sic] to Winyah Park. The petition to the railroad company has also been forwarded to the Post master-General [sic]. The petition and signers are as follows:
To the President and Board of Directors of the N.Y., N.H. & H.R.R. Co.:
GENTLEMEN: We, the undersigned, residents of Pelhamville, N.Y. do humbly petition your honorable Board, to locate the new depot to be erected at this place east of and near Fifth avenue as the grade will permit, on grounds given by Mr. Richard Lathers, as a park, and to change the name of the station from Pelhamville to Winyah Park. Depot not to be more than 100 feet from Fifth avenue:
E.H. Gurney, Geo. McGalliard, Vincent Barker, Loftus Brotherton, Augustus Godfrey, C.W. Bolton, I.C. Hill, John T. Logan, James Shoebottom, John Bos, E.A. Patterson, J.P. Jacob Heisser, Stephen J. Stilwell, Wm. H. Penfield, Geo. Wright, William Barry, Wm. H. Sparks, Chas Baker, Henry Montgomery, F.W. Case, John Case, S.E. Case, David Lyon, E. Lyon, H. Gurney, Chas. B. Oakley, C. H. Merritt, G.W. Jager, E. C. Merritt, P.H. Acras, Alfd. P. Delcambre, F.C. Buxton, Geo. Pearson, Alex. Anderson, E. Anderson, John Britten, Bridget Flanagan, Delia Flanagan, H.T. Stone, L.A. Stone, L. McGalliard, C.V.R. Bolton, D.J. Meade, Mrs. C. Barker, Miss Caroline Barker, Mrs. Geo. Wright, Mrs. Fred. Chase, Mrs. J. Bos, Mrs. S. Johnson, Mrs. M. Clark, Mrs. I.C. Hill, J.P. Marquand, T. Jackson Lambert, Wm. T. Standen, N.A. McGalliard."
Source: PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jun. 28, 1887, Vol. XVIII, No. 997, p. 1, col. 7.
Colonel Lathers and his supporters won the debate. A decision was made to move the station to the location where it stands today. It seems, however, that the move to rename the station "Winyah Park" failed for reasons not now known.
Construction on the New Pelham Train Station Begins on June 28, 1895
For years I have attempted to research the construction and opening of today's Pelham Train Station. I could find nothing indicating that it was built in 1893 as has been claimed for decades. As I slowly exhausted my resources, it became increasingly clear that the station was not constructed in 1893 as claimed. By expanding slowly the time frame that I researched, I finally have been able to pinpoint when construction of the station actually began. It was Friday, June 28, 1895.
A brief announcement of the commencement of construction appeared in the July 1, 1895 issue of the Mount Vernon Daily Argus. It read as follows:
"New Station for Pelhamville.
-----
The New Haven Railroad Company have perfected plans for a handsome new station at Pelhamville and work was begun on Friday last [i.e., Friday, June 28, 1895]. It is to be situated on the north side of the track and will be 80x40 feet. The material will be stone, brick and tile and the style of architecture, in keeping with stations at Rye, Harrison and Mount Vernon."
Source: New Station for Pelhamville, Mount Vernon Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 1, 1895, Vol. XIII, No. 992, p. 1, col. 4.
Another reference confirms this information that construction was underway in the summer of 1895. Cf. Pelham Heights, Mount Vernon Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], May 30, 1895, Supplement, p. 6, cols. 3-4 & p. 7, col. 3 (noting that during the upcoming summer of 1895, "the new station at Pelham Heights will have been erected").
Undated Post Card View of the Pelham Train Station.
Fences Are Visible Between the Tracks. Fences Were
First Placed Between the Tracks in July, 1895. See:
Westchester County News, Mount Vernon Argus,
Jul. 30, 1895, p. 2, col. 4.
Source of Image: Files of the Author.
Once construction of the new station began, Colonel Richard Lathers of New Rochelle wasted no time. He immediately began the construction of Webster Avenue. According to one account:
"TO OPEN A ROAD.--We understand that it is the intention of Col. Richard Lathers to cut a roadway through Winyah Park to connect Washington avenue with Pelhamville. The road will begin in front of the new Pelhamville depot and end at the beginning of Washington avenue, West New Rochelle. If this is done the property will speedily be sold for residences, and that property so long lying dormant will be a thriving hamlet in a few years."
Source: TO OPEN A ROAD, New Rochelle Pioneer [New Rochelle, NY], Aug. 24, 1895, Vol. XXXV, No. 22, p. 5, col. 2.
By July 30, 1895, the foundation walls for the new station had been completed and construction paused while the construction crew awaited delivery of the bricks necessary to complete the building. See Westchester County News, Mount Vernon Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 30, 1895, Vol. XIII, No. 1015, p. 2, col. 4 ("PELHAMVILLE . . . Fences have been placed between the tracks. Foundation walls for the new station have been completed. As soon as the brick arrives the work will be prosecuted."). By August 13, it seems, the bricks must have been delivered because a local newspaper reported that in Pelhamville "[w]ork on the new station is progressing rapidly." Westchester County News, Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 13, 1895, Vol. XIII, No. 1027, p. 1, col. 3.
While the new Pelham Train Station was under construction in 1895, the New York & New Haven Railroad stationmaster at Pelhamville, Charles H. Merritt, suffered a freak and tragic accident that killed him. He never saw the completed station. The article transcribed in its entirety below described the circumstances of his terrible death.
While Construction is Underway, the Pelhamville Depot Station Agent Dies
Charles H. Merritt, the longtime station agent at the little Pelhamville Depot, must have been looking forward to completion of the new station where he would continue his work. He was never to see the completed station, however. While the new station was under construction, Merritt was involved in a freak accident and was crushed to death. His widow was immediately appointed to serve as station agent and seems to have been the first station agent to work in the new Pelham Train Station once it was completed. I have transcribed two articles below detailing these events with each followed by a citation to its source.
"Charles H. Merritt Dies
-----
While Riding to His Home a Cider Press Falls on Him.
-----
HIS LIFE WAS CRUSHED OUT.
-----
At 4:30 o'clock Saturday evening, a rumor spread through Pelhamville, that the well-known citizen, Postmaster and station agent Charles H. Merritt had been killed. The report proved all too true. Mr. Merritt had met his death and in a most peculiar manner.
The circumstances leading up to the fatal accident are as follows:
Mr. Merritt had been at the station releasing freight for the Wartburg Farm School, to Edward Flannigan, the teamster, having it in charge. After a load had been made up, and the return to the Warburg Farm begun, the route being through Second avenue, on which Mr. Merritt lives, he decided to ride to a point near his home. He did not get on the seat but took an easy position on the rear of the truck.
On the truck were several pieces of machinery and a cider press weighing perhaps 1,000 to 1,400 pounds. This great weight undoubtedly gave to the wagon an incline and it is thought the press was not resting securely for this reason. Mr. Merritt, it is supposed took his seat near it.
When near Principal I.C. Hill's residence Mr. Flannigan stopped his team to permit Mr. Merritt to step out. Before Mr. Merritt could balance himself to jump, the horses started up and it is supposed that he grabbed at the press to save himself, and instead pulled it out upon him. He was thrown backward and the press fell on his chest crushing the bones and causing instant death.
Mr. Flannigan brought his team to a standstill and called for assistance. The press was removed from the prostrate man, and a messenger dispatched to this city for a physician. Dr. Robert H. Dinegar was secured and hastened to the scene on a bicycle; but when he arrived could do nothing. Coroner Banning was notified and will hold an inquest Wednesday evening, in the rooms of the Liberty Hose Company.
For a period of twenty-two years, Mr. Merritt had been in the employ of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, as its agent at Pelhamville. He was also tax collector of the Board of Education. At the time of his death, he was a member of Liberty Hose Company; also of Arcana Lodge, No. 256, F. & A.M., Pelham, Huguenot and Hiawatha Lodges. He was for eight years, Postmaster of Pelhamville. At the time of his death, he held the position and for years has been a prominent figure in local and town affairs. He was 49 years of age, had acquired considerable property and leaves a wife and several children.
Funeral Services were held at the Episcopal Church, Pelhamville, Tuesday August 6th at 2 o'clock. The interment was at Woodlawn.--Daily Argus."
Source: Charles H. Merritt Dies, New Rochelle Pioneer [New Rochelle, NY], Aug. 10, 1895, Vol. XXXV, No. 20, p. 8, col. 3.
The railroad promptly appointed Mr. Merritt's widow to serve as station agent at Pelhamville, a position that she held as construction on the new station continued to completion. An interesting article in the local press detailed the development as follows:
"APPOINTED.--It was Lord Coke who stated that corporations were soulless but happily there are ever exceptions, a case in point, Saturday, August 3d, Charles H. Merritt, station agent at Pelhamville, was killed in an accident leaving a wife and child. Almost immediately the New Haven Company tendered to the wife so suddenly bereft of a husband, the position he held, and she has accepted the responsible place. This very considerate action of the New Haven Company was followed by a similar overture from the Adams Express Company, which was also accepted, and Widow Merritt is now in full charge. Mr. Merritt, the deceased, was also Postmaster at the time of his death and a petition is now in circulation asking President Cleveland to retain Mrs. Merritt as Uncle Sam's representative. This is not the first instance where the N.Y., N.H. & H. R.R. has placed the widows of employees who have been killed in the road's service, beyond want. Mr. G. H. Hughes, agent at New Rochelle, succeeded her husband, who met death in railroad accident there about ten years ago.--Argus."
Source: APPOINTED, New Rochelle Pioneer [New Rochelle, NY], Aug. 17, 1895, Vol. XXXV, No. 21, p. 7, col. 2.
Completion of the New Pelham Train Station
Despite Herculean research efforts, I have yet to identify the date that construction of the station was completed or that it first opened. Although I strongly suspect construction finished in early 1896 and the station opened shortly afterward, I cannot yet support that hypothesis with any meaningful evidence. I will continue my efforts, however.
The Metro North train station we know today as "Pelham Station" located at 1 Pelhamwood Avenue in the Village of Pelham was built in 1895 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Metro North claims that the station was built in 1893 and, thus, that it "is the oldest of all the stations in use along the current Metro-North Railroad lines."
Like all New Haven Line stations located in Westchester County, Pelham Station became a Penn Central station upon acquisition by that railroad in 1969. In 1983 it became part of the MTA's Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line.
In 1986 the station was completely refurbished and rededicated to the citizens and commuters of Pelham. In 2005, the real estate firm Houlihan/Lawrence reached agreement with Metro North and opened a new office in the Pelham Train Station. In preparation for that move, there was a meticulous restoration of the station using historic photos and original plans for the building.
Today the Pelham Train Station is a lovely gem that serves Pelham's citizens and commuters. Hopefully it will remain a Pelham gem for at least the next 120 years.
* * * * *
For research and future search purposes, I have transcribed the entirety of the June 28, 1887 article from which I quoted an excerpt above in its entirety immediately below, followed by a citation to its source.
"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND.
The inquest held by Coroner Sutton, of Sing Sing, as to the manner in which Charles S. Abbott, of City Island, came to his death and was placed in the Pocantico River at Whitson's Station, was concluded Friday at Sing Sing, and the jury rendered a verdict that he was murdered by some person, or persons to them unknown, and they recommended that the proper authorities use strenuous efforts to discover the offender or offenders and bring them to justice.
Pelhamville is to have a celebration on the Fourth, and the leading event will be a pole and flag raising. A pole over 60 feet high, will be raised, and on it will be displayed a flag 25 feet long. The Pelhamville Brass Band will play for the first time in public, and there will be addresses and, if possible, singing of national airs. Messrs. Brotherton and the old Mexican hero, Justice Patterson, and John Godfrey, are raising subscriptions and preparing the program. The flag and pole will be given to the proper authorities in Pelhamville. The pole has been donated by Mr. S. Bernstein of Chester Hill, Mt. Vernon.
The people of Pelhamville are working earnestly to have the railroad station moved, and its name change [sic] to Winyah Park. The petition to the railroad company has also been forwarded to the Post master-General [sic]. The petition and signers are as follows:
To the President and Board of Directors of the N.Y., N.H. & H.R.R. Co.:
GENTLEMEN: We, the undersigned, residents of Pelhamville, N.Y. do humbly petition your honorable Board, to locate the new depot to be erected at this place east of and near Fifth avenue as the grade will permit, on grounds given by Mr. Richard Lathers, as a park, and to change the name of the station from Pelhamville to Winyah Park. Depot not to be more than 100 feet from Fifth avenue:
E.H. Gurney, Geo. McGalliard, Vincent Barker, Loftus Brotherton, Augustus Godfrey, C.W. Bolton, I.C. Hill, John T. Logan, James Shoebottom, John Bos, E.A. Patterson, J.P. Jacob Heisser, Stephen J. Stilwell, Wm. H. Penfield, Geo. Wright, William Barry, Wm. H. Sparks, Chas Baker, Henry Montgomery, F.W. Case, John Case, S.E. Case, David Lyon, E. Lyon, H. Gurney, Chas. B. Oakley, C. H. Merritt, G.W. Jager, E. C. Merritt, P.H. Acras, Alfd. P. Delcambre, F.C. Buxton, Geo. Pearson, Alex. Anderson, E. Anderson, John Britten, Bridget Flanagan, Delia Flanagan, H.T. Stone, L.A. Stone, L. McGalliard, C.V.R. Bolton, D.J. Meade, Mrs. C. Barker, Miss Caroline Barker, Mrs. Geo. Wright, Mrs. Fred. Chase, Mrs. J. Bos, Mrs. S. Johnson, Mrs. M. Clark, Mrs. I.C. Hill, J.P. Marquand, T. Jackson Lambert, Wm. T. Standen, N.A. McGalliard."
Source: PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jun. 28, 1887, Vol. XVIII, No. 997, p. 1, col. 7.
Labels: New Haven Main Line, Pelhamville Depot, Pelhamville Station, Railroad
posted by Blake A. Bell @ 4:52 AM
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