Historic Pelham: Lawsuit in 1884 Cleared the Way for Construction of Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to Lower Part of City Island in Pelham

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Prior to the opening of the Bartow Station on the Branch Line in the early 1870s, a stage coach line established by a man named Robert Vickery traveled from City Island to Mount Vernon. In about 1873, so-called horse cars replaced the stage coach line. When the horse car line first began, it was owned by Judge Henry DeWitt Carey, a banker.

The first horse car line involved a car pulled by a single horse. According to one source, "it left Belden Point and stopped at three locations on the island - Horton, Fordham, and Bridge Streets. People desiring to travel to New York City would then take the horse car to Bartow Station, pay a 5¢ fare to Westchester County and board a trolley to 177th Street, where they would make another connection to the Battery." See Scott, Catherine A., Images of America: City Island and Orchard Beach, p. 48 (Arcadia Publishing 1999; reissued 2004). The cars looked much like trolley cars. Later, beginning in the mid-1880s, the horse cars were replaced with a "horse car railroad" that ran on tracks, but were pulled by a pair of horses. Indeed, for sixteen years the two principal horses used to pull the horse cars were known as "Bob" and "Harry".

When the time came to convert the simple horse car line to a horse railroad line, two things had to happen: (1) the commissioners of highways of the Town of Pelham had to approve the laying of tracks; and (2) either a majority of adjacent property owners had to consent to installation of the line or a court had to find the horse railroad to be "necessary."

In 1883 and 1884, plans were underway to build a horse railroad from Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line and the southern tip of City Island. Two companies were created, each to build half of the line. The Pelham Park Railroad Company was created to build the tracks on the mainland from Bartow Station to the City Island Bridge. The City Island Railroad Company was incorporated to build the tracks from the City Island Bridge to the tip of City Island. There reportedly were plans to merge the two companies after the horse railroad tracks were constructed.

Once the tracks were laid and the horse railroad began running, City Islanders were livid and felt they had been snookered. Each line charged a separate fare. In effect, a passenger had to pay two fares to proceed from Bartow Station onto City Island. That resulted in controversies that should be the subject of a future Blog posting.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes an excerpt from a news article published in 1884. At the time, both companies had successfully obtained the approval for construction of the two railroads from the commissioners of highways of the Town of Pelham. However, although the City Island Railroad Company successfully obtained the consents of a large majority of property owners for the construction of its half of the railroad, the Pelham Park Railroad Company failed to obtain such consents from a majority of the property owners its half of the line would affect. The Pelham Park Railroad Company went to court to obtain a judicial determination that its half of the line was "necessary" so that it could build its half without the necessary consents of affected property owners. The news article excerpt describes a resulting judicial decision that cleared the way for the construction of the horse railroad.

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND . . .

Last spring, the Pelham Park R. R. Co. and the City Island R. R. Co. were incorporated, for the purpose of building a railroad from Bartow to City Island. The road was divided into two parts, the first-named company agreeing to build the part on the main land, and the City Island Company the part on the island, it being understood that the two roads should be consolidated after their completion. Both companies readily obtained the consent of the commissioners of Highways to the construction of their roads, and the City Island Company also obtained the consent of a large majority of the property owners along its line. The Pelham Park company was, however, unable to obtain the consent of the requisite number of the property owners along its division of the road, and it accordingly appealed on Monday of last week to the General Term of the Supreme Court in Brooklyn for the appointment of commissioners to determine whether its road was necessary and should be built, notwithstanding the objections of the property owners. At the hearing the company was represented by W. R. Lamberton of Pelham Manor, and the property owners by chas D. Burrill of Bartow, Miller, Peckhouse & Dixon, of New York and others. The opposition to the motion was based upon alleged defects in the moving papers and in the incorporation of the company, on the unconstitutionality of the statute under which the company was incorporated, and on the law prohibiting the construction of a railroad in a public park. The court reserved its decision at the time, but on the following day decided in favor of the company, and appointed Elisha Horton, of White Plains, Arthur Burns of Yonkers and Stephen D. Horton of Peekskill as Commissioners. This decision, it would seem, finally settles the question of a railroad to City Island, as there appears to be no doubt regarding its necessity. City Island now contains over 1500 inhabitants and has the distinction of being the only place of its size in the United States without the convenience of a railroad, and this fact is the more remarkable because of the close proximity of the Island to New York City. With the completion of the new road it is expected that the Island will have a regular 'boom,' and will become within a few years the most popular summer resort in the neighborhood of New York. It has every advantage in the way of location, and all it now needs is a convenient means of communication with the metropolis."

Sourcve: PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, Supplement to The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Dec. 19, 1884, p. 1, col. 7.

Below are a number of interesting images of the City Island Horse Railroad over the years.