Unusual 1909 Advertising Pamphlet for Pelhamwood

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Pelhamwood is the place to dwell,

Between Mount Vernon and New Rochelle!

-- 1909 Advertising Pamphlet.

During the spring of 1909, a newly-created company known as Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc. began grading and developing the neighborhood we know today as Pelhamwood.  While the company was new, its namesake had been involved for more than two decades in the creation of suburban developments throughout the northeast and along the Atlantic coast.  

The company built steps up the hill across from the station plaza on the north side of the New Haven Line tracks leading up to a sales office.  It built a "tea house" used to host visitors and prospective buyers of lots and homes in the new development.  It built the Pelhamwood clocktower as well as covered "gates" leading in and out of the development, all intended to add to the rustic charm of the idyllic setting.

Within months of beginning such development work, Clifford B. Harmon & Co. began flooding the New York City region with countless real estate advertisements for the new development.  New York City newspapers ran large advertisements.  Advertising post cards were mailed throughout the region.  Maps, booklets, brochures, and pamphlets were printed and distributed to prospective buyers.  In addition, the company began offering incentives to prospective buyers to encourage them to buy lots, incentives to individual owners to encourage them to build homes in the new development quickly, and incentives including payments in gold to builders and contractors to encourage them to build groups of homes in the new development.  

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog reproduces the pages of a lovely twelve-page advertising pamphlet published before June 1, 1909 by the company.  The brochure is special because it contains rare early photographs of the area under development, an early photograph of today's Pelham Train Station with the development rising in the background, and images of new homes in the Pelhamwood Deveolopment.  The pamphlet is also significant for the emotions it attempts to evoke and the beautiful picture it attempts to paint of the lovely setting of the new development.  It provides an important glimpse into the mind of what the creator of the development intended when he began to build Pelhamwood.

Below the image of each page I have transcribed the text to facilitate search.  Following each image is a citation and a link to its source.

Page 1 (Cover) of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.
Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 1
(Cover) (NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of Stream in Woods.]

PELHAMWOOD"

Page 2 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.
Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 2
(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Text Appears as Signs Nailed to a Tree]

NEW ROCHELLE 4 MINUTES
NEW YORK 30 MINUTES
PELHAMWOOD
IS THE PLACE TO DWELL BETWEEN MT. VERNON AND NEW ROCHELLE
ANOTHER HARMON PROPERTY MEANS ANOTHER HARMON SUCCESS
For 22 years Mr. Harmon has had a large share in the development and success of more than 100 suburbs of the big eastern cities.  And his custoers have shared in his success.
CLIFFORD B. HARMON & CO. INC. AT 42ND ST. AND MADISON AVE.
[Library Plate]
Ex Libris
SEYMOUR DURST
[Stamped]
AVERY DURST"

Page 3 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.

Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 3
(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of Homes Under Construction.]

[Photograph of Home with Stone Columned Piazza.]

TO the dweller in the closely-built city, merely the thought of a home in the suburbs brings with it a tangible feeling of rest and relief.

Test it!

Lean back in your office chair some busy, bustling day, close your eyes for a second or two, and think of a home in the country -- anyone's home -- and note the real, momentary brain-relief that comes to you; for in those few seconds your brain has strayed away from the stuffy confines of an office, and is rested.  The brain must have elbow-room no less than the body!

*          *          *          *          *

And it is this primal thought, that the mind needs elbow-room, that induced 50,000 New Yorkers to move out of the city limits last year.  Out they went -- out where the sky was bluer, the grass greener, the air purer.  Out they went -- away from the row on row of buildings that leaned up tight against one another for support -- out to where they could get close to the soil, where they could build a home, and where the thought of a 'city apartment' conjured pity for the person so afflicted.  Out they went, 50,000 New Yorkers last year, to build homes in the suburbs.

*          *          *          *          *

'Ah,' you say, 'I wish I was rich.  Then I, too, would move from the stuffy town and build.  But I can't save a cent; it costs me so much to live in New York that --'

Stop where you are; don't finish the sentence.  We know just what you're gooing to say, and it's wrong -- all of it except that it does cost a lot to live in New York."

Page 4 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.
Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 4
(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of a Train Station with Development in Distance.  Note:  Although There is Some Similarity in this Photograph to the Pelham Train Station with Pelhamwood Behind it, But This Does NOT Appear to be Such a Photograph.  Not Only was the Pelham Train Station Not Built Until 1914, But Also the Landscape -- Though Certainly Subject to Change Over More than a Century -- Does Not Seem to be the Pelhamwood Landscape.]

OUR part is to show you how easy it is to own your own plot of ground in the suburbs; how easy it is to build your home (and we help you build, too); how easy it is to follow in the steps of the 50,000 New Yorkers who moved to the suburbs and built last year.

You needn't be rich; all you need is a little pluck -- a belief in yourself -- belief in us.  Then we'll do our share toward that home of yours.

Listen!

PELHAMWOOD 

Pelhamwood is the place to dwell,

Between Mount Vernon and New Rochelle!

Pelhamwood is the name of the new suburb on the main line of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.  It is 1 1/2 miles beyond the city limits, 15 1/2 miles from the Grand Central Station, takes 30 minutes by electric train, is between Mount Vernon and New Rochelle, and Pelham Station is directly on the property.  The success of Pelham, as a high-class suburb, is too well known to need comment.

The above is the story in a nutshell -- condensed for quick reading.

But it isn't all the

[Photograph of Unidentified Church]"

Page 5 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.
Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 5
(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of Street with New Homes and New Telephone Pole without Wires Strung]

story, for the greatest and best part of the story can't be told in type -- it's the sort of a story that must be seen.

Think of trees -- of tall, straight, beautiful trees of oak and elm and maple and beech.  Think of acres and acres of trees -- of a virgin forest full of trees -- of a tract of land so beautiful, so alluring, that to live merely in a tent amid such surroundings makes life worth while.

Yet you can build your house there, for we will help you.  

All you need is ten dollars to start -- the rest in small monthly payments.

That initial payment of ten dollars gives you your choice of any plot at Pelhamwood, big or little.  The plots have a depth of 125 to 200 feet, a frontage of as much as you want.  And all around you are trees, trees, trees!

On one side of Pelhamwood lies Mount Vernon; on the other side, adjoining, is New Rochelle.  You are surrounded by the villas of the wealthy and the well-to-do.  But your advantage over them is manifest -- you can buy your plot of ground by instalments -- say a little now, a little next month.  No big sum must be paid down at once, and a bigger sum shortly afterward, while the specter of a mortgage hovers around day and night.  But the buying of a plot of ground at Pelhamwood means the acquiring of a hoe site within 30 minutes of New York, amid wonderfully beautiful surroundings, and the paying for it on the easy payment plan, of which we are the originators!

[Photograph of New Home with Columned Piazza]"

Page 6 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.
Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 6
(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of Double-Trunked Tree]

You are surrounded -- absolutely surrounded -- by the homes of the well-to-do.  Schools and churches are within 5 inutes' walk -- trolley lines to ount Vernon and New Rochelle pass Pelhamwood.  The city of New Rochelle has purchased soe of our property and will erect at Pelhamwood a fine brick school-house costing $80,000.  You are not off in the wilderness at Pelhamwood -- you are in the very center of refinement, culture and wealth.  You are only a mile and a half from the New York City line -- 30 minutes by train to Grand Central Depot, while 50 trains stop every weekday at Pelham Station.  

And think of the advantages you enjoy.  No bridges, no ferries, no smoke, no cinders.  A clean, cool ride to Pelhamwood -- and a seat; for there is no overcrowding, no strap-

[Photograph of New Home]"

Page 7 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.
Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 7
(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of Tree-Lined Path]

hanging on these electric trains.  There is ample room for everyone, and a ride that is a pleasure every inute of the way!

Never in the history of real estate in this big, overcrowded, bustling New York was an opportunity for investment in a home site near to the city so advantageously offered you.  For all you need to start is a ten-dollar bill -- and a little pluck.  Select any plot you wish, pay in monthly instalments; then you're not only saving your money, but investing it all at the same time.

*          *          *          *          *

We want you to see Pelhamwood.  Come as our guest -- see the improvements already under way, the improvements projected.  Electric lights, telephone, reservoir of pure water, macadam roads, cement walks and gutters.

[Photograph of New Home]"

Page 8 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.
Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 8
(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of New Home]

[Photograph of Winding, Unpaved Road Through Trees]

See the superb $35,000 residence already on the property -- the other beautiful hommes within a stone's throw away.  Seeing is believing, and we want you to come and see it -- it won't cost you a penny.

And when you do see, you'll be convinced.

*          *          *          *          *

In Pelhamwood you will have no undesirable neighbors.  Wise and helpful restrictions guard your interests as an investor.  Pelhamwood is too close to New York to be a 'cheap' place, and we safeguard you, no less than ourselves, by the helpful restrictions we have planned.  Why, merely a short distance from the property is Travers Island and the New York Athletic Club on the Sound, at Pelham Manor; while even closer at hand is the Pelham Country Club, with its public golf links, tennis courts, etc.

Thus you may see that merely from the standpoint of location, Pelhamwood is a wonderful home site; that is, from the fact of its immediate surroundings.  But add to this that it is superbly beautiful (you never saw such 

[Photograph of New Home]"

Page 9 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.
Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 9
(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of New Home]

[Photograph of Trees]

trees in your life); that it is only 30 minutes from New York on the main line of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Road; that its commutation fare is $5.85 for 60 trips to and from Grand Central Station; that a trolley line runs from Pelham to New York; that the mere paying of a ten-dollar bill starts you buying a lot at Pelhamwood -- weigh all these advantages together, and if you're a man with a fair share of red blood in your veins, you just simply must enthuse over this ideal location, ideal surroundings, ideal investment.  There is no element of gamble to it -- no possibility of failure.  If you bought your plot of ground at Pelhamwood, and then didn't do a blessed thing but sit down and twirl your thumbs, the values there would rise just as surely as Harlem or Bronx real estate values went soaring skyward in the past fifteen years.  And nothing under heaven's sun made this possible except that the city had to stretch out, and northward was the only way it could stretch.  At Pelhamwood you are 1 1/2 miles from the New York City line and a Pelhamwood plot 

[Photograph of New Home]"

Page 10 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.

Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 10

(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Image of Apparent Drawing of Front Door of Home Flanked by Two Potted Trees]

a few years from now will be worth what a Harlem or Bronx lot is to-day!  

Impossible, you think!

Well, the only way we judge the future is by the past.  

And real estate is no exception to the rule.

*          *          *          *          *

But  -- and this is very vital -- don't delay if you would buy at Pelhamwood.  First comers, naturally, have first choice.  And by every means in our power, as a result of long experience, we make it easy for you to become, first, a land-owner; second, to build your own home.  Mr. Clifford B. Harmon, the projector of Pelhamwood, has had for the past twenty-two years a large share in the development and success of over 100 suburbs in the following principal Eastern cities:  Philadelphia, New York City, Brooklyn, N.Y., Baltimore, Md., Buffalo, N.Y., Harrisburg, Pa., Newark, N.J., Columbus, O., Providence, R.I., Rochester, N.Y., Springfield, Mass., Auburn, N.Y., Cincinnati, Ohio, Boston, Mass., Washington, D.C., Pittsburg, Pa., Portland, Me., Hartford, Conn., Syracuse, N.Y., New Haven, Conn., Scranton, Pa., Lovell, Mass., and Detroit, Mich.

And Mr. Harmon's success has been shared by his customers.  To-day he unhesitatingly goes on record to say that never, in his business career, has he had so wonderful a property as Pelhamwood, or one that promised so much for his customers.

*          *          *          *          *

But your safeguards?  They are many.  Listen!

[Photograph of Unidentified School Building?]"

Page 11 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.

Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 11

(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"[Photograph of New Home]

TITLE GUARANTEED

Before we invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Pelhamwood, we found out positively that the title was free and clear.  The Title Guarantee and Trust Company have carefully examined the title of Pelhamwood, and have insured it to us, and for a small sum will issue individual policies to each customer.

CONTRACT NON-FORFEITABLE

Where a lot purchaser at Pelhamwood shall be unable, in consequence of being out of employment, resulting from ill health or other reasonable cause, to make his payments regularly, his account will be kept in good standing simply by the payment of a small amount on each lot per month.

FREE DEED IN CASE OF DEATH

Should a purchaser die before his payments have been copleted, his heirs will be given a deed for the property without further cost; provided (1) that he was under sixty years of age and in good health at the time of the purchase; (2) that payments had never been thirty days in arrears; and (3) that two years had elapsed since date of purchase.  Should 

[Photograph of New Home]

Page 12 of 1909 Pelhamwood Advertising Pamphlet.

Source:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., PELHAMWOOD, p. 12

(NY:  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc., 1909).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"a purchaser, who was under sixty years of age and in good health at the time of purchase, die within two years from date of purchase, and his payments not have been at any timme thirty days in arrears, all money paid by him will be returned with interest at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum.

$24,500 IN GOLD TO BUILDERS

To stimulate the man who wants to build his home at Pelhamwood -- for the more houses there, the greater your plot increases in value -- we offer the following prizes as incentives to early builders:

First 10 villas costing not less than $10,000.........$500 each.
First 10 villas costing not less than $9,500...........$450 each.
First 10 villas costing not less than $8,000...........$400 each.
First 10 villas costing not less than $7,000...........$350 each.
First 10 villas costing not less than $6,000...........$300 each.
First 10 villas costing not less than $5,000...........$250 each.
First 10 villas costing not less than $4,500...........$200 each.

[The following sentence appears to be stamped beneath -- not printed with the original text.]

TO COME UNDER THIS OFFER, HOUSES UST BE STARTED BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1909, AND COMPLETED BEFORE FEBRUARY 1ST, 1910.

FREE TRANSPORTATION TO NEW YORK

To the head of each family, who begins building at Pelhamwood before June 1, 1909, and commpletes same before January 1, 1910, we will give free transportation for one year between Grand Central Station and Pelhamwood.

I unhesitatingly go on record to say that never in my business career have I had so wonderful a property as Pelhamwood, or one that promised so much for my customers.

[Signature of Clifford B. Harmon]"

*          *           *          *          *

Periodically I have written about Pelhamwood and Clifford B. Harmon, a principal developer of Pelhamwood.  For those interested in a comprehensive history of the early development of Pelhamwood, see Bell, Blake A., The Early Development of Pelhamwood, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 37, Sept. 17, 2004, p. 12, col. 2.  For earlier postings about Pelhamwood and Clifford B. Harmon, see:

Tue., Feb. 02, 2016:  Early Pelhamwood Advertisements with Important Sketches of the New Development.

Tue., Nov. 10, 2015:  The New Development of Pelhamwood as it Was in 1913.

Mon., Mar. 16, 2015:   Newspaper References and Advertisements Regarding Development of Pelhamwood.

Mon., Mar. 16, 2015:  Newspaper References and Advertisements Regarding Development of Pelhamwood.

Fri., Sep. 26, 2014:  1909 Advertisements Show How the New Development of Pelhamwood Was Marketed to New Yorkers.

Sat., Jan. 25, 2014:  Putting the Finishing Touches on the Lovely New Church in Pelhamwood in 1923.  

Mon., Feb. 1, 2010:  Obituary of Richard B. Ferris of Pelhamwood. 

Thu., Oct. 11, 2007:  Biographical Data and Photographs of Clifford B. Harmon Who Developed Pelhamwood. 

Tue., Jul. 10, 2007:  An Early Event in the History of Pelhamwood. 

Thu., Jun. 21, 2007:  Information About "Aeronautic" Exploits of Clifford B. Harmon Who Developed Pelhamwood in Pelham. 

Thu. Aug. 10, 2006:  The New Development of Pelhamwood Gets Approval for its Proposed Sewage System in 1912. 

Tue., Nov. 15, 2005:  Plaque Dedicated at the Historic Pelhamwood Clock Tower. 

Mon., Sep. 12, 2005: Pelhamwood Association Celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 1942. 

Thu., May 12, 2005: Clifford B. Harmon, Developer of Pelhamwood.

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