The Original Name of a Famous Pelham Roadway Was "Woolf's Lane"

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Wolfs Lane extends from today's Boston Post Road to the New Haven Main Line railroad tracks where it becomes Fifth Avenue, the principal commercial stretch within the Village of Pelham.  Pelhamites have debated for years whether the proper name of the road is Wolfs Lane or Wolf's Lane (i.e., with or without an apostrophe).  There is, however, evidence that the original name of the roadway was "Woolf's Lane."  This, of course, would make sense because the pathway that became the roadway extended from today's Boston Post Road to the homestead of early Pelham settler John Anthony Woolf (known in Pelham as "Anthony Wolf").  Woolf was a shoemaker and early Mormon convert who settled his family during the 1830s in a homestead once located on the north side of Third Street between today's Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue long before the area became known as "Pelhamville."  The roadway, of course, is named after John Anthony Woolf.

There are a few early records that refer to the roadway as "Woolf's Lane."  None of those early records refers to it as either "Wolf's Lane" or "Wolfs Lane."  

For example, on Monday, December 23, 1872, the Board of Supervisors of Westchester County met in an adjourned meeting of the Board's Annual Session.  One matter before the Board was the Town of Pelham's application to issue bonds to fund the "building, completing and repairing of a road now being constructed in said town, and known as Woolf's Lane, and for the building, completion and repairing a certain road in said town, running from Woolf's Lane to Hutchinson's River. . ."

The town officers of Pelham had made application to be permitted to borrow $2,000 to build, complete, and repair "Woolf's Lane."  The matter had been referred to the Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors.  Reporting that day on behalf of the Judiciary Committee, Supervisor Odle Close reported that the committee had considered the matter favorably and proposed the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the Supervisor of the town of Pelham be, and he hereby is authorized, with the consent of the Justices of the Peace, Town Clerk and Commissioners of Highways of said town, to borrow on the credit of said town the sum of $12,000, for the building and completing a highway in said town, known as Woolf's Lane; and also a highway running from Woolf's Lane to Hutchinson's River; and also a bridge across said Hutchingson's [sic] River; that the bonds or obligations to be issued to secure such loan shall be exercised by the Supervisor of said town, and shall be executed by the Supervisor of said town, and shall be each of the denomination of $500, and bear interest, respectively, at the rate of 7 per cent per annum; that the entire principal sum and interest shall be made payable within eleven years from the date of said bonds or obligations, at the East River Savings Institution, and the consent of the Justices of the Peace, Town Clerk and Commissioners of Highways of said town to the issuing thereof, shall be endorsed on said bonds or obligations, and upon each and every of them."

As the authorized work later was being performed, public records continued to reference the roadway as "Woolf's Lane."  For example, an abstract of the town accounts of various Westchester towns published on the front page of the February 23, 1877 Eastern State Journal of White Plains.  The abstract of accounts audited by the Board of Town Auditors of the Town of Pelham indicated that during 1876, the Town of Pelham appropriated $300 "To build retaining walls on road from Woolf's lane to Hutchinson river."  See Fri., Oct. 23, 2015:  Abstract of the Town Accounts of the Town of Pelham in 1876.

John Anthony Woolf in An Undated Photograph. Caption:

"Born July 31, 1805. Came to Utah Oct. 6, 1847, Edward Hunter

Company. Pres. of Seventies. Bishop's Counselor, Farmer and

Stockraiser." Source: Esshom, Frank, PIONEERS AND PROMINENT

MEN OF UTAH COMPRISING PHOTOGRAPHS - GENEALOGIES -

BIOGRAPHIES, p. 96 (Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Pioneers Book Publishing

Co., 1913).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

I have written about members of the Woolf family and the Woolf Homestead (often referenced in an anglicized fashion in local records as the "Wolf Homestead) on numerous occasions.  See, e.g.:

Tue., May 09, 2017:  Absolom Woolf, Famed Original Mormon Convert, Born in Pelham in 1832.

Thu., Aug. 27, 2015:  More About Anthony Wolf of Wolfs Lane Fame Who Built the Wolf Homestead that Once Stood in Pelhamville.

Wed., Aug. 26, 2015:  Stories About The Old Wolf Homestead in Pelhamville, Told by J. Gardiner Minard.

The Anthony Woolf Homestead that Once Stood in Pelhamville in an

Undated Photograph Courtesy of The Office of The Historian of the 

Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

No one knows how the name of the roadway came to be anglicized to "Wolf's Lane."  Nor is there any indication as to why the roadway since has been referenced in official and unofficial records as "Wolfs Lane" without any apostrophe.  It certainly seems, however, that in its earliest days, when the roadway was still under construction, it was named "Woolf's Lane."

*          *          *          *          *

"MONDAY, December 23, 1872.

Board met pursuant to adjournment. . . . 

MR. CLOSE, from Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred the application to borrow money upon the credit of the town of Pelham, presented the following report thereon; said report was considered and adopted, two-thirds of all the members of the Board, including the Supervisor of the town of Pelham voting in favor thereof.

To the Board of Supervisors:

The Judiciary Committee, to whom was referred the application of the town officers of the town of Pelham, for authority to the Supervisor of said town to borrow the sum of $2,000 for, and upon the credit of said town, for the purpose of building, completing and repairing a road now being constructed in said town, and known as Woolf's Lane, and for the building, completion and repairing a certain road in said town, running from Woolf's Lane to Hutchinson's River, and also for building and completing a bridge across said Hutchinson's River, pursuant to chapter 855 of the Laws of 1869, respectfully report that your committee have had the matter under consideration, and submit for adoption the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Supervisor of the town of Pelham be, and he hereby is authorized, with the consent of the Justices of the Peace, Town Clerk and Commissioners of Highways of said town, to borrow on the credit of said town the sum of $12,000, for the building and completing a highway in said town, known as Woolf's Lane; and also a highway running from Woolf's Lane to Hutchinson's River; and also a bridge across said Hutchingson's [sic] River; that the bonds or obligations to be issued to secure such loan shall be exercised by the Supervisor of said town, and shall be executed by the Supervisor of said town, and shall be each of the denomination of $500, and bear interest, respectively, at the rate of 7 per cent per annum; that the entire principal sum and interest shall be made payable within eleven years from the date of said bonds or obligations, at the East River Savings Institution, and the consent of the Justices of the Peace, Town Clerk and Commissioners of Highways of said town to the issuing thereof, shall be endorsed on said bonds or obligations, and upon each and every of them.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

ODLE CLOSE,                 )
AMHERST WIGHT, Jr.     }     Judiciary
DANIEL HUNT,                }      Committee.
E.G. SUTHERLAND,       ) "

Source:  ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF WESTCHESTER CO., pp. 363 & 366-67 (Westchester County:  1873).  

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