Additional Information About Pelham Heights Architect, Engineer, and Map Maker John Fletcher

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John Fletcher Fairchild lived in Pelham in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Trained as an architect and engineer, he worked as a civil engineer with offices in Mount Vernon.  He served as Town Engineer for the Town of Pelham for a portion of his career.  He also served as engineer of the Pelham Heights Company and was principally responsible for the layout and civil engineering aspects of that lovely neighborhood.  In addition, he prepared and published two local Atlases that are considered today rare examples of the art of such local atlases at the time.  He published the Atlas of the City of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham in 1899. He also updated and revised the Atlas in a second edition published in 1908.

John F. Fairchild designed and built the lovely home that still stands at 334 Pelhamdale Avenue.  An image of the home, including its famous carriage stone with a large "F" carved into it, appears immediately below.

The John F. Fairchild Home Located at 334 Pelhamdale

Avenue with its Carriage Stone in the Foreground.  Source:

Google Maps, 2016.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

I have written about John F. Fairchild, who was a brother of Pelham Heights founder and United States Congressman Benjamin L. Fairchild, on numerous occasions.  See, e.g.:

Thu., Dec. 6, 2007:  Biography of John F. Fairchild, Engineer of the Pelham Heights Company During the 1890s.

Thu., Feb. 26, 2009:  Photograph of John F. Fairchild Published in 1905.

Thu., Jun. 11, 2015:  Two Pelham Brothers Lost Their Only Sons in Eerily-Similar Early Aviation Incidents.

Mon., Dec. 19, 2016:  Biography of Famed Pelham Heights Resident John Fletcher Fairchild.

John Fletcher Fairchild of Pelham Heights in 1905.

Today's Historic Pelham Blog article transcribes the text of a brief article with biographical information about John F. Fairchild published in a local newspaper in 1892.  Though Fairchild was a young man about 25 years of age at the time, he already had a notable local reputation as a civil engineer.  The article is followed by a citation and link to its source.

*          *          *          *          *

"JUNIOR OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 
----- 
John Fletcher Fairchild of Mt. Vernon, N. Y. -- An Expert in the Profession. 

In 1867 Mr. Fairchild's birth took place in Washington, D. C. He received his education in the public schools of that city and at Columbia University. With Mr. Henry H. Law he studied architecture, and civil engineering with Mr. Herman K. Viele. Two years ago he came to Mt. Vernon principally to take charge of the improvements at Pelham Heights. His residence is at that place but he has his office at Mt. Vernon, in the Mt. Vernon Bank building. Since coming to the place he has built up a large outside business and keeps a force of assistants constantly at work in his offices. He is engineer of the drainage commission at Elmsford and of several parks at Kennico and also of the Mt. Vernon Suburban Land Company. Mr. Fairchild has an intelligent apprehension of all matters pertaining, not only to his profession but also to kindred topics and as he possess an extremely gentlemanly manner of doing business he is rapidly rising in social circles as well as in a professional way. Mr. Fairchild is a member of the Methodist church and is the editor of the Epworth League paper published at that place. 

He is a Junior of the American Society of Civil Engineers and keeps well posted on topics pertaining to the advancement of the profession." 

Source: JUNIOR OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS -- John Fletcher Fairchild of Mt. Vernon, N. Y. -- An Expert in the Profession, Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press [Elmira, NY], May 10, 1892, p. 6, col. 4 (Note: Paid subscription required to access via this link). 

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Why Do We Call It the Village of Pelham Instead of Pelhamville? Because We Were Duped!

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For nearly fifty years in the late 19th century, the approximate area that we know today as the Village of Pelham was known by a different name:  Pelhamville.  The United States Post Office was designated the "Pelhamville Post Office."  The railroad officially designated the railroad station as "Pelhamville Station."  

Why, then, is the village named the Village of Pelham and not the Village of Pelhamville?  The short answer is that more than a century ago, the residents of the Heights pulled a fast one and duped the residents of Pelhamville.  Indeed, local newspapers reported that the residents of Pelhamville had been "made a laughing stock" by the residents of Pelham Heights.  As one newspaper headline reported in bold capital letters:  "ANGRY PELHAMVILLEITES.  THEIR POST OFFICE AND RAILROAD STATION STOLEN."

The ruse was simple.  During the winter of 1895/1896, a rumor began circulating throughout Pelhamville that the area was about to incorporate as a village as had Pelham Manor only a few years before.  At the time, the area north of the New Haven line railroad tracks, often referenced as Pelhamville, had about eight hundred residents and two hundred voters.  The area just south of the New Haven line railroad tracks was being newly-developed and only had about 20 residents.  That area was known, informally, as "Pelham Heights" or "The Heights."

Shortly after the rumors of incorporation began to circulate throughout Pelhamville, two petitions "mysteriously" began circulating throughout Pelhamville to change the name of the United States Post Office to Pelham and to change the name of the New Haven line railroad station to Pelham Station.  Pelhamville residents gladly signed the petitions because, as one article put it, "[r]esidents felt a new pride in their village, as it bore one of the oldest names in Westchester county, and they dreamed of incorporation, and many improvements that would be possible under a village government."  Indeed, Pelhamville residents were proud and happy when word came that both petitions had been granted and both the post office and railroad station would hence be known as "Pelham."

Pelhamville residents, however, failed to see the train coming down the tracks.  The tiny little development of "Pelham Heights," led by United States Congressman Benjamin L. Fairchild, stole a march on Pelhamville and incorporated as the "Village of Pelham."  Pelhamville residents were shocked and angry.  They believed they had been duped.  They tried to determine who was responsible for distributing the "mysterious" name-change petitions that they had signed believing that Pelhamville would become the "Village of Pelham."  Some believed the petitions were nefarious in nature had been started by residents of the Heights.  Others disagreed and were of the view that the Heights had simply taken advantage of the situation.  All agreed, however, that they were angry and that their post office and railroad station had been "stolen" from them -- figuratively speaking.

I have written of this amusing incident before.  See Fri., Apr. 15, 2005:  How Pelhamville "Lost" Its Name!  In effect, it is one of the reasons for the name of today's Village of Pelham and why that village is not known as the Village of Pelhamville.

Map of Pelhamville Published in 1868.

Source: Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity

from Actual Surveys By and Under the Direction of

F.W. Beers, Assisted By A.B. Prindle & Others,
pg. 36 (NY, NY: Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868) (Detail from

Page 36 Map Entitled "Town of New Rochelle,

Westchester Co., N.Y. (With) Pelhamville).

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes a lengthy article about the incident that appeared in The Daily Argus of Mount Vernon (reprinted from The New York Times).  It provides a fascinating glimpse into events that we can laugh about today, but which were particularly painful to the residents of the sleepy little hamlet known as Pelhamville in 1896.

"ANGRY PELHAMVILLEITES.
-----
THEIR POST OFFICE AND RAILROAD STATION STOLEN.
-----
Pelham Heights, incorporated as the Village of Pelham, Took Them Both by Having their Names Changed to Pelham -- Two Hundred Voters in Pelhamville and Scarcely Enough in Pelham to Fill the Village Offices.
-----
[New York Times]

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., June 28.--The residents of the hamlet of Pelhamville which lies between Mount Vernon and this village, are very angry.  They say they have been duped and made a laughing stock of by the residents of Pelham Heights, the newly incorporated village of Pelham, that lies just across the tracks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railway from Pelhamville itself.

The residents of Pelhamville, among whom there are over 200 voters, are without a post office and without a railroad station.  Postoffice [sic] and station stand on the same site as usual, but their names have been changed to Pelham, to conform with the new Village of Pelham on Pelham Heights, in which there are about twenty voters.  [Editor's Note:  This "Village of Pelham" subsequently was merged with the "Village of North Pelham" to form what we know today as the Village of Pelham.]  So there is no Pelhamville Post Office or Pelhamville railway station, though both are in the hamlet that for a long time has borne that name.  All this has been brought about, residents of Pelhamville say, by those who quietly obtained the necessary legislation to incorporate Pelham -- the smallest village in the State of New York.  They say also that they were used as cat's paws to pull chestnuts out of the fire for their neighbors on the heights.

Pelham Heights, the home of Congressman Ben L. Fairchild, was incorporated last spring through special legislation.  It was a surprise to every one [sic], for no one thought that wooded fields, in which there were only a few houses, were about to become a village bearing the historic name of Pelham.  The thing was done, however, and the village had its election in due time.  There are nearly enough offices for each voter in the village to have one.  S. Cushman Caldwell was elected President.  John F. Fairchild, Congressman Ben L. Fairchild's brother, was elected Treasurer.  Ralph K. Hubbard, Howard Scribner, and G.C. Fletcher were elected Trustees.

The Fairchilds are large property owners in the new village.

The residents of Pelhamville were more astounded than any one else when Pelham Heights was incorporated under the name of Pelham.  They were almost speechless when they saw the village across the railroad tracks organize its government.  It then burst upon them with full force that the United States Government had changed the name of the Post Office that stands near the railway station from Pelhamville to Pelham.

But their cup of sorrow was not yet full, for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company the other day took down the old signs bearing the word 'Pelhamville,' and put in their places signs with the word 'Pelham.'  Now persons wishing to visit Pelhamville must get off at Pelham, and those writing to friends in Pelhamville must address Pelham.

There really is no Pelhamville.  It has been wiped out of existence.

It went around Pelhamville last winter that the place was going to be incorporated.  The hamlet is modest and unpretentious, but the idea of incorporation was pleasing.  Then a suggestion came from somewhere that it would be a good thing to have the name changed to Pelham.  This idea also was pleasing, and when, later on, papers were circulated petitioning the United States government to change the name of the Post Office to Pelham, and the railway company to change the name of the station to Pelham, almost every one in the village signed them.

Both requests were granted.  Residents felt a new pride in their village, as it bore one of the oldest names in Westchester county, and they dreamed of incorporation, and many improvements that would be possible under a village government.  Then came the cruel news that Pelham Heights had incorporated, leaving Pelhamville out in the cold, and, worst of all, had taken the name of Pelham.

Old residents, figuratively speaking, 'kicked themselves' when they thought how they had helped change the name of the postoffice [sic] and the railway station by signing the petition.  They wondered who started the idea of incorporating Pelhamville and put the petitions afloat.  Some are bold enough to announce that it was the residents of Pelham Heights.  Others, however, differ from this opinion.  They say that it was merely a fortuitous adjustment of circumstances that gave to the new Pelham the station and postoffice [sic].

Frank Lyon, Frederick Puckhaber, M.J. Lynch and a few other residents of Pelhamville refused to sign the petitions to change the name of the postoffice [sic] and railroad station.  They said that the old name was good enough for them and saw no sense in the change.  They now make sarcastic remarks to their neighbors whose names went on the petition.

Otto E. Stroetzel, President of the Citizens' League of the Town of Pelham, is circulating a petition with the idea of having Pelhamville incorporated.  The eight hundred persons who live there are not very enthusiastic about incorporation.  They feel that the place has lost its autonomy, now that Pelham, just next door, has incorporated and given its name to the Post Office and railway station.  They are very, very sore and suspicious of all petitions, anyhow."

Source:  ANGRY PELHAMVILLEITES -- THEIR POST OFFICE AND RAILROAD STATION STOLEN, Daily Argus [Mt. Vernon, NY], Jun. 29, 1896, Vol. XVII, No. 1297, p. 1, cols. 3-4 (from the New York Times).

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Information About the Pelham Manor Water Works Published in 1892

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Immediately upon incorporation of the Village of Pelham Manor in 1891, efforts were undertaken to secure a more reliable water system for the growing population of the area.  A brief report contained in the 1892 edition of "The Manual of American Water-Works" sheds light on the efforts to secure such a water source.  The entry is quoted in full below, followed by a citation to its source.

"140.  PELHAM MANOR, Westchester Co. (Pop. of town in '80, 2540.)  History.--Construction begun Mar. 1, '91, by Pelham Heights Co., in connection with sewers and street improvements; to be completed by Nov. 1, '92.  Engrs., J.F. Fairchild and G.H. Eldridge.  Contrs., Fogg & Scribner, Mt. Vernon.  Supply.--New Rochelle Water Co.'s works.  Distribution--Mains.  8 to 4-in. c. f., about 6 miles; from R. D. Wood & Co., Philadelphia.  Hydrants, 35.  Financial.--Corp. stock:  authorized, $350,000.  Management.--Prest., Benj. Fairchild, Pelhamville.  Secy. and Treas., Paul Gorham, 155 Broadway.   Report by C. E. Fogg, July 31, '91."

Source:  Baker, M.N., ed., The Manual of American Water-Works Compiled from Special Returns Containing the History, Distribution, Consumption, Revenue and Expenses, Cost, Debt and Sinking Fund, etc. etc., of the Water-Works of the United States and Canada with Summaries for Each Statet and Group of States, and Classification by Size of Towns Having Works - 1891, Vol. 3, p. 86 (NY, NY:  Engineering News Publishing Co. 1892).

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News About Pelham Manor and Pelhamville in 1895 - Lighting Districts, Gas for the Village, Baseball and More

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On May 23, 1895, a newspaper published in Mount Vernon, The Chronicle, published one of its regular news columns on "Our Nearby Neighbors" reporting developments in Pelhamville and Pelham Manor.  I have reviewed many, many such news reports.  This particular column contains a number of interesting reports of historical interest juxtaposed with gossip tidbits of interest to neighbors in the tiny community at the time, so I have transcribed it in its entirety.

"Pelhamville.

The Chronicle may be obtained in Pelhamville and vicinity from Master Fred L. Anderson who will deliver it at residence.

-----

Miss Edith Ward of Oakland Cal. is the guest of her uncle, Mr. Peter Ward of Chester Park.

The broken windows and door in Mrs. C. W. Meinecke's former home which were recently damaged by her are being replaced with new ones.  Mr. J. K. Archibald of New York City is doing the work. 

Supervisor Dennis Beach has presented the Relief Hook and Ladder Co. with three handsome pictures.  They are prettily framed and adorn the walls of the company's rooms.

Richard Marvel, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. P. Marvel of Fourth avenue, died last Saturday afternoon of membranous croup.  The funeral services were held last Monday afternoon.

Mr. Caleb Nash formly [formerly] of New Rochelle has rented one of the houses owned by W. H. Bard on Fourth avenue near Fourth street.

A meeting of the residents of Pelhamville was called last Monday night at the Court House for the purpose of forming a lighting district.  The meeting was called to order at about 8:15 by Judge G. L. Karbach.  This gentleman was made chairman and Mr. I. C. Hill acted as secretary.  A vote was taken on the question of whether we should introduce streetlights into the village or not and the result showed a majority in favor of the plan.  A committee was then appointed by the chair to take the necessary steps toward organizing a Lighting District.  The committee consists of Messrs. William H. Sparks, Edward A. Schwartz, Philip Godfrey, O. Stretzel and M. Woods.

Meetings are to be held every Friday night commencing to-morrow evening at the chapel of the of the Church of the Redeemer for the confirmation class.

To-day being Ascension Day services were held in the morning at the Episcopal church.

The base ball nine, William J. Evert Jr. captain has arranged to play with Captain Paulus Taylor's team from Mount Vernon on Decoration Day.  The game will tak place on Brickner's grounds.

It is understood that Chief of the Fire Department, B. P. Crewell has exchanged his residence and grounds on Terrace Hill for Brooklyn property.

Mr. M. F. Brickner and family are now residing in Professor Madorn's house on Second avenue.

The trustees of Pelham Manor have signed a contract with the Eastchester Gas Light Company to furnish their village with gas. 

The people of Pelham Manor who have recently expended about $56,000 for street improvements are now complaining that in return for the amount spent theyy have only about two thirds of their throughfares [sic] improved and that most of these are outlying roads, a number of which lead to Pelhamville.

Mrs. Mary Jessie Meinecke a former resident of this village was sentenced on Tuesday to ten days imprisonment by Justices Hogan, Meade and Martin in the Court of Special Sessions for having on May 2d sent Mrs. Ella Lawless who is employed in Mr. Meinecke's wholesale drug store, a threatening and abusive letter.  Mrs. Meinecke's lawyer pleaded for her four little children and the Court in imposing the sentence said that it took all the circumstances into consideration.  It was just two days after sending this letter that Mrs. Meinecke demolished a number of windows and the front door in her former home in this place.

'Mr. Edwards and family have recently become residents of Pelhamville.  They are ensconced in a 'Bard' cottage on Fourth avenue.

Congressman Ben L. Fairchild had a 'christening' at his home on Pelham Heights last Monday evening.  The ceremony was performed upon his little son who is now known as Master Francis Cromby Fairchild.

The Alpha Social Club met last Friday evening with Mr. Robert Scott on Fifth avenue.  It was the last meeting of the season and the greater part of it was given up to business.

Two may parties are being arranged for, to be held on Decoration Day."

Source:  Our Nearby Neighbors - Pelhamville, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], May 23, 1895, p. 4, col. 1.

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Pelhamville Rejected Gas Lighting in 1895 Amid Allegations of Questionable Dealings

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In the mid-1890s, efforts were underway to bring gas lines to certain areas of Pelham to permit the installation of gas lights.  At the time, Benjamin Corlies was trying to develop a large tract of land near the new train station that had been built in 1893.  When he tried to arrange for gas lines in the area, he ran into opposition. Charges flew amid allegations of questionable dealings involving Congressman-elect Benjamin Fairchild and James Secor of Pelham who wanted to force the Gas Company to buy a company in which the pair allegedly had an interest. The article below details the incident.

"THEY DON'T WANT LIGHT.
-----
Eastchester Gas Company Refused Permission to Lay Mains in Pelhamville.

The Eastchester Gas Light Company some while ago made a contract with Mr. Benjamin Corlies, who owns a large tract of land near the Pelhamville depot, which he is improving and laying out into villa plots, to lay a certain amount of supply mains.  The extension was to continue from the city line at Hutchinson's Bridge along the property owned by the Pelhamville Land Company and thence to the property of Mr. Corlies.

Pelhamville not being a city or village its highways are controlled by the Highway Commissioners in the town of Pelham.  Through the road which the company intended to lay its mains is a few hundred feet of gas mains, said to be the property of a company in which Congressman-elect Fairchild is interested, and which he wished to force the local gas company to buy at a high figure.  As the gas company had no use for this high priced plant, it refused to purchase.  Thereupon the Highway Commissioners, at the probable instigation of Messrs. Fairchild and Secor, the latter having some invisible interest in the sale of the old mains, refused to let the company proceed with the laying of its mains.  It is said an action may be brought restraining the Highway Commissioners from interfering with the work. -- Mt. Vernon News."

Source:  They Don't Want Light, New Rochelle Pioneer, Jan. 5, 1895, p. 4, col. 2.

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Benjamin L. Fairchild's Congressional Campaign in 1894

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I repeatedly have written about Benjamin L. Fairchild of Pelham who served as a member of Congress. See, e.g.:


Friday, December 7, 2007: Another Biography of Congressman Benjamin Fairchild of Pelham, a Founder of Pelham Heights.


Friday, April 22, 2005: Benjamin L. Fairchild of Pelham Heights -- A Notable Pelham Personage.


Tuesday, August 15, 2006: Another Biography of Benjamin L. Fairchild of Pelham Heights.


In 1894 Fairchild was elected to congress from the 16th district, embracing Westchester County and what was then the borough of the Bronx. As a member of the 54th congress, he served on the committees on patents, and coinage, weights, and measures.


Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of an article that appeared in the October 25, 1894 issue of the New-York Tribune describing Fairchild's campaign for a Congressional seat. Additionally, below is an engraved image of Fairchild that appeared with the article.



"BEN L. FAIRCHILD CAMPAIGN.

HE IS WORKING HARD TO WIN THE XVITH CONGRESS DISTRICT.

The accounts of Ben L. Fairchild's hot campaign for Congress, in the XVIth District, give more hope daily that he will defeat his Democratic opponent. Mr. Fairchild is exceptionally popular in Westchester County. When he ran for delegate to the Constitutional Convention last year only thirteen votes were cast against him in the First Election District of the town of Pelham in which he lives. Yet in 1892 Cleveland got 110 votes there, and the district has always been safely Democratic. Mr. Fairchild's friends conceded William Ryan only three votes in that election district this year.

Mr. Fairchild is conducting a vigorous canvass. He speaks at least once every night, and on some evenings has made as many as four addresses in different parts of the county. The XXIX and XXXth Assembly districts of this city are also in the XVIth Congress District, and Mr. Fairchild will spend all of next week there making speeches. It is regarded as certain that his majority in Westchester County will not be less than 1,000; his hardest task will be in New-York City."
Source: Ben L. Fairchild's Campaign, New-York Tribune, Oct. 25, 1894, p. 9, col. 2.

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Another Biography of Congressman Benjamin Fairchild of Pelham, a Founder of Pelham Heights

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I have written on the Historic Pelham Blog twice before about the life of Benjamin L. Fairchild of Pelham Heights who served as a member of Congress and was responsible for much of the development of Pelham Heights. See:

Friday, April 22, 2005: Benjamin L. Fairchild of Pelham Heights -- A Notable Pelham Personage

Tuesday, August 15, 2006: Another Biography of Benjamin L. Fairchild of Pelham Heights

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog provides yet another biography of Benjamin Fairchild. The text of the biography, published in 1900, appears below. As always, it is followed by a citation to its source.

"FAIRCHILD, BEN LEWIS, lawyer, ex-member of congress, and a prominent resident of Pelham, was born in Sweden, Monroe County, N. Y., January 5, 1863, being a son of Benjamin F. and Calista (Schaeffer) Fairchild. On his father's side he comes from New England ancestry, and on his mother's from German stock. His father was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War, and was severely wounded in the Wilderness campaign. At the close of the war, much shattered in health and with but slender financial resources, he settled with his family in Washington, D. C., where the son was reared and educated.

Leaving school at the age of thirteen, young Fairchild was for the nine succeeding years employed in the government departments. For two years he held a position in the draughtsman's division of the Interior Department, and subsequently he was a clerk in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing of the Treasury Department. While thus occupied he took the night course of the Spencerian Business College, being graduated from that institution, and in 1885 he was graduated from the Law Department of the Columbia University with the degree of Master of Laws, having already taken that of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar in Washington, and thereupon resigned his clerkship in the Treasury Department and came to New York, where, after continuing his studies for a year in the office of Henry C. Andrews, he was admitted to practice in May, 1886.

In 1887 he entered the New York law firm of Ewing & Southard, whose style was changed to Ewing, Southard & Fairchild. Upon the retirement of General Ewing in 1893, he formed with Mr. Southard the partnership of Southard & Fairchild, which still continues. He has enjoyed a successful professional career, pursuing a general civil practice.

Mr. Fairchild has been a resident of Pelham since 1887. In 1893 he was nominated on the Republican ticket for delegate to the constitutional convention. At the resulting election he obtained a majority in the portion of the district belonging to New York City. In 1894 he was elected to congress from the 16th district, embracing Westchester County and the present borough of the Bronx, his majority being 5,500 over an opponent who, at the last previous election, had carried the district by 6,500. As a member of the 54th congress, Mr. Fairchild served on the committees on patents, and coinage, weights, and measures.

In 1896 he was unanimously renominated for congress by the regular Republican convention. A bolting convention was held, however, which put up another candidate. The certificates of nomination being [Page 141 / Page 142] filed by the rival candidates, it was decided by the secretary of state that Mr. Fairchild was the legal Republican nominee; and that his name should appear on the ballot as such. His opponent then carried the matter before a judge in a distant section of the State, and obtained an order directing the removal of Mr. Fairchild's name and the substitution of his own. This order was ultimately declared by the Court of Appeals to have been granted without warrant of jurisdiction; but meantime the election had been held, with the result that, as Mr. Fairchild's name did not appear in the official Republican column, he was deprived of the party votes which, according to the final decision of the courts, were rightfully his. Owing to these very peculiar circumstances his service in congress was limited to a single term.

Mr. Fairchild is largely identified with real estate interests in Pelham and Mount Vernon.

He was married, in February, 1893, to Anna, daughter of the late James Crumbie, of an old New York family."

Source: Spooner, Walter Whipple, ed., Fairchild, Ben Lewis in Westchester County New York Biographical, pp. 141-42 (NY, NY: The New York History Company, 1900).

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The Beginnings of the Water Supply System in the Village of Pelham Manor

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A brief report that appeared in The Manual of American Water-Works published in 1892 sheds some light on the origins of the municipal water delivery system in the Village of Pelham Manor. The Village of Pelham Manor was incorporated in 1891. On March 1, 1891, construction began on a municipal water system in conjunction with a "sewers and street improvements" project. The brief report describing these developments, followed by a citation to its source, appears immediately below.

"140. PELHAM MANOR, Westchester Co. (Pop. of town in '80, 2,540.) History. - Construction begun Mar. 1, '91, by Pelham Heights Co., in connection with sewers and street improvements; to be completed by Nov. 1, '92. Engrs., J. F. Fairchild and G. H. Eldridge. Contrs., Fogg & Scribner, Mt. Vernon. Supply. - New Rochelle Water Co.'s works. Distribution. - Mains, 8 to 4-in. c. i., about 6 miles; from R. D. Wood & Co., Philadelphia. Hydrants, 35 Financial. - Cap. stock: authorized, $350,000. Management. - Prest., Benj. Fairchild, Pelhamville. Secy. and Treas., Paul Gorham, 155 Broadway. Report by C. E. Fogg. July 31, '91."

Source: Baker, M. N., ed., Third Annual Issue. - The Manual of American Water-Works Compiled From Special Returns 1891, p. 86 (NY, NY: Engineering News Publishing Co. 1892).

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