Dorman's Island at Pelham Bridge: What Do We Know About It?
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This tiny little island was important to Pelham history. Yet, the repeated references to it encountered during decades of research provided little in the way of information about the island.
That is no surprise. This is "micro-history." It is not "local history." It is not "Village History" (or Town History, County History, Regional History, State History, or "more"). It is the history of a tiny plot -- perhaps an acre (or a few more) -- that played an important role locally. Such a micro-history, when presented contextually, may shed light on broader and important historical issues.
Where was Dorman's Island? Why was the tiny little island also known, at various times, as Dimans Island, Dormer Island, Dormont's Island, Hunt's Neck, Taylor's Island, and Tallapoosa Point?
Dorman's Island was part of the original Thomas Pell purchase from local Native Americans on June 27, 1654. It stood at what we think of, today, as the southwestern end of Pelham Bridge, just off the Throggs Neck mainland. It seems to have been separated from the mainland by a salt marsh.
According to The Minutes of the Court of Sessions (1657-1696) Westchester County, New York published in 1924 by the Westchester County Historical Society, the island (referenced as "Dimans Island") was purchased by Henry Gardner in 1686 "for Tenn shillings."
One of the earliest maps to depict the "island" was a map prepared by British Engineer Charles Blaskowitz in support of British and Hessian forces in 1776. The map, an enhanced detail of which appears immediately below, depicts the island as "Hunt's Neck" separated from the mainland by what appears to be a salt marsh. The map clearly shows that the roadway from the Village of Westchester causeway extended all the way onto Hunt's Neck and, of course, ended there with no "Pelham Bridge" yet built across Eastchester Bay.
Detail from 1776 Map by Charles Blaskowitz Showing Hunt's Neck
(i.e., Dorman's Island). Source: Blaskowitz, Charles, A survey of Frog's
(1776) (Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington,
D.C. 20540-4650 USA; Digital Id g3802t ar115200; Library of Congress
Catalog Number gm71000648). NOTE: Click to Enlarge Image.
Within only decades, on March 6, 1812, the New York State Legislature enacted a statute incorporating the "Eastchester Bridge Company" and authorizing it to build a bridge over the Hutchinson River where it empties into Eastchester Bay. The statute referenced the island as "Dormer's Island" and described it as a "point of Throg's Neck." The statute (quoted in full below) stated in pertinent part:
"Be it enacted by the people of the state of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That Herman Le Roy, James Harvey, William Bayard, John Bartow, Richard Ward, Elbert Roosevelt, Daniel Pelton, Joshua Heustice and John Hunter, and all such other persons as shall associate for the purpose of building a bridge across the mouth of Eastchester creek, from the farm of James Harvey, in the town of Pelham, to the point of Throg's Neck, called Dormer's Island, in the county of Westchester."
The first Pelham Bridge was built between June 4, 1814 and March 18, 1815. A portion of it crossed the island. So did portions of successive replacements of the bridge. See, e.g., Morris, Fordham, The Borough Town of Westchester -- An Address Delivered By Fordham Morris, on the 28th Day of October, 1896, Before the Westchester County Historical Society, in the Court House, at White Plains, N. Y., p. 18 (White Plains, NY: The Eastern State Journal, 1896) (Noting "The LeRoys, Rappelyeas and Edgars wishing to get from Pelham to Morrisania, about 1835 built the Pelham Bridge, famous resort for fishermen, and laid out the road across Dormer's Island passing by Stinnardtown and under the Spy Oak to the Causeway at Westchester.").
It appears, according to published legal notices, that Dorman's Island was the subject of a sheriff's sale at 12 Noon on Saturday, February 25, 1860. The legal notices indicated the sale would be held at L. C. Fowler's Hotel at Pelham Bridge and described the property as follows:
"THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS DORMAN'S ISLAND, adjoining Pelham's Bridge, containing 5 1/2 acres of land, beautifully situated, with a water front protected by a stone sea wall, number of trees on the premises, making a first-rate place for a public house or gentleman's residence; distant 16 miles from City Hall. Maps at the office."
Research regarding Dorman's Island now seems to have established that, for many years during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the famed "Lorillard Cottage" built by Pierre Lorillard II (also known as Pierre Lorillard Jr.) was the centerpiece of the "island" that according to at least one report was connected to the mainland by landfill at some point during "colonial times." (However, maps as late as the 19th century continue to show the area as essentially an island separated from Throggs Neck by what appears to be a salt marsh.) Previous research had led to speculation that the Lorillard Cottage of "Coaching to Pelham" fame was located in a nearby structure. See Tue., May 17, 2016: Rare Images of the Lorillard Cottage of "Coaching to Pelham" Fame.
Research now suggests that the "Lorillard Cottage" of "Coaching to Pelham" fame actually was the centerpiece of Dorman's Island and, in the late 19th century, became the clubhouse of the Tallapoosa Club, a Tammany political organization in the so-called "annexed district" consisting of lands annexed by New York City when it formed Pelham Bay Park.
An article published in the March 31, 1907 issue of the New-York Tribune detailed a little of the history of the structure and its use by the Tallapoosa Club as a headquarters. Significantly, the article also included a photograph of the structure which, indeed, depicts the Pierre Lorillard Cottage that once served as the "Arcularius Hotel" and was the terminus, for a time, of Delancey Kane's famed "Tally-Ho" Coach to Pelham.
The 1907 article addressed the so-called "Honest Graft" of leasing Pelham Bay Park structures to favored persons and organizations for nominal rents. In discussing the headquarters of the Tallapoosa Club, the article stated:
"On the same road [running across Pelham Bridge], between Bartow and Baychester, is the Pierre Lorillard house. It stands at the foot of a tree bordered drive on the crest of a gentle slope running down to the edge of Pelham Bay. It is a three story house with Grecian pillars and presents a stately appearance. A feature of the interior is the carved black walnut staircase. This twenty room house is leased by the year at $25 a month to the Tallapoosa Club, known as the club of Louis F. Haffen, the President of the Borough of The Bronx. It is used as a road house." MORE "HONEST" GRAFT -- Big Houses Leased from City for Small Rents -- Exposed by Metz, New-York Tribune, Mar. 31, 1907, p. 55, col. 1 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link).
In addition, the article included a photograph of the structure with a caption that stated, in pertinent part, as follows: "No. 5. The Pierre Lorillard house, in Pelham Bay Park; leased to Louis Haffen's Tallapoosa Club for $25 a month, and used as a hotel." Id. The image appears immediately below. A transcription of the entire article appears at the end of this Historic Pelham Blog article.
Image of the "Lorillard Cottage" that Once Stood on Throgg's
Neck Near the Foot of the Old Pelham Bridge. Source: eBay.
NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
"ARCULARIUS HOTEL"
This is a Tiny Detail, Difficult to Reproduce, From
Armstrong, W.A. & Pratt, Charles E., Coaching To Pelham
Song And Chorus [Music Sheets], Pg. 1 [Cover] (NY, NY: American
Music Publishing Co. 1876). NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.
Image Depicting the Arcularius Hotel. This is a Tiny Detail,
Difficult to Reproduce, From Speck, Samuel H., New Rochelle
and Pelham Coach Galop [sic], [Music Sheets], Pg. 1 [Cover]
(Boston, MA: Oliver Ditson & Co., 1876). NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.
It is somewhat difficult to discern with certainty, but it appears that, for at least a period of time, the Tallapoosa Club used the structure and the island as more than a mere "clubhouse," likely as a way to increase revenue. During at least the 1890s, New York City provided the Club with a favorable rent for the island between $25 and $41 a month (at various times). Additionally, and not insignificantly, the City reportedly awarded the Club a liquor license that allowed it to serve all comers -- not merely club members -- at the Clubhouse. Thereafter, at least one news report described the clubhouse as being used as a "road house." (See below.)
What do we know of the clubhouse and the layout of Dorman's Island? In addition to the images of the "Arcularius Hotel" that show the clubhouse (see above), we have information about the structure and the layout of the island.
For example, as noted in the quote from the 1907 newspaper article above, we know that the stately three-story home with Grecian pillars had twenty rooms. There was a significant interior feature: a "carved black walnut staircase."
We also know a little about the grounds of the island. Although the Club reportedly paid for many improvements, the Parks Department performed work on the Club's grounds to improve the premises as well including rolling the island walkways and trimming the edges of those walkways. A detail from a map of the area published in 1896 (see immediately below) shows an island separated from the Throggs Neck mainland by a salt marsh.
The roadway seems to end where the Throggs Neck mainland meets the salt marsh with what appears to be a small bridge or causeway crossing the marsh to the island where a roadway crosses the island to the western foot of Pelham Bridge that seems to start on the island.
There seems to be a driveway that leads from the main roadway crossing the island up to a circular driveway in front of what likely is the main structure (i.e., the clubhouse). There seem to be up to ten (or so) auxiliary structures or sheds scattered throughout the island with one (likely the stables or barn) with what appears to be its own circular driveway slightly to the west of the main house. We know from a newspaper description that the clubhouse stood "at the foot of a tree bordered drive on the crest of a gentle slope running down to the edge" of the Bay.
Detail from 1896 NOAA Nautical Chart of Long Island Sound Showing
Dorman's Island in Center. Image Courtesy of Jorge Santiago of the East
Bronx History Forum, Used with Permission. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
In 1919, after reportedly more than forty years' service as the headquarters of the Tallapoosa Club, the clubhouse on Dorman's Island was raised. The New Rochelle Pioneer reported:
"'The old club house, with its ancient wooden floor and inflammable walls, was a fire menace and was unsanitary,' said Park Commissioner Hennesey. 'It would cost $20,000 to repair the structure and for a year I have been unable to rent it as a road house or a hotel because of the unattractive outlook for that line of business. The city was losing money on the place ,which had become a rendezvous for tramps and loafers, so I decided that the building should become a memory.'"
The long service of Dorman's Island as a picnic ground, luxury summer "cottage" residence, hotel, clubhouse, and road house was coming to an end.
* * * * *
Detail from 1853 Map Showing Dorman's Island as "Taylor's Island" (See
Red Arrow). Source: Dripps, Matthew & Conner, R.F.O., Southern Part of
West-Chester County N. Y. (1853) (Museum of the City of New York, No.
29.100.2628). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
1860 Newspaper Advertisement Announcing Sheriff's Sale of Dorman's Island.
Source: SATURDAY, February 25 [Advertisement], New York Morning
Express, Feb. 18, 1860, p. 1, col. 1. NOTE: Text Transcribed Below to
Facilitate Search; Click on Image to Enlarge.
"SATURDAY, February 25.
At 12 o'clock, at L. C. Fowler's Hotel, Pelham Bridge, Westchester County.
Will be sold under the direction of Wm. Bleakley, Jr., Sheriff:
THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS DORMAN'S ISLAND, adjoining Pelham's Bridge, containing 5 1/2 acres of land, beautifully situated, with a water front protected by a stone sea wall, number of trees on the premises, making a first-rate place for a public house or gentleman's residence; distant 16 miles from City Hall. Maps at the office."
Source: SATURDAY, February 25 [Advertisement], New York Morning Express, Feb. 18, 1860, p. 1, col. 1.
* * * * *
The will of Captain Richard Osborn of Westchester dated December 4, 1684 made his son, John Osborn of Fairfield, Connecticut, and John Pell of Westchester County (nephew of Pelham Founder Thomas Pell) executors. Make over all his lands, etc., to Thomas Bedient of Woodbury, Conn, and Mordecay Bedient, deceased, and Mary his wife (afterwards called Mary Townsend) and Roger Townsend. Accepting "all my land and meadow at a place commonly called Dormans Island in Westchester," left to his grandson Richard, son of David Osburn of Eastchester. And he is to have a home and maintenance according to his Quality, and they are to keep for him a good horse, saddle and bridle, and he is to have two barrels of cider, yearly, and the use of one acre of land. They are today to Abigail, daughter of Thomas Bedient, and furnish 2 good cows to Elizabeth, daughter of said Richard Osburne. Leaves legacies to Bridget, wife of my neighbor, Justice John Palmer and her daughter Bridget. Leaves to Joseph Lee, Clerk of this County 20s. Witnesses: Thomas Bedient, Joseph Lee. Dated 4 Dec 1684.
Source: Pelletreau, William, "Early Wills of Westchester Co. NY, 1664-1784," pp.380-381 (NY, NY: 1898).
"Richard Osborn (or 'Captain,' as he was styled) sold all his possessions in Ridgefield in 1682, and removed to East Chester, Westchester County, N. Y., where he died in 1685. There is on record at White Plains, N. Y., a curious tripartite agreement between Capt. Richard Osborn and a Mrs. Townsend, whom he married, and her sons by a former marriage, which provides for his comfort during his old age. In his will, he made his son John of Fairfield County, Conn., and John Pell, executors, and leaves to his grandson Richard, son of David, Dorman's Island in Westchester County, N. Y."
Source: THE "OLD NORTHWEST" GENEALOGICAL QUARTERLY 1906, Vol. IX, p. 151 (Columbus, OH: The "Old Northwest" Genealogical Society, 1906).
"DIMANS ISLAND. It is mentioned in the 1686 Records of Westchester as being owned by a Richard Osbourne. Once surrounded by marshy land, it is now part of Pelham Bay Park at the western end of the Pelham bridge. It carried no less than six other names, the last one being the most familiar to Bronxites: Tallapoosa Point. See Dorman's Island, Dormer Island, Dormont's Island, Hunt's Neck, Taylor's Island and Tallapoosa Point."
Source: McNamara, John, History In Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names, Borough of the Bronx, New York City, p. 325 (Harrison, NY: Harbor Hill Books, 1978). See also id. at p. 327 (Dorman's Island and Dormer Island); id. at p. 484 ("TAYLOR'S ISLAND. This small island near the mouth of the Hutchinson River at the southern end of the Pelham bridge had been known by many other names over the centuries. An 1851 map lists T. Taylor as the owner. See Diman's Island. Tallapoosa Point.").
"Dimans Island for the yeare 1686 to Henry Gardner for Tenn shillings and the year 1687 for twenty five shillings and 10th of Tobacco."
Source: Fox, Dixon Ryan & Harrington, Grove B., eds., The Minutes of the Court of Sessions (1657-1696) Westchester County, New York, p. 50 (Westchester County Historical Society, 1924).
"CHAP. XXII.
An ACT to incorporate the Eastchester Bridge Company. Passed March 6, 1812.
Preamble
WHEREAS Herman Le Roy and others have, by their petition to the Legislature, prayed to [Page 23 / Page 24] be incorporated for the purpose of erecting, by voluntary subscriptions, a bridge across Eastchester creek, and to be authorised to exact from all persons using such bridge, a toll merely adequate to the repairs thereof: Therefore,
Eastchester bridge company incorporated
I. Be it enacted by the people of the state of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That Herman Le Roy, James Harvey, William Bayard, John Bartow, Richard Ward, Elbert Roosevelt, Daniel Pelton, Joshua Heustice and John Hunter, and all such other persons as shall associate for the purpose of building a bridge across the mouth of Eastchester creek, from the farm of James Harvey, in the town of Pelham, to the point of Throg's Neck, called Dormer's Island, in the county of Westchester, and shall subscribe and pay towards building the said bridge a sum not less than twenty-five dollars, their successors and assigns, shall be and hereby are created a body corporate and politic, by the name of 'the president and directors of the Eastchester bridge company,' and so to remain for the term of thirty years and no longer;
Their style and corporate rights.
and they are hereby constituted and declared to be a body politic and corporate, in fact and in name, and by that name they and their successors may have continual succession, and shall be capable in law of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, answering and being answered unto, defending and being defended, in all courts and places whatever; and that they and their successors may have a common seal, and may make, change and alter the same at their pleasure, and also that they and their successors, by the same name and style, shall be capable in law of purchasing, holding and conveying, any real or personal estate for the use of the said corporation:
Proviso.
Provided, That the estates so to be holden shall be such only as shall be necessary to promote or attain the objects of this incorporation.
Capital stock
II. And be it further enacted, That the capital stock of the said company shall consist of so many shares of twenty-five dollars each, as shall amount to a sum sufficient, for building the said bridge, and the toll house and gate thereunto belonging; and each stockholder shall be entitled to as many votes for directors of the [Page 24 / Page 25] said company as he may hold shares of the said stock;
7 directors chosen annually.
and the affairs of the said company shall be managed by seven directors, who shall be chosen annually from among the stockholders of the said company, by a plurality of the votes of the said stockholders, at such times and in such manner as may be prescribed by the by-laws of the said company; and a majority of the said directors shall elect one of their number to be president, and the said president, with a majority of the said directors, shall be a quorum capable of transacting the business of the said corporation;
Their powers.
and shall have power to make such by-laws, rules, orders and regulations, (not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this state or of the United States,) as shall be necessary for the well governing the affairs of the said company.
The company may build a bridge over Eastchester creek.
III. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said company to erect and build at their own expense, a good and substantial bridge across Eastchester creek, at the place before mentioned:
Proviso.
Provided, That the said bridge be built at least twenty-four feet wide in the clear between the sides or railings thereof, and be well covered with planks, not less than three inches thick, and the sides of the said bridge be well secured with good and substantial railings, not less than four feet, six inches height:
Further proviso.
And provided further, That the said bridge be constructed with a draw, to open at least twenty feet, so as to permit vessels with standing masts conveniently to pass and repass the said bridge, which passage shall be freely passed, repassed and used, by all persons whatever, without toll or reward.
The bridge to be kept in repair.
IV. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said company to keep and maintain the said bridge, and the floor, sides, railings and draw thereof, in good and sufficient repair from the time the said bridge shall be completed, during the continuance of this act;
A person shall attend night & day to open the draw.
and when they have completed the said bridge, they shall at all times thereafter, as well by night as by day, provide and keep a sufficient person or persons at or near the said bridge, to open the draw thereof; and such person or persons so attending, on sufficient no- [Page 25 / Page 26] tice being given to him or them by the master or owner of any vessel having necessary business or occasion to pass the said bridge, by blowing a horn or otherwise, such person or persons so attending the said bridge shall immediately open or cause to be opened, the said draw, and shall permit every such vessel to pass through the said draw unmolested and freely as aforesaid;
The company shall pay a fine of five dollars
for every 10 minutes neglect to open the draw.
and when any vessel shall be unnecessarily detained from passing through the said draw for more than ten minutes, by the refusal, neglect or delay of any person or persons so attending the said bridge, the said company shall pay to the owner or master of such vessel so unnecessarily detained, the sum of five dollars for every ten minutes such vessel shall be so unnecessarily detained beyond ten minutes before mentioned, which sum or sums shall be paid upon demand, to be made of the president of the said company;
Masters and owners of vessels to pass with due diligence.
and the owner or master of any vessel at whose request the said draw shall be opened, shall use all due diligence and expedition in passing such vessel through the said draw,
For every 10 minutes delay to forfeit 5 dollars to the company
and shall pay to the said company five dollars for every ten minutes of unnecessary delay in passing such vessel through the said draw, after the said draw shall have been opened to permit her to pass through it; which sum or sums shall be paid upon demand to be made of the master or owner of such vessel, by an authorised officer or agent of the said company.
The judges of Westchester county to give a certificate
that the bridge is sufficiently constructed.
V. And be it further enacted, That as soon as the said bridge shall be finished, and the judges of the court of common pleas in and for the county of Westchester, or a majority of them, shall, upon inspection, have certified under their hands that the said bridge is well and sufficiently constructed and built, and will admit the passage of loaded teams and other carriages, and is in all things conformable to the true intent and meaning of this act, it shall and may be lawful for the said company to erect a gate at or near the said bridge, and to exact and demand of all persons passing the said bridge a toll to be received and taken for the use of the said company, to enable them to keep and maintain the said bridge in repair, which toll shall not exceed the following rates, to wit:
Rates of toll.
For every stage-waggon, drawn by [Page 26 / Page 27] two or more horses or mules, twelve and an half cents; for every four wheel pleasure carriage, with two or more horses, twelve and an half cents; for every two wheel pleasure carriage or sleigh, and horses or mules, six cents; for every waggon and horses or mules, other than stage-waggons, four cents; for every man and horse or mule, two cents; for every ox-cart with oxen, four cents; for every market sleigh or sled and horses, or mules or oxen, four cents; for every cart with one horse or mule, three cents; for every ox, bull, cow, steer, mule or horse, led or driven loose over the said bridge, one cent; for every score of sheep or swine, two cents, and in that proportion for a greater or less number of them.
President and directors
VI. And be it further enacted, That Herman Le Roy shall be president, and John Hunter, Richard Ward, John Bartow, Elbert Roosevelt, Daniel Pelton and Joshua Hustice, directors of the said company, until an election for directors of the said company shall be held according to the provisions of this act.
The company shall render to the
comptroller an account of the costs of the bridge.
VII. And be it further enacted, That as soon as the said bridge shall be finished, the said company shall render to the Comptroller of this state an account of the costs thereof,
And annually thereafter render an
account of monies received and expended.
and that they shall annually thereafter render him a full and just account of all monies received by them for tolls for passing the said bridge, and of all expenditures to be made by them in repairing and maintaining the said bridge, to the end that if it shall be found that the rates of toll hereby established shall be more than adequate to the repairs of the said bridge, the said rates of toll may be reduced in such manner as the Legislature may from time to time think proper and expedient.
The provision in the 7th section
of a certain act repealed.
VIII. And be it further enacted, That the proviso contained in the seventh section of the act, entitled 'an act for improving the road from Eastchester to Byram,' be, and the same hereby is repealed:
Proviso.
Provided, That it shall not be lawful to erect the most easterly gate therein mentioned to the eastward of the dwelling-house of Thomas Theall, in Rye.
IX. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the company incorporated by the last mentioned [Page 27 / Page 28] act
The draw in the bridge at
Fisher's Landing discontinued.
to discontinue the draw in the bridge across Eastchester creek, at Fisher's Landing, directed by the said act to be maintained in the said bridge.
This is a public act.
X. And be it further enacted, That this act be, and the same is hereby declared to be a public act."
Source: "CHAP. XXII. An ACT to Incorporate the Eastchester Bridge Company Passed March 6, 1812" in Laws of the State of New-York, Passed at the Thirty-Fifth Session of the Legislature Begun and held at the City of Albany, The Twenty-Eighth Day of January, 1912, pp. 23-28 (Albany, NY: Printed for S. Southwick, Printer to the State, 1812).
"The LeRoys, Rappelyeas and Edgars wishing to get from Pelham to Morrisania, about 1835 built the Pelham Bridge, famous resort for fishermen, and laid out the road across Dormer's Island passing by Stinnardtown and under the Spy Oak to the Causeway at Westchester."
Source: Morris, Fordham, The Borough Town of Westchester -- An Address Delivered By Fordham Morris, on the 28th Day of October, 1896, Before the Westchester County Historical Society, in the Court House, at White Plains, N. Y., p. 18 (White Plains, NY: The Eastern State Journal, 1896).
"The smaller section of the park south of Hutchinson's River is at the northern end of Throgg's Neck, and was called in colonial times 'Dorman's Island,' and later 'Taylor's Island.' That there was some kind of a road leading to it from the borough-town of Westchester, the map of Sauthier, inaccurate as it is, plainly shows. Where this Road comes into the Shore Road there are an athletic field for outdoor sports, and a parade ground of one hundred and twenty acres, opened September 10, 1904. In March, 1812, the Legislature incorporated the East Chester Bridge Company, and the bridge over the Hutchinson River near its mouth was built soon after. In 1817, the Westchester and Pelham Turnpike Company was incorporated for the purpose of building a turnpike from the causeway at Westchester to the above mentioned bridge, following probably the lane of Sauthier's map. The first bridge was destroyed by a storm, and the company was authorized by the Legislature of a1816 to sell its property and franchises for a period of forty-five years."
Source: Jenkins, Stephen, The Story of The Bronx From the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day, p. 317 (NY and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons The Knickerbocker Press, 1912). See also id. at p. 411 ("The name of Throgg's Neck is given to all that portion of the former town of Westchester lying between Westchester Creek, the East River, the Sound, and Eastchester Bay. As early as 1704, the northern portion, now within Pelham Bay Park, was called 'Dorman's Island.'").
"Upon 'Dorman's Island,' (so called prior to 1704), in the north-east corner of the town [i.e., Westchester], the Eastchester creek bridge communicates with the Westchester shore and Pelham neck."
Source: Bolton, Robert, The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement to the Present Time Carefully Revised by its Author, Vol. II, p. 413 (NY, NY: Chas. F. Roper, 1881). See also id. at pp. 413-14 ("The estate of Rockfield, on the south, is the property of John M. Furman. The views of the water from this place are of a beautiful description. In the immediate vicinity are located the residences of Lawrence Waterbury and Lorillard Spencer. In close vicinity is Bayside, the Harlem River Railroad depot for this section of Westchester. This portion of Throckmorton's Neck, together with Dorman's Island formerly constituted the old Bayard estate, as noticed in the early part of this town.").
"Tallapoosa Point. Name formerly used for a section of the northeastern Bronx lying south of Eastchester Bay in what is now Pelham Bay Park. It was once a privately owned island that in colonial times became attached to the mainland through silting. In the 1890s a German political group, the Tallapoosa Club, leased it as a summer headquarters. Its rocky shores inclining toward Long Island Sound, made the area a favorite spot for boating and fishing until the 1960s, when it was buried by a refuse dump used by New York City. Proposals in the 1970s that the new hill should be used as a ski slope were generally ignored."
Source: Jackson, Kenneth, et al., eds., "Tallapoosa Point" in The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2010).
"ABOVE THE HARLEM RIVER. . . .
The Tallapaloosa Club, of which many men well known in the upper wards are members, opened last week the clubhouse at Pelham Bay. The president, John W. Falk; John Haffen, Emil Rollizek, Charles Jacobs, Thomas Farley, Thomas Jordan, John Young and other well-known members of the club were present. . . ."
Source: ABOVE THE HARLEM RIVER, New-York Daily Tribune, Jun. 4, 1893, p. 20, col. 2.
"RAZE TALLAPOOSA HOUSE.
-----
Laborers of Bronx Department are demolishing the 'House of the Tallapoosa Club.' In Pelham Bay Park, at Pelham Parkway and Eastern Boulevard. The structure was once the home of an exclusive country club, made up of a select colony that lived near Pelham Bay before that territory was annexed to the city. Old timers in the Bronx say the structure was erected more than a hundred years ago. For forty years the building was the home of the Tallapoosa Club, the president of which for years was John M. Haffen, a brother of Louis F. Haffen, a former borough president of the Bronx.
'The old club house, with its ancient wooden floor and inflammable walls, was a fire menace and was unsanitary,' said Park Commissioner Hennesey. 'It would cost $20,000 to repair the structure and for a year I have been unable to rent it as a road house or a hotel because of the unattractive outlook for that line of business. The city was losing money on the place ,which had become a rendezvous for tramps and loafers, so I decided that the building should become a memory.'"
Source: RAZE TALLAPOOSA HOUSE, New Rochelle Pioneer, Mar. 15, 1919, p. 4, col. 4.
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Labels: Dimans Island, Dorman's Island, Dormer Island, Dormont's Island, Hunt's Neck, Pelham Islands, Tallapoosa Club, Tallapoosa Point, Taylor's Island
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