Another Brief History of The Pelham Bridge

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Periodically I have provided background and history on the bridge known as The Pelham Bridge located in today's Pelham Bay Park. The current version of that bridge celebrated its centennial last year. Below are links to a few of the items I have posted regarding the bridge in the last few years.

Thursday, January 1, 2009: A Brief History of Pelham Bridge.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008: New York State Senate Report on Petition by Inhabitants of Westchester to Allow Construction of Toll Bridge Across Eastchester Creek in 1834.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007: The Laying Out of Pelham Avenue From Fordham to Pelham Bridge in 1869.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007: 1857 Real Estate Advertisement for Sale of the Pelham Bridge.

Friday, Juny 22, 2007: 1857 Real Estate Advertisement for Sale of "Country Seat" at Pelham Bridge.

Friday, May 18, 2007: Celebration at Pelham Bridge in 1872.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007: Board of Supervisors of Westchester County Vote to Build New Iron Bridge to Replace Pelham Bridge in 1869.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007: The Owner of the Pelham Bridge Hotel Sold it for the Princely Sum of $22,000 in 1869.

Friday, May 11, 2007: A Sad Attempted Suicide at Pelham Bridge in 1869.

Today's Historic Pelham Blog posting provides yet another brief history of the Pelham Bridge that appeared in a book by Stephen Jenkins published in 1912 entitled "The Bronx From the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day".

"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 1816 to sell its property and franchises for a period of forty-five years. The second bridge was built in 1834 by George Rapelje, with the right to charge tolls for a period of thirty years; but the supervisors of Westchester County purchased the bridge in 1860 and made it free. The former iron bridge was constructed in 1869-70; but it proved insufficient for the traffic after the automobile arrived, and it was replaced by the present larger bridge, opened by the Department of Bridges on October 15, 1908, at a cost of $517,000.

The bridge has always been famous for the good fishing to be obtained from it, and the author remembers having made several trips to it when a very small boy, walking from [Page 317 / Page 318] Mt. Vernon and back with his companions by way of Eastchester and the Split Rock Road. Bolton gives records of a striped bass weighing sixty-three pounds, being caught on June 3, 1844, of another of fifty pounds, caught by E. des Brosses Hunter, and of others of twenty and forty-three pounds at various times. 'There were giants in those days!' Flounders, tom-cod, eels, and fish of all kinds, including an occasional sheepshead, are also mentioned by the same author. The best time for fishing is in the months of September and October. The stream was formerly clear, but for many years it has been polluted by the sewage of Mt. Vernon and the outpourings of the gas-works at Eastchester, and the fish are not so plentiful as formerly."

Source: Jenkins, Stephen, The Bronx From the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Daypp. 317-18 (NY, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press 1912).

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

A Brief History of Pelham Bridge

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

In 1886, John Thomas Scharf released his monumental, multi-volume History of Westchester County. The work includes much about the history of Pelham. Below is a brief excerpt that provides a little history of the bridge known as Pelham Bridge.
"Pelham Bridge, which crosses East Chester Creek at the head of East Chester or Pelham Bay, was authorized as follows:
By a legislative act of March 16, 1812, Herman Le Roy, James Havey, William Bayard, John Bartow, Richard Ward, Elbert Roosevelt, Daniel Pelton, Joshua Euastace and John Hunter were incorporated as the East Chester Bridge Company, and authorized to build a toll-bridge from the farm of James Harvey in the town of Pelham to the point of Throgg's Neck called Dormer's Island. Within a few years a storm destroyed the bridge, and on April 12, 1816, the General Assembly empowered the company to sell its property and franchises at public auction, the purchaser to become the owner of the franchise for forty-five years. Nothing seems to have been accomplished under this act, and int 1834 George Rapelje was authorized to build a bridge over East Chester Creek 'at the pint where the bridge formerly stood.' If the draw permitted free navigation, and the Common Please judges of the county were satisfied with the structure, it being made their duty to inspect it, Rapelje was allowed to collect tolls upon traffic. His grant was to run thirty years, but in 1860 the supervisors of Westchester County were directed by an act of the Legislature to purchase this Repelje's or Pelham Bridge and make it free, which they promptly did."
Source: Scharf, J. Thomas, ed., History of Westchester County, New York Including Morrisania, Kings Bridge and West Farms Which Have Been Annexed to New York City, Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter XX. Westchester Town by Fordham Morris, p. 815 (Philadelphia, PA: L.E. Preston & Co. 1886).
Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.