Pelhamwood Benefited from the "Growing Rush to the Country" in 1909

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"How greatly the 'back to the country' movement has

grown was instanced recently when at Pelhamwood,

a newly opened Westchester residence park, nearly

a quarter of a million dollars worth of lots were sold in

a single day to people who had decided to quit paying

rent in New York."

-- May 4, 1909 Newspaper Article.

In May and June 1909, the development of the new neighborhood of Pelhamwood was well underway.  Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc. had begun grading and developing the neighborhood in the early spring of that year.  In late May and early June, the company built the now-famous steps up the hill across from the Pelham Station Plaza on the north side of the New Haven Line tracks leading up to a sales office. It also built a separate "tea house" nearby used to host visitors and prospective buyers of lots and homes in the new development. It built the Pelhamwood clock tower as well as covered "gates" leading in and out of the development, all intended to add to the rustic charm of the idyllic setting.

Clifford B. Harmon's timing could not have been better.  New York City was in the midst of a "growing rush to the country" according to one New York City newspaper.  Suburbs throughout the metropolitan region were growing briskly.  At precisely this time, Clifford B. Harmon & Co., Inc. was selling newly-developed lots in the new neighborhood adjacent to the Pelham Train Station and improving Pelhamwood properties as fast as possible.  Even the New Haven Railroad was optimistic.  It could see the vast number of lots that were selling quickly in Pelhamwood and decided to add fifteen additional trains to the number that stopped at Pelham Station each day, bringing the number of such trains to 65 each day.  

Early that season, according to one report, a monumental quarter million dollars worth of lots were sold in one day.  By the first week of June in 1909, two homes were under construction, Highbrook and Harmon Avenues had been macadamized, and cement sidewalks and stone gutters had been completed along both those newly-paved streets.  

During the last week of July and the first week of August, 1909, several important features that define today's Pelhamwood were completed.  First, the concrete steps leading from the Pelham Station Plaza up the hill to Pelhamwood were completed.  Second, the gateway entrances to Highbrook Avenue and Harmon Avenue were finished.  Moreover, by the first week of August, according to one report, "[t]housands of feet of cement sidewalks, stone gutters and macadam streets" had been laid.  Pelhamwood was beginning to look like we know it today. 

Post Card View of the Harmon Avenue Gates and

"The Clock Tower - Pelhamwood" on Post Card 

Postmarked October 14, 1910.  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

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The period from about April, 1909 through August, 1909 was one of the most important times in the early formation of the lovely neighborhood known as Pelhamwood.  Below is the text of a number of newspaper articles that provide the bases for today's article.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"1,250,000 CELEBRATE GREATEST MOVING DAY
-----
NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF NEW YORK MOVES ON MAY 1ST
-----
Growing Rush to the Country. . . .
-----

New York, April 27. -- (Special Correspondence of The Republican.) -- Instead of a festival to be celebrated by dancing around a beribboned May pole, the first of May has come to be the most [dreaded] date on the calendar, to a large proportion of New Yorkers, because it is the annual moving day when from a quarter to a third of the city's population changes its abode.  Returns from real estate and rental statistics show that not less than 1,250,000 persons seek new places of residence in this annual culmination of the restlessness which so pervades the city that nearly one-third of its population moves once a year or oftener.  Out of all New York's millions there are hardly a thousand families that have occupied the same house for twenty-five years.  About the only thing permanent in New York's residence habits indeed is the steadily growing tide flowing to the suburbs.  How greatly the 'back to the country' movement has grown was instanced recently when at Pelhamwood, a newly opened Westchester residence park, nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of lots were sold in a single day to people who had decided to quit paying rent in New York.  But, fast as thousands may leave the city, there are other thousands to take their places, and the expressmen and moving-van companies continue to reap their semi-annual reward, estimated at $7,000,000 for the single month of May.  During that busy period it costs about three times as much to move as in mid-summer.  The other great semi-annual hegira occurs at the beginning of October, when the moving van barons become once more malefactors of great wealth, and the prices for their services on these two red letter are just about on a level with the cost of roses for Christmas or violets for Easter.  One curious result of the city's perennial restlessness is the rapid disappearance of the old-fashioned house cleaning period.  No tenant expects to move into quarters which are not in good condition, and as a result the janitors and caretakers, instead of the housewives, now raise the annual dust.  This, of course, adds to the expense of moving days, which in various ways now takes bout $25,000,000 each year out of the pockets of the movers. . . ."

Source:  1,250,000 CELEBRATE GREATEST MOVING DAY -- NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF NEW YORK MOVES ON MAY 1ST -- Growing Rush to the Country, Arizona Republic [Phoenix, AZ], May 4, 1909, p. 14, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"MORE NEW HAVEN TRAINS.
-----
Summer Schedule to Provide Improved Service for Pelhamwood.

The new Summer schedule, which goes into effect in a few weeks on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Road, provides that fifteen more trains a day will stop at Pelhamwood.  This will make a total of sixty-five trains a day which will stop at this station and will greatly benefit the residents in the section.  The additional service will, it is expected, cause building operations in Pelhamwood to proceed with even greater rapidity than at present.

Two houses now are in course of construction, and plans for many more are being considered by various recent buyers.  Harmon and Highbrook Avenue have been macadamized this week and the cement sidewalks completed.  These are the most important avenues in the property, and the rest of the work will be completed within a short time.  Clifford B. Harmon says that the Decoration Day sale at Pelhamwood greatly exceeded his expectations, property to the value of nearly $100,000 having been disposed of."

Source:  MORE NEW HAVEN TRAINS -- Summer Schedule to Provide Improved Service for Pelhamwood, N.Y. Times, Jun. 6, 1909, p. 11, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"PROGRESS AT PELHAMWOOD.

Progress has been made in the way of improvements at Pelhamwood, Westchester County, in the past two weeks by the Clifford H. [sic] Harmon Company.  Thousands of feet of cement sidewalks, stone gutters and macadam streets have been laid.  The concrete steps leading from Pelham Station to the property have been completed."

Source:  PROGRESS AT PELHAMWOOD, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Aug. 8, 1909, p. 13, col. 6 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"WESTCHESTER DEVELOPMENT.
-----
Improvement Work and Home Building in Various New Sections. . . . 

Great progress has been made on improvements at Pelhamwood during the last two weeks.  The concrete approach leading from the Pelham station to the property has been completed and the gateways over Highbrook and Harmon Avenues are finished. . . ."

Source:  WESTCHESTER DEVELOPMENT -- Improvement Work and Home Building in Various New Sections, N.Y. Times, Aug. 8, 1909, p. 12, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

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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., Nov. 15, 2016:  Railroad Deeded the Land to Create Pelhamwood Avenue in 1927.

Mon., Sep. 26, 2016:  Battles over Razing the Fifth Avenue Station, the Highbrook Avenue Bridge, and Embankments After Failure of New York, Westchester & Boston Railway.

Thu., Sep. 22, 2016:  Pelham's Highbrook Avenue Bridge Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Thu., Sep. 01, 2016:  Excavation Contractors Smith Brothers and the Beginnings of Pelhamwood in the Early Spring of 1909.

Tue., Mar. 01, 2016:  Unusual 1909 Advertising Pamphlet for Pelhamwood.

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.

Wed., May 20, 2015:  Early History of the Pelhamwood Clock.

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.  

Fri., Feb. 19, 2010:  1909 Newspaper Advertisement for the New Development of Pelhamwood.

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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Another Pelham Mystery: Why Was the Planned Site of the Pelham National Bank Building Moved?

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The Pelham National Bank building, located at One Wolf's Lane, was constructed by John T. Brook in 1929.  It is a three-story limestone building built in the Art Deco style.  Designed by Charles A. Holmes of the architectural firm of Holmes & Winslow, it has a two-story arched central entrance with a bronze grilled doorway and four pilasters topped with figures in bas relief.  The building interior likewise includes Art Deco detailing including a painted ceiling, bas relief figures, a balcony and an ornate board room.  The Building was built with the grandiose plan to allow expansion of the building to nine stories as the bank grew.  

Pelham National Bank Building, One Fifth Avenue, in 2014.

John T. Brook, who built the bank, was a real estate developer who lived at 690 Timpson Street in the Village of North Pelham.  He served as president of the Peham National Bank from 1925 until November 1932.  The bank failed to reopen after the bank holiday of March, 1933 and went into the hands of a receiver several months later.  In December, 1934, John T. Brook was convicted in Federal court of misapplying and misappropriating bank funds and received a five-year prison sentence.  He died in Pelham on October 28, 1942, at the age of 67.  

John T. Brook in About 1925 When He Became President

of Pelham National Bank.  Source: French, Alvah P., ed.,

History of Westchester County New York, Vol. V, pp. 170-71

(NY, NY & Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Co. 1925).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

I have written extensively about the Pelham National Bank and John T. Brook.  See, e.g.:

Bell, Blake A., The Failure of The Pelham National Bank, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 39, Oct. 1, 2004, p. 12, col. 1. 

Wed., Nov. 30, 2005:  The Pelham National Bank Building in the Village of Pelham. 

Thu., May 05, 2005:  John Thomas Brook, Real Estate Developer and Failed Bank President. 

Wed., Feb. 19, 2014:  Dedication of the Post Office in the Pelham National Bank Building and More About Old Post Offices.

Mon., Mar. 23, 2015:  Pelham Residents Ravaged by the Great Depression: Record Sale of Tax Liens Advertised in 1932.  

Until now I thought that I understood the vast majority of the history of the Pelham National Bank.  The bank was organized on March 18, 1921 with a capital of $50,000 and a surplus of $12,500.  Pelham resident and New York City silk merchant Loren Ogden Thompson founded the little bank which was Pelham's first. It opened its doors for business on Saturday, July 30, 1921 in the building that still stands at 89-91 Wolf's Lane.

Original Pelham National Bank Building that Was

Leased from the Owner by the Bank and Still Stands

at 89-91 Wolf's Lane in the Village of Pelham.

89-91 Wolf's Lane, the Original Pelham National Bank

Building, in a Photograph Taken a Few Years Ago.

The tiny little bank grew modestly in its first four years.  But it grew enough so that its administration became too great a burden for L. Ogden Thompson.  On January 23, 1925, Thompson stepped aside and the bank directors elected one of their fellow directors, real estate developer John T. Brook, president of the bank.

John Brook had grand expansion plans.  He sold additional shares of stock in the bank.  He dreamed of a nine story headquarters for the bank at First Street and Wolf's Lane.  He acquired the land for such a building in January 1927.  Brook built the bank's new headquarters and opened it for business on September 14, 1929, located at One Fifth Avenue.  

Architect's Rendering for the Planned

Pelham National Bank Building.

Many Pelham Residents Do Not Realize

that the Building Was Built with the Grandiose

Plan to Enable it to Expand to Nine Stories as the Bank Grew.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Research now reveals an interesting new chapter in the history of the bank.  It turns out that shortly after John T. Brook became president of the bank on January 23, 1925, one of the first problems with which he had to wrestle was the impending expiration of the bank's lease of the premises at 89-91 Wolf's Lane.  That lease was set to expire on July 1, 1926.

Brook clearly yearned for the bank to own a substantial building to serve as its headquarters.  New research reveals that Brook immediately arranged for architect Robert Kilmartin to design a new bank building to be built on the triangular plot of land bounded by a sliver of Fifth Avenue and stretches of Harmon Avenue and Pelhamwood Plaza.  The map detail immediately below shows the location of that triangle of land that remains undeveloped to this day and is the site of, among other things, Pelham's September 11 Memorial.  The plot is essentially located diagonally across the intersection from where the bank building eventually was built.

Map Detail Showing Curved, and Roughly Triangular Plot Bounded by

Fifth Avenue, Harmon Avenue, Harmon Place and Pelhamwood

Avenue that Once was Planned as the Site for the Pelham

National Bank Building.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

With the expiration of the lease for the bank's premises nearing, by August, 1925, workmen began clearing the triangular plot of land and staking the planned location of the new bank building.  According to an article that appeared the same week in The Pelham Sun:

"Tentative plans call for the erection of a one-story structure of limestone and granite which will house the counting rooms and offices in the fore part of the building, the rear being occupied by safety deposit vault, burglar and fireproof storage for valuables and a refrigerated fur depository.  The interior decorations and furnishings will be in accord with the most up-to-date ideas in banking institutions.  Buidling will be commenced at an early date, workmen having commenced to clear and stake out the ground this week."

A mystery remains, of course.  Why was the one-story structure never built at this location?  Was the announcement part of some ploy to encourage the owner of 89-91 Wolf's Lane to come to the table to negotiate a reasonable extension of the lease set to expire the following year?  Were plans scrapped in favor of a more grandiose building that might require a different plot?  In short, why was the planned site of the new Pelham National Bank Building moved from the triangular plot of land adjacent to the train station to the location we know today as One Fifth Avenue?

Five Dollar Pelham National Bank Note that Sold

at a Numismatic Auction in December 2010 for $13,000.00.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Pelham National Bank Seal.

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Below is the text of an article describing plans to build the new bank building on the triangular plot of land.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"New Building For Pelham Bank On Fifth Avenue
-----
Workmen Are Staking and Clearing Location On Triangle Adjoining Station Approach
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Will Be One-Story Building of Native Stone and Granite To Cost $100,000
-----

A handsome addition to Fifth avenue buildings is promised in the erection of a $100,000 home for Pelham National Bank, plans for which have been drawn by Architect Robert Kilmartin.  The new home of Pelham's financial institution will be built on the triangular plot adjoining the northerly approach to the main line station of the New Haven Railroad station and bounded by Fifth avenue, Harmon avenue and Pelhamwood Plaza.  The location is admirable, being near to the station and on Pelham's main business thoroughfare.  It will front on Fifth avenue with a stairway giving easy access to the station yard from the bank premises.

Tentative plans call for the erection of a one-story structure of limestone and granite which will house the counting rooms and offices in the fore part of the building, the rear being occupied by safety deposit vault, burglar and fireproof storage for valuables and a refrigerated fur depository.  The interior decorations and furnishings will be in accord with the most up-to-date ideas in banking institutions.  Buidling will be commenced at an early date, workmen having commenced to clear and stake out the ground this week.  Everything must be complete by July 1st next year when the lease of the present bank premises will expire.

When interviewed by a Sun man regarding the new building, John T. Brook, president of Pelham National Bank stated:  'The business of the Pelham National has progressed in a very satisfactory manner.  It is now firmly established as a Pelham institution, owned by Pelham People.  Its progress has been such that the directors of the institution now feel warranted in providing for it a home which shall be not only an ornament of which the whole town will be proud but a thoroughly up-to-date bank in every respect.  There is a wide demand for fire and burglar proof depositories for valuables and the new building will amply provide for this need.'

Questioned as to the cost of the new bank structure Mr. Brook stated that the building will cost in the neighborhood of $80,000 and the interior furnishings $20,000.

Mr. Brook further discussed the future of Pelham with enthusiasm.  'When the parkway system is complete there will be great demand for property in Pelham.  I confidently look for another big increase in real estate values here within the next few years.'"

Source:  New Building For Pelham Bank On Fifth Avenue, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 14, 1925, p. 1, col. 1.   

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