Historic Pelham

Presenting the rich history of Pelham, NY in Westchester County: current historical research, descriptions of how to research Pelham history online and genealogy discussions of Pelham families.

Tuesday, October 03, 2017

Decision in 1923 to Extend the As-Yet Unbuilt Hutchinson River Parkway


During the early 1920s, the open rolling lands alongside the Hutchinson River in the Town of Pelham and the river itself were beauties to behold.  A string of reservoirs and lakes dotted the countryside throughout undeveloped lands between Pelham's border with New York City all the way north to Scarsdale.  The Hutchinson River and its watershed throughout the entire region was an important water supply system that provided drinking water to such communities as Pelham, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Eastchester, Bronxville, and Tuckahoe, among others.  

 At the time, Westchester County wanted to protect the gorgeous countryside and the water supply system.  What better way than to purchase a lengthy tract along the Hutchinson River to create an undeveloped "Parkway."  The parkway would be the envy of the nation, much like the nearby Bronx River Parkway that was begun in 1907. 

 The Hutchinson River Parkway was envisioned as a true park with a quiet winding road adjacent to bridle paths, pedestrian paths, reservoirs and lakes.  The roadway and its bridges and overpasses were intended to be modern but quaint-looking and aesthetically pleasing.  All expected the roadway to be a signature destination for Sunday drivers who wanted a jaunt in their fanciful early automobiles on a beautiful day through a beautiful countryside.

 And then it began. . . . . . . 

 Even before construction started on the new Parkway in 1924, local officials were pushing to expand the length of the roadway at both ends.  The Hutchinson River Parkway originally was envisioned to end at Lincoln Avenue, Mount Vernon (then connected to 4th Street in Pelham, now also known as Lincoln Avenue).  Their intentions were good -- at least at the outset.  They wanted to protect as much land and watershed as possible within a beautiful Parkway.  "Alea iacta est" as Julius Caesar supposedly said when he crossed the Rubicon with his legions to begin a civil war:  the die [was] cast.  There would be no return.

 Thus, during the summer of 1923 while engineers were still trying to survey the expected route of the Parkway and at a time when the exact course of the Parkway had not even been determined, the Westchester County Board of Supervisors approved an extension of the planned Parkway from its planned terminus at Lincoln Avenue all the way to Pelham Bay Park at the New York City border.  

 A Commission advising the Board of Supervisors recommended the extension.  The Board received the recommendation and immediately approved it for implementation.  The Commission reported to the Board of Supervisors, in part, as follows:

 "While there is no question of the desirability of acquiring these lands for park use, it would not be feasible to interfere with the water supply at this time.  The important thing is to insure that this picturesque tract will eventually be available as a public park.  The Commission is, therefore, negotiating with the New Rochelle Water Company for the purchase of these lands on the basis of the Water Company's retaining the right to use the same for water supply purposes for a period of twelve to fifteen years, by which time it is assumed that the population will have so increased as to affect the purity of the water supply and at the same time the demand for park spaces will be more urgent.  Such an arrangement would operate to materially reduce the purchase price to the county and at the same time insure the county against the certain rise in value during the fifteen year period.  Negotiation[s] to this end are in progress and if satisfactory arrangements can be concluded with the Water Company, the Commission will recommend to your Board the acquisition of this tract."

 The goal of preserving the additional lands to the south of Lincoln Avenue adjacent to the Hutchinson River to the New York City line seemed laudable at the time.  Indeed, construction of the Hutchinson River Parkway in the midst of a beautiful park setting began the following year in 1924 and continued for several years.

 Soon, however, the automobile became king and the region throbbed with cars trying to get from one place to another using the tiny little Parkway.  As the years passed, the Parkway was expanded in sections (even as late as 1941) until it grew to become a major highway artery running north and south from New York City through Westchester County to the New York - Connecticut state line at Rye Brook.

 Today the Hutchinson River Parkway is a nearly 19-mile mess of a thoroughfare that is so crowded with traffic day and night that, at times, it can be so congested that it nearly is impossible to navigate.  The narrow, winding lanes (long since expanded well beyond their original capacities) begin at the Bruckner Interchange in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx and proceed north, having junctions with I-95 (the Cross-Bronx Expressway), I-295 (Cross Bronx Expressway Extension), I-678 (the Whitestone Expressway), and I-278 (the Bruckner Expressway).  Any time issues arise on any of these connected roadways, traffic piles onto "the Hutch," often bringing that roadway to a near standstill.  To make matters worse, anytime a truck wanders onto the Hutch (trucks are banned on all New York Parkways) and smashes into any of the low overpasses built in the 1920s to allow Model-T automobiles to pass beneath, traffic comes to an absolute standstill for hours and hours.  

 Savvy Pelhamites long have known to avoid the Hutch most times of the day and night.  All Pelhamites long for the good old days when the Hutch was, in fact, a Sunday parkway set in a beautiful park. . . . . . 

"Photo 42. View of the parkway looking south from the East Third
Street Bridge, August 31, 1927. This view shows workmen preparing
the roadways for paving. (Westchester County Archives, Park
Commission Photograph Collection, PPC5389)"  Source: LoRusso,
Mark S., An Historic American Engineering Record Level II Documentation
of the East Third Street Bridge Spanning Hutchinson River Parkway
and Hutchinson River NYSDOT PIN 8BOW.01.101 City of Mount
Vernon and Village of Pelham Westchester County New York, p. 94
(2017: Sponsored by The Federal Highway Administration and the
New York State Department of Transportation, Part of the New York
State Museum Cultural Resource Survey Program). NOTE: Click on
Image to Enlarge.

 *          *          *          *          *

 "River Parkway To Go Through Three Villages
-----
Board of Supervisors Also Want Glen Island Bought For Bathing Park
-----
Definite Course Of Road Through Pelham Not Yet Determined But Surveyors Are Now At Work
-----
River Parkway to Go Through

 At a joint meeting held in White Plains on Monday, the County Board of Supervisors formally requested the Park Commission to extend the proposed Hutchinson River Boulevard from its termination at East Lincoln Avenue all the way to Pelham Bay Park in New York City.

 The exact course of the parkway has not yet been determined, but engineers are now surveying and the Park Commission will soon begin to look over the property.  The cost of acquiring land in the various localities will determine the course.  Nine hundred thousand dollars is the estimated cost of acquiring the property for the Hutchinson River Parkway.

 Glen Island, if the request of the Board of Supervisors is complied with, will be purchased and turned into a public park.  A large bathing beach will be constructed and in all probability a bridge will be built from the mainland to the island.

 The report of the Commission to the Board of Supervisors met with such favor that the Board went further and requested that the Hutchinson Parkway be extended and that Glen Island be purchased.  Part of the report follows:

 Another project of country-wide importance and of particular interest to the Pelhams, the cities of Mount Vernon and New Rochelle and the town of Eastchester, includes a protective strip along the Hutchinson River from Lincoln Avenue, Mount 

 (Continued on page 3)

 Hutchinson River Parkway Approved
-----
(Continued from page 1)

 Vernon to Eastchester Road and from thence a considerable portion of the lands in the Hutchinson River Valley now used for water supply purposes, extending to Drake Road in the village of Scarsdale and connecting with the Bronx River Parkway at the New Rochelle Water Company's crossing between Crestwood and Scarsdale.

 The Commission has no doubt of the desirability of acquiring between 800 and 900 acres in this section.  The lands are particularly beautiful and for the most part already developed as a park.  The three lakes or reservoirs are splendid park features.  However, these lands and lakes now constitute the greater part of an important water supply system, furnishing water to the city of New Rochelle, the town of Eastchester and the villages of Bronxville and Tuckahoe.

 While there is no question of the desirability of acquiring these lands for park use, it would not be feasible to interfere with the water supply at this time.  The important thing is to insure that this picturesque tract will eventually be available as a public park.  The Commission is, therefore, negotiating with the New Rochelle Water Company for the purchase of these lands on the basis of the Water Company's retaining the right to use the same for water supply purposes for a period of twelve to fifteen years, by which time it is assumed that the population will have so increased as to affect the purity of the water supply and at the same time the demand for park spaces will be more urgent.  Such an arrangement would operate to materially reduce the purchase price to the county and at the same time insure the county against the certain rise in value during the fifteen year period.  Negotiation[s] to this end are in progress and if satisfactory arrangements can be concluded with the Water Company, the Commission will recommend to your Board the acquisition of this tract."

 Source:  River Parkway To Go Through Three Villages -- Board of Supervisors Also Want Glen Island Bought For Bathing Park -- Definite Course Of Road Through Pelham Not Yet Determined But Surveyors Are Now At Work -- River Parkway to Go Through, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 6, 1923, p. 1, col. 6 & p. 3, col. 5.

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Friday, December 05, 2014

John Pell and John Richbell Selected in 1671 to Assess Best Roadway to New England -- The Beginnings of Old Boston Post Road


In the early fall of 1670, about a year after the death of his uncle, Thomas Pell, John Pell, Jr. sailed into the harbor of Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony on his way to Fairfield.  There he planned to claim his inheritance of properties that included what later became the Manor of Pelham from the executors of his uncle’s estate.

 Extensive research of seventeenth century records suggests that John Pell moved into a house built during his uncle's lifetime on "Ann Hooks Neck" (later known as Pelham Neck and, today, as Rodman's Neck).  He seems later to have built his own Manor Home near today's nearby Bartow-Pell Mansion.  

 Given his large inheritance, John Pell immediately assumed the mantle of "gentleman" and used letters of introduction from English notables to gain prompt access to Francis Lovelace, an English Royalist who served as second governor of the colony of New York from 1668 until 1673.

"PORTRAIT OF GOVERNOR FRANCIS LOVELACE.
Courtesy of Pennsylvania-German Society."

 Only months after John Pell's arrival in the Colony of New York, Governor Lovelace designated him to work with John Richbell of Mamaroneck on an important roadway project.  A new roadway recently had been laid out as a common highway near the settlement of Eastchester adjacent to the Manor of Pelham to facilitate travel from New York to New England.  

 The new road was said to be "much more convenient" than the former roadway that led into New England, but some people objected to the route of the new roadway.  Governor Lovelace sought a study to determine which of the two roads would be the "most convenient to be maintained" so that the Governor could resolve the objections and designate the roadway to New England that would continue to be maintained -- likely the beginnings of the Old Boston Post Road, a portion of which still passes through the Town of Pelham where it is named Colonial Avenue.

 The records of the Town of Eastchester contain an entry reflecting instructions from Governor Lovelace issued on May 17, 1670 appointing "Mr. John Pell of the Manor of Ann Hooks Neck and Mr. John Rickbell of the Moroneck [i.e., John Richbell of Mamaroneck]" either to prepare the study the Governor sought or to hire other "understanding persons" to prepare such a study.  The entry is quoted below in its entirety, followed by a citation to its source.

Portrait of John Pell.

 "Whereas there is a new road laid out for the common highway into New England near Eastchester the which is said to be much more convenient than ye former as well for strangers and travellers as the inhabitants, but yet by some persons it hath been objected against.  That a right understanding may be had here upon in having ye said way viewed by knowing and in different persons, Mr. John Pell of the Manor of Ann Hooks Neck and Mr. John Rickbell [sic] of the Moroneck [i.e., Mamaroneck] are hereby appointed either by themselves or some understanding persons in such affairs who they shall employ to take a view of ye said roads or highways within three weeks after the date hereof and make report unto me which of them they shall judge most convenient to be maintained the which thereupon shall be confirmed and allowed of accordingly.

 Given under my hand in New York, 17 May 1671, Francis Lovelace."

 Source:  Haacker, Fred C., Records of the Town of Eastchester, Westchester-County, New-York, p. 111 (typewritten manuscript citing p. 24-1/2 of the Eastchester Records) (Ancestry.com subscription required to access electronic version of this record).

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