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.

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"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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Biography of Famed Pelham Heights Resident John Fletcher Fairchild

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Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

John Fletcher Fairchild lived in Pelham in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  He was a brother of Benjamin L. Fairchild, a United States Congressman and a founder of Pelham Heights.  John F. Fairchild was a civil engineer with offices in Mount Vernon.  He served as engineer of the Pelham Heights Company and was principally responsible for the layout and civil engineering aspects of that lovely neighborhood. He also published two editions of a superb Atlas in 1899 and 1908 that contained important maps of the Town of Pelham.  He served as an engineer for the Wesetchester County extension of the Union Railroad Company that ran trolley tracks through Pelham and the surrounding region.  He also was a member of the Pelham Hook and Ladder Company and the Pelham Country Club.  

John F. Fairchild built and lived in the lovely home located at 334 Pelhamdale Avenue.  I have written before about this notable Pelham Heights resident.  See: 

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

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

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

Home Built by John F. Fairchild at 334 Pelhamdale

Avenue.  Note the Carriage Stone at the Curb in the

Foreground with the "F" Carved Into It.  Photograph

Taken in July, 2016.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of an important biography of John Fletcher Fairchild published in 1900.  The biography, immediately below, is followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"FAIRCHILD, JOHN FLETCHER, civil engineer, of Mount Vernon, a son of Benjamin and Calista (Scheaffer) Fairchild, was born in the City of Washington, December 22, 1867.  He received his literary education in the public and high schools of the national capital.  At the age of seventeen he entered the office of Henry H. Law, a Washington architect, and for the next five years he diligently pursued architectural and engineering studies.  He remained with Mr. Law for two and one-half years, becoming a skillful draughtsman, and then began seriously to prepare himself for the profession of civil engineering.  To that end he obtained employment with Herman K. Viele, C.E., of Washington, and later (1889-90) took the second year's course in the Engineering Department of the Columbia University.  While at the university he attended evening lectures only, meantime continuing his regular duties as an office assistant.

In March, 1890, Mr. Fairchild became engineer to the Pelham Heights Company, and took charge of the work of laying out and improving the property of that corporation, comprising 177 acres at Pelham Station, this county.  The work included the subdividing of the property, the designing and construction of sewerage, drainage, gas, and water systems, and the making of macadamized roads.  In 1891 he opened an office in Mount Vernon, and from that time to the present he has been actively and prominently identified with public and private improvements in Westchester County, besides pursuing a general private practice as civil engineer, in which he has enjoyed marked success and gained a high reputation.

He served as engineer to the commission appointed by the Westchester County courts for draining the marsh lands near Elmsford, on both sides of the Sawmill River.  This work involved the draining of a tract about five miles in length.  It was successfully finished in 1897.  In the same year he completed a similar drainage undertaking near Tuckahoe, also carried on under the auspices of the county courts.

Upon the appointment by the governor of the important commission authorized by the laws of 1895 'to inquire into the expediency of constructing a sewer along the valley and on the edge of the Bronx River, through Westchester and New York Counties,' Mr. Fairchild was selected as engineer to the commission.  This body was composed of the mayors of New York, Mount Vernon, and Yonkers, the commissioner of street improvements of the 23d and 24th wards, the chairman of the board of supervisors of Westchester County, and several other members.  The object of the proposed improvement was to provide a continuous sewer from Kensico, above White Plains, to tide water in Long Island Sound, and thus put s stop to the contamination of the waters of the Bronx.  Mr. Fairchild, in conjunction with J. J. R. Croes, the consulting engineer, made a careful study of the conditions, submitting his report to the commission in January, 1896.  In consequence of various complications -- chiefly political -- nothing further has been accomplished.  According to Mr. Fairchild's estimates, the cost of this public work would be in the neighborhood of $3,600,000.

He has also held the position of engineer to the Mount Vernon Water Commission, and is at present engineer for the Westchester County extension of the Union Railroad Company.  In addition, he continues as engineer to the Pelham Heights Company and other landed enterprises.

Since 1892 he has been connected with the teaching staff of the University of the City of New York, as lecturer on Architecture and Landscape Gardening to the senior class, and on Sewerage to the post-graduate class.

He is one of the leading members of the Board of Trade of Mount Vernon, and has for some time served as its treasurer.  He is a director of the Mount Vernon Young Men's Christian Association, and is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Mount Vernon.  Since 1892 he has resided at Pelham, where also he is active and prominent, being a member of the Pelham Hook and Ladder Company and the Pelham Country Club.  He is an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the Sons of Veterans.

Mr. Fairchild was married, July 19, 1892, to Mamie E. Welch, of Washington, D. C."

Source:  Spooner, W. W., ed., Westchester County New York -- Biographical -- Compiled by W. W. Spooner, pp. 146-48 (NY, NY:  The New York History Company, 1900).

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When School Board Balked, Pelham Heights Resident Donated a School, Furnishings and Paid Teachers With His Own Money

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The original Colonial School once stood on the site of today's Colonial Elementary School in Pelham Heights.  The first Colonial School was built in 1900.  The poorly-designed structure was a two-story brick building with four classrooms and a wooden staircase so noisy that multiple accounts indicate that teachers had to stop lessons when students or visitors moved up or down the staircase.  An image of the original Colonial School appears immediately below.

First Colonial School that Stood on the Site of

Today's Colonial Elementary School in an Undated

Photograph, Circa 1905.  Source:  Pelham Union

Free School District No. 1, [Untitled History of District

Schools], p. 4 [Unnumbered Pages], Visited May 10, 2015.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Most Pelhamites believe that the first Colonial School built in 1900 was the first school that stood in Pelham Heights.  That, however, is not the case.  Indeed, the population of the area was so sparse in the early 1890s that the School Board balked at spending taxpayer funds to provide a local school.  Thus, a local resident and developer donated use of a building, purchased school furnishings, and even hired and paid teachers with his own funds to provide a small school for Pelham Heights children. 

From the very outset of the development of Pelham Heights by Benjamin L. Fairchild and others, the developers recognized the need for a local school to facilitate the sale of the newly-developed plots in the area and to encourage prospective buyers to move to the area and build lovely homes.  With these considerations in mind, Benjamin L. Fairchild lobbied the local School Board to make available public funds to permit the education of local children in Pelham Heights rather than forcing those children to attend the distant Pelhamville School House.  According to Fairchild, however, "the School Board thought the number of school children in the Village of Pelham [today's Pelham Heights] insufficient to justify expenditure of public funds."

Consequently, Benjamin L. Fairchild made available to the School Board at no charge a private residence that had been occupied by one of his family members, John F. Fairchild, located at Loring Avenue and Second Street for use as a local school for the children of Pelham Heights.  He also purchased school furniture and hired and paid teachers with his own funds to start the school.  According to Benjamin L. Fairchild in remarks made at the laying of the cornerstone for today's Colonial Elementary School on November 1, 1926, "for several years to give the few children then here school accomodations I felt compelled to give over for their use without charge a private house and to personally purchase school furniture and employ school teachers."  (See below for full article.)  The image below, from an article published in 1926, depicts the structure first used as a school in Pelham Heights.  

"THE FIRST SCHOOL IN PELHAM HEIGHTS

The residence of John F. Fairchild, built in 1890 at the

southeast corner of Loring Avenue and Second Street"

Source:  Hill, Isaac C., PELHAM'S EDUCATIONAL

SYSTEM IN ITS EARLY DAYS, The Pelham Sun,

Oct. 15, 1926, p. 17, cols. 1-5.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

In 1910, Pelham opened a new, large school that served for a number of years as both a high school and elementary school:  the Siwanoy School.  Upon the opening of Siwanoy School, the first Colonial School closed its doors.  Within a few short years, however, as the population of Pelham Heights began to grow very quickly, the first Colonial School building was reopened and another nearby residence was arranged to serve as an "annex" to the small Colonial School.  The School Board rented that residence, located at 105 Boulevard, to serve as a school for the overflow of pupils who could not be fit into the first Colonial School Building.

1918 Annex to First Colonial School, a Residence

Located at 105 Boulevard.  Source:  Pelham Union

Free School District No. 1, [Untitled History of District

Schools], p. 4 [Unnumbered Pages], Visited May 10, 2015.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

According to a brief history of Colonial Elementary School prepared for the Pelham Union Free School District No. 1:

"Sometime prior to 1921, the [first Colonial School] was condemned by the State Board of Education.  With enrollment still on the rise, the Board of Education approved a new Colonial School, regretting only that it 'could not provide more playground space for the children now attending and those that will attend.'

The cornerstone ceremony ceremony took place on Nov. 21, 1926 and the school was completed in 1927, dedicated to 'the truth and virtue in the interest of the children who will begin their education there.'  In his address, James Elliott, chairman of Building and Grounds Committee of the Board of Education, added, 'The little (children) attending this school from five to 12 years of age are passing through their most receptive age.  Let us all strive together, parents and teachers, to develop these young people entrusted to our care into useful and happy citizens of our great country."

Source:  Pelham Union Free School District No. 1, [Untitled History of District Schools], p. 4 [Unnumbered Pages], visited May 10, 2015.  

Laying of the Cornerstone of Today's Colonial Elementary School

on November 21, 196.  Source:  Pelham Union

Free School District No. 1, [Untitled History of District

Schools], p. 4 [Unnumbered Pages], Visited May 10, 2015.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Today's Colonial Elementary School in an Undated

Photograph, Ca. Early 1930s.  Source:  Pelham Union

Free School District No. 1, [Untitled History of District

Schools], p. 4 [Unnumbered Pages], Visited May 10, 2015.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Below is an extensive article with photographs regarding the cornerstone-laying ceremonies.  The material appeared in the November 26, 1926 issue of The Pelham Sun.

"Corner Stone Of New Colonial School Laid By Judge Wahle With Impressive Ceremonies Witnessed By Large Crowd
-----
Board of Education, and Officials of Three Villages Take Part in Programme -- Congressman Fairchild Urges Adoption of School Flag With Three Stars Symbolizing Unity of Action by Three Villages
-----

The Pelham spirit of interest in the development of its school system was evident on Sunday afternoon when despite the bitterly cold wind about six hundred people turned out to witness the ceremonies in connection with the laying of the new $260,000 grade school on Highbrook avenue.  The exercises were dignified and impressive and the laying of the cornerstone was accomplished in due form with the use of the square, the evel and the plumb, master implements of the builders' craft.

On a platform erected around the cornerstone were seated members of the Board of Education, President L. Ogden Thompson, Vice-President William L. Dench, Trustees Elliott, chairman of the building committee; Clare Fairbank, George Lambert, Wm. G. Luke, Henry B. Nevins, and Jacob A. Wirth, together with Henry H. Fox, president of Pelham Manor; George W. Lahey, president of Pelham; Thomas J. James, president of North Pelham; Congressman Ben L. Fairchild, Revs. Herbert H. Brown, Lewis G. Leary, J. McVickar Haight, and Wm. Milton Hess.  Town Historian, John M. Shinn, marshal and officials of many town organizations.  

Members of the Board of Education and village officials gathered at Memorial High School and marched to the site with an escort furnished by Pelham Post American Legion composed of Kneeland S. Durham, Jr., Charles Foster, Charles Hardy and Elmer Davis carrying national and legion emblems.

Proceedings opened with bugle call by bugler from Fort Slocum, and the singing of America; invocation Rev. Herbert H. Brown.  

Judge Chas. G. F. Wahle, who presided, then called upon L. Ogden Thompson to speak.  

After expressing his gratification at the spendid attendance, Mr. Thompason said the increase in the registration of pupils in our school system over a period of five years has been so large that the Board of Education's programme for school extension has met with many delays, and proved a source of great inconvenience to parents and children alike.

The occasion of the laying of this cornerstone of Colonial school will afford relief and pleasure to parents and children who have necessarily been on part time.

With the completion of this building and the Hutchinson school now under reconstruction the part time sessions will terminate.

Pelham's great charm as a residential locality will attract many others who are seeking a home life with the best church and school environment and within at least two years the school property owned by the district south of Boston Post road must be provided with a building permitting of enlargement to accommodate the great growth of Pelham Manor; and to this subject your Board of Education must give serious consideration early in the new year.  

Trustee James Elliott, chairman of the building and grounds committee, presented a formal report stating that the erection of the new school had reached the stage where the cornerstone was ready to be laid.

In calling upon Judge Wahle to lay the cornerstone President Thompson referred to the fact that he had also officiated in like capaity in the foundation stone of Siwanoy school and Memorial High School.

Judge Wahle prefaced his remarks by stating that he had been asked to perform the somewhat unusual but now frequent laying of a cornerstone in Pelham's greate school system.  It was an indication of the right kind of patriotism when the taxpayers of Pelham were ready to build schools to give to their children the kind of education which is the fundamental of our national being.  He had been taught that no one should enter upon a great undertaking without invoking the help of God.  He thereupon called upon the Rev. F. McVicakar Haight to ask a blessing on the work of those who were to erect the building and those who would be pupils and teachers in the building.

Isaac C. Hill, former school superintendent then deposited in the cornerstone a sealed copper box containing memorials.

School Superintendent Elmer A. Arapid then read a list of the articles within the box as follows:  Programme of present exercises; annual report of Board of Education for 1926; minutes of Board of Education realting to the authorization and construction of four Pelham schools; signatures of all pupils in Pelham schools; year book published in 1922, containing facsimile of bronze tablet bearting names of all those of Peham who in the Army and Navy of the U.S. took part in the Great War; the building programme authorized February 14, 1924; copy of local papers; copy of Pelham Sun containing pictures of graduating class of 1926; programme of Pelham Sesqui-Centennial pageant, October 16, 1926; assortment of coins of U.S. currency bearing date of 1926; minutes of Board of Trustees, village of North Pelham meeting of November 4, 1926; last report of Pelham National Bank; list of membership of Manor Club; Men's Club; Pelham Comfort Society; Parent-Teachers' Association; Walsh Marvel Post Veterans of Foreign Wars; Pelham Fire Department; Pelham Manor Fire Department; silken flag around which is wrapped a list of the membership of Peham Post No. 50, American Legion, and a telephone directory.

L. Ogden Thompson then spread the cement for the sealing of the cornerstone which was lowered into place.  

John M. Shinn, former member of the faculty of Pelham's oldest school then officiated as marshal, delivering the tools of the buiders' craft to Thomas J. James, president of the village of Pelham, who was assisted by Gordon Stone, a schoolboy, in squaring up the stone.

George W. Lahey, president of the village of Pelham, who was assisted by Gilbert Parker, a schoolboy in leveling up the stone.  

Henry H. Fox, president of the village of Pelham Manor, who was assisted by Robert Montgomery, a schoolboy, in testing the stone with the plumb.  

Judge Wahle then declared the stone to be well and truly laid.

The ceremonies of consecrating the stone with corn, wine and oil was then proceeded with.  Miss Edith Young, Miss Harriett Shaw, and Miss Ethel Tuttle, presented the offerings to Judge Wahle who scattered them upon the stone.

Judge Wahle then declared the stone duly laid and consecrated.  Marshal John M. Shinn confirming it after inspection.  The tools of the builders' craft were then presented to Architect Van Vleck.

Congressman Ben L. Fairchild made his remarks briefly on account of the cold.  He said:

'As the stone laid today is the corner stone of this spendid new structure of Colonial name associated with memories of colonial days, may the event of this day be the corner stone of our reconstruction in the Pelhams to a fervid applied patriotism, such as moved our forefathers to the great and glorious constructive deeds to which we owe our liberties as citizens under the greatest system of government ever devised by the mind of man.  May the benediction prove to be a salutory of this renewed consecration of our lives and the lives of our children.

'I might stop right here but that I want to take this occasion to express the appreciation that everyone in the Pelhams must feel towards the School Board.  Mr. Thompson, the President, and the members of the Board have given unstinted of their time and energy, and now is culminated a happy solution of difficult complex problems.

'And how the Pehams have grown!  We have had here today Mr. I. C. Hill (who was a member of the School Board when existed the first and only little school in the Pelhams), depositing the box with its historical contents in the corner stone of this larger colonial structure.  I recall when the School Board thought the number of school children in the Village of Pelham insufficient to justify expenditure of public funds, and for several years to give the  few children then here school accommodations I felt compelled to give over for their use without charge a private house and to personally purchase school furniture and employ school teachers.

'Pelham has now become a leading educational center and today it is in our hearts to give to the men in and out of office, under whose jurisdiction our school system has been so splendidly developed, the high commendation they richly deserve.

'As the stars in the blue field of Old Glory represent the union of states in our national system of government, may the erection of this building suggest a school district flag with thhree stars, one for each village, typifying a perpetual bond of sympathy, a feeling of unity lasting always, among the villages of the Union Free School District of the Town of Pelham.'

Proceedings closed with the singing of the 'Star Spangled Banner,' and the benediction pronounced by Rev. Wm. Milton Hess."

Source:  Corner Stone Of New Colonial School Laid By Judge Wahle With Impressive Ceremonies Witnessed By Large Crowd, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 26, 1926, p. 5, cols. 1-5.  

"Judge Charles G. F. Wahle presents level to Village

President George Lahey of Pelham Heights.  Village

Presidents Thomas J. James of North Pelham and

Henry H. Fox of Pelham Manor can be seen in foreground.

Source:  Corner Stone Of New Colonial School Laid

By Judge Wahle With Impressive Ceremonies Witnessed

By Large Crowd, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 26, 1926, 

p. 5, cols. 1-5.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"DEPOSITING THE BOX  Former School Superintendent Isaac

C. Hill places the box inside the cornerstone."

Source:  Corner Stone Of New Colonial School Laid

By Judge Wahle With Impressive Ceremonies Witnessed

By Large Crowd, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 26, 1926, 

p. 5, cols. 1-5.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"THE GUARD OF HONOR  Pelham Post No. 50, American

Legion, color guard which participated in the ceremonies

of the laying of the cornerstone at the new Colonial School

Sunday.  Left to right:  Kneeland S. Durham, Jr., Charles

Hardy, Charles Foster and Elmer Davis"

Source:  Corner Stone Of New Colonial School Laid

By Judge Wahle With Impressive Ceremonies Witnessed

By Large Crowd, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 26, 1926, 

p. 5, cols. 1-5.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*            *            *            *             *

Below are a few of the many examples of previous postings to the Historic Pelham Blog that deal with the history of schools and education in The Pelhams.

Tue., Jan. 27, 2015:  Pelham Square Playground Built Behind Hutchinson Elementary School in 1932 After Seven Years of Effort.

Mon., Jan. 12, 2015:  Isaac C. Hill, Involved with Pelham Education for Forty-Five Years, Retired in 1922.

Thu., Sep. 18, 2014:  A History of the Hutchinson School and its Predecessors in Today's Village of Pelham Published in 1926.

Tue., Aug. 12, 2014:  The Laying of the Foundation Stone at Prospect Hill School on Sunday, June 9, 1929.

Mon., Aug. 11, 2014: Excerpts of January 8, 1889 Remarks Dedicating a New School Building in Pelhamville.

Fri., Aug. 08, 2014: 1894 Pelham School Budget Vote: Stage Coach Authorized To Transport Pelham Students in Days Before Autos and Buses.

Thu., Mar. 27, 2014: The "Industrial School at Pelham" Hosted by Christ Church in 1884.

Tue., Mar. 11, 2014: An Early History of Mrs. Hazen's School For Girls in Pelham Manor, Published in 1913.

Mon., Mar. 10, 2014: Dedication of Pelham's New High School in 1911, Now Known as Siwanoy Elementary School.

Tue., May 11, 2010: Mystery Solved - Pelham Town Hall That Once Stood On Shore Road Was Used as a School.

Wed., Mar. 31, 2010: Request for Comment: What Pelham Manor School is This, Shown in 1907?

Tue., Feb. 23, 2010: A Brief History of the Development and Unveiling of Parkway Field in 1955 -- Known Today as Glover Field.

Tue., Feb. 16, 2010: Photograph of Only Known 19th Century Women's Baseball Team in Pelham, New York.

Thu., Feb. 04, 2010: Successful Appeal of Order Dividing the Union Free School District No. 1, Town of Pelham, Into Two School Districts in 1916.

Wed., Jan. 13, 2010: Celebration to Lay the Cornerstone of the New Pelham Memorial High School Building on October 18, 1919.

Fri., Jul. 24, 2009: Late 19th Century Photos of Students with Tennis Rackets at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Tue., Jan. 20, 2009: An Account of the Rev. J. L. Ver Mehr Regarding His Brief Stint as an Instructor of French and Italian at Pelham Priory in 1843.

Mon., Mar. 3, 2008: 1891 Advertisement May Reflect Summer Rental of One of the Dormitories of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.

Mon., Feb. 25, 2008: Town of Pelham School Board Trustee Election of 1881.

Wed., Feb. 20, 2008: Pelham Teachers Threatened to Strike for a Pay Increase in 1906 -- All Eleven Of Them.

Tue., Jan. 22, 2008: Townspeople of Pelham Vote Down Bond Proposal at the First Prospect Hill School in 1891.

Wed., Nov. 14, 2007: 1890 Advertisement for Taft's School for Boys in Pelham Manor.

Thu., Jul. 12, 2007: The Infamous Burglary of the Girls of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor in 1905.

Wed., Jun. 06, 2007: Proposed Layout of the Grounds of Pelham Memorial High School in 1920.

Mon., Apr. 16, 2007: History of Pelham Schools on the Web Site of the Pelham Union Free School District.

Thu., Apr. 5, 2007: A Brief History of Early Schools in the Manor of Pelham and Surrounding Areas Published in 1905.

Fri., Mar. 2, 2007: A Brief Account by American Author Margaret Deland of Her Education at Pelham Priory in the 19th Century.

Mon., Jan. 15, 2007: Brief Biographies of Henry Waters Taft and Horace Dutton Taft of Pelham Manor (and Other Family Members).

Tue., Jan. 02, 2007: The Little Red Schoolhouse In Pelhamville -- Predecessor to Today's Hutchinson Elementary School.

Wed., Sep. 6, 2006: Pelham Hall Shelter, a "Refuge for Erring Girls", Founded by Alumnae of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Tue., Aug. 22, 2006: Early Advertisements for Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Wed., May 31, 2006: Two Views of the Pelhamville School House Built in the 1850s.

Tue., May 30, 2006: A Biography Published in 1906 on the Life of Horace Dutton Taft, Founder of the Taft School for Boys in Pelham Manor.

Wed., May 24, 2006: Program for January 8, 1889 Opening of the Hutchinson School in Pelhamville.

Tue., Mar. 28, 2006: More Reminiscences of Isaac C. Hill of Early Public Schools in Pelham.  

Mon., Jan. 09, 2006: The First Prospect Hill School in Pelham Manor.

Fri., Oct. 14, 2005: A Reunion of Alumnae of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.

Mon., Oct. 03, 2005: Siwanoy School -- The Town of Pelham's Former High School.

Tue., Sep. 27, 2005: I. C. Hill's Reminiscences of Early Public Schools in Pelham.

Mon., Aug. 15, 2005: 952 Pelhamdale Served as a 19th Century School for Girls, Then a School for Boys.

Mon., May 09, 2005: The Historic Murals in the Pelham Memorial High School Library.

Bell, Blake A., Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls: Pelham Hall, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 40, Oct. 8, 2004, p. 12, col. 1. 

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Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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The Precise Location of the Congregational Church as Shown on a Map Published in 1908

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A tiny, but beautiful white wood clapboard-sided country church once stood on Second Avenue between third street and fourth street (now Lincoln Avenue).  It was known as the Congregational Church of North Pelham and was organized by a group known as the Union Sabbath School of Pelhamville.  It had a knee-high white-picket fence surrounding it, and evoked a simpler rural time when much of the Village of North Pelham (once known as Pelhamville) was entirely undeveloped.

I have written several times about the tiny little church.  See:

Wed., Nov. 19, 2014:  Rare Early Image of the Congregational Church of North Pelham in the Early 20th Century.

Tue., May 06, 2014:  More on the History of the Congregational Church of North Pelham.

Fri., Apr. 18, 2014:  The Union Sabbath School of Pelhamville. 

Fri., Feb. 28, 2014:  Brief History of the Role Churches Played in the Growth of the Pelhams Published in 1926. 

Mon., Sep. 21, 2009:  January 1882 Account of the 1881 Christmas Festival Held at the Union Sabbath School in Pelhamville. 

Mon., Aug. 24, 2009:  1878 Advertisement for Services of The Union Sabbath School Society of Pelhamville. 

Obverse of Undated Real Photo Post Card (RPP) Showing

"CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. NO. PELHAM, N.Y." Circa 1910.

Source: Recent eBay Auction Listing for the Post Card.

It was so wonderful to see yesterday that a civilized and enjoyable debate erupted on the "Remembering North Pelham" Facebook page addressing the question of precisely where the Congregational Church.  The area, as one might expect, is so different today that it is virtually impossible to tell where the church was located from looking at the entirely altered terrain.  

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog uses the hard-to-find 1908 Fairchild Atlas of Mount Vernon and Pelham to locate the church precisely.  There are two editions of the Fairchild Atlas.  The first was published in 1899.  The second was published in 1908.  They are very, very rare.  About a decade ago I was able to locate both from a Pennsylvania rare books dealer and bought copies that I have used for years.  Recently, however . . . . . . . . .

The New York Public Library Digital Collections have added high resolution images of the maps from the 1899 Fairchild Atlas and the 1908 Fairchild Atlas that can be magnified to a very high level.  See:

Fairchild, John F., Atlas of the City of Mount of Vernon and the Town of Pelham. Compiled from Official Records, Personal Surveys and Other Private Plans and Surveys. 1899. Compiled and published by John F. Fairchild. Civil Engineer and Surveyor. Rooms, 10-11 Bank Buliding, Mount Vernon, N.Y. (1899) (Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library). 

Fairchild, John F., Atlas of the City of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham Second Edition. Compiled from Official Records, Personal Surveys, and Other Private Plans and Surveys. 1908. Compiled and Published John F. Fairchild. C.E. Civil Engineer and Surveyor Engineering Building Mount Vernon, N.Y. (1908) (Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library).

NOTE:  In every instance when using these resources, it is critically important to consider the following as you are scrolling through the pages of the Atlas.  If you find a map that you wish to enlarge much larger than the book view permits you to enlarge, you find the tiny link above the book view to the map in the Atlas in which you are interested.  Once you click on that link, you can magnify the map page to a massive level.  When you are simply in the book view (but not the page view that is accessed by clicking on the link above the pages you see in the book view), you can only magnify the image slightly -- typically not to the extent necessary.

Below are two details from plate 27 of the 1908 Fairchild Atlas.  The first shows much of the plate.  In the upper left corner is the block on which the Congregational Church stood -- the block between First and Second Avenues bounded by Third Street and Fourth Street (today's Lincoln Avenue).  The second shows a magnified detail from the same plate (Plate 27) showing the block in question.

Detail from Plate 27 Showing Block on Which

the Congregational Church Stood at Upper

Left of the Street Grid.  Source:  See Citation Above.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Magnified Detail of the Same Map Showing the Block on Which

the Congregational Church Stood in 1908.  Source:  See Citation

Above.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

As the magnified detail immediately above shows, the Congregational Church stood on a lot that extended through the entire block with frontage on both Second Avenue and First Avenue.  The church building, however faced Second Avenue and stood only a few feet away from the street.  The church lot was about halfway between Third Street and Fourth Street (today's Lincoln Avenue).  The church lot had 50 feet of frontage on Second Avenue and fifty feet of frontage on First Avenue.  The length of the lot was 309 feet (a combination of two lots, one of which was 155 feet long and the other 154 feet).  In 1908, about the time of the real post card image of the church shown above, the lots on both sides of the church when facing it from Second Avenue were empty.  The southerly lot of the two lots adjacent to the rear half of the church property was empty.  Two adjoining small structures (perhaps sheds) were on the northerly lot adjacent to the rear half of the church property.  They belonged at the time to C. W. Russell.  

Interestingly, directly across First Avenue from the rear of the church lot were the ice houses of the American Ice Company which was one of the local business that harvested "natural ice" from the Pelham Reservoir, the very tip of which can be seen at the bottom of the magnified map detail near the ice houses.

When a current satellite image of the same block is juxtaposed adjacent to the magnified map detail above, one can get a much better sense of how much the area has changed in the last 106 years.  Although I have made no meaningful effort to research the issue or survey the area, it would seem that none of the structures that were standing in 1908 on the block in question are standing on the block today.  

Google Maps Satellite Image of Block in Question

Juxtaposed Adjacent to Magnified Detail from Plate

27 of 1908 Fairchild Map of the Same Block.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

In short, although one would be hard-pressed to find any evidence today, the Congregational Church stood about halfway up the block on Second Avenue between Third Street and Fourth Street (today's Lincoln Avenue).  According to Plate 27 of the 1908 Fairchild Atlas, the church building was approximately 160 feet north of the northern edge of Third Street, and about fifteen or twenty feet westward from the western edge of Second Avenue.  

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