More Pelham Trivia!

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How well do you know the Town of Pelham?  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog poses another handful of trivia questions to test your knowledge of your hometown.  I have posted such Historic Pelham trivia teasers before.  See:

Thu., Nov. 06, 2014:  Historic Pelham Trivia Test: One of the World's Most Difficult Exams!

Wed., Jul. 22, 2015:  More Pelham Trivia.

Here are today's questions.  Good luck!

Question 1:  Travers Island in Pelham Manor is the second home of the New York Athletic Club and has been an important factor in the success of so many Olympians who have been members of the club.  How many Olympic medals and Olympic gold medals have the New York Athletic Club athletes won?  Additionally, how many sovereign nations have won fewer Olympic medals than the athletes of the New York Athletic Cllub?

Question 2:  Can you name the former Presidents of the United States whose last names happen to be the same as the name of at least one roadway within the Town of Pelham?  

Question 3:  Can you name the Pelhamite who gave musical instruction to Albert Einstein?

Question 4:  If a jet aircraft were to fly eastward along the meridian from Pelham, in what European mainland nation would it reach the first land after crossing the Atlantic Ocean?

Question 5:  The Town of Pelham was founded by New York State law in 1788.  Of the 195 sovereign states that can be described as indisputably sovereign, how many were founded AFTER the Town of Pelham and, thus, are younger than the Town of Pelham?

ANSWERS TO THE HISTORIC PELHAM TRIVIA QUESTIONS APPEAR BENEATH THE IMAGE BELOW.

Answer to Question 1:  As of early 2017, N.Y.A.C. athletes haved won 248 Olympic medals, 131 of which have been Olympic gold medals.  Only twenty-two of the world's nations have athletes who have won more Olympic medals than the athletes of the New York Athletic Club
See New York Athletic Club, Olympic History (visited May 21, 2017). 
See also "All-Time Olympic Games Medal Table" in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited May 21, 2017).

Answer to Question 2:  Former U.S. Presidents whose last names are the same as the name of at least one roadway in Pelham are Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Monroe and Washington.  [Tip of the hat to Joe Gallello who reminded the author of Monroe Street!]

Answer to Question 3:  In 1934 Pelham resident Toscha Seidel gave violin instruction to Albert Einstein, and received a sketch in return, reportedly diagramming length contraction of his theory of relativity in the sketch.  See Wed., Dec. 28, 2016:  Violin Virtuoso Toscha Seidel, And Famed Dog Hector, Lived in Pelham.

Answer to Question 4:  An aircraft traveling eastward along the meridian from the Town of Pelham would reach the European mainland in Portugal first.

Answer to Question 5: Of the 195 sovereign states that can be described as indisputably sovereign, 133 were founded AFTER the Town of Pelham and, thus, are younger than the Town of Pelham.  See "List of Sovereign States by Date of Formation" in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited May 21, 2017).

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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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How 4th Street in Today's Village of Pelham Became Lincoln Avenue

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Early maps of the Village of North Pelham, now part of today's Village of Pelham, reveal that today's Lincoln Avenue once was named "Fourth Street" within the Village of North Pelham.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog details how and why the name of the roadway was changed to Lincoln Avenue.

The roadway that we know today as Lincoln Avenue cuts entirely through today's Village of Pelham and extends from within the City of Mount Vernon, across all of the Village of Pelham, and extends into the City of New Rochelle.  The roadway has existed within Pelham since the area once known as Pelhamville was first plotted for development as the detail from a map published in 1853 and reproduced immediately below illustrates.

 Detail from 1853 Map Showing Pelhamville.

Source:  M. Dripps & R. F. O. Conner, Southern Part

of West-Chester County N. Y. (1853).

Note:  The Roadway Known as Fourth Street

Is Clearly Shown, Though Unlabeled, Beneath

"Pelham Square," Site of Today's Hutchinson School.

 

Map of Pelhamville Published in 1868.

Source: Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity from

Actual Surveys By and Under the Direction of F.W.Beers,

Assisted By A.B. Prindle & Others, pg. 36 (NY, NY:

Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868) (Detail from Page 36 Map Entitled

"Town of New Rochelle, Westchester Co., N.Y. (With) Pelhamville).

NOTE:  The Street Is Clearly Labeled "Fourth St." Here.

Nearly 100 years after the streets were first laid out as part of the effort to develop and sell lots in the hamlet known as Pelhamville, the area had changed tremendously.  Mount Vernon was incorporated as a City and was growing in leaps and bounds.  Indeed, today it is reportedly the eighth largest City in the State of New York.  The little hamlet of Pelhamville had become the Village of North Pelham and was nearly fully developed.  Similarly, the City of New Rochelle had exploded in population and was becoming very developed.  Today it is reportedly the seventh largest City in the State of New York.

By 1948, the Village of North Pelham road known as "Fourth Street" connected with a road in Mount Vernon named Lincoln Avenue.  On the northeasterly side of the Village of North Pelham, Fourth Street once had continued into New Rochelle as a roadway known as
Pelhamwood Road and also as Winyah Avenue at different points along the road.  The City of New Rochelle, however, renamed Pelhamwood Road and Winyah Avenue as "Lincoln Avenue."  The result was that Lincoln Avenue extended through Mount Vernon until it reached North Pelham where it was known as Fourth Street, then again became Lincoln Avenue as the roadway entered the City of New Rochelle.

In March of 1948, Mayor Stanley Church of the City of New Rochelle contacted Mayor Dominic Amato of the Village of North Pelham as well as the Board of Trustees of the Village of North Pelham and asked if the Board would consider changing the name of the road in the Village of North Pelham from "Fourth Street" to "Lincoln Avenue" to make it consistent with the way the roadway was labeled in the City of Mount Vernon and in the City of New Rochelle.  The intent, according to the Mayor of New Rochelle, was to eliminate potential confusion among motorists traveling the roadway.  

On March 30, 1948, the Board of Trustees of the Village of North Pelham held a public hearing on the matter.  Twelve persons appeared during the hearing.  Several of the twelve spoke and expressed support for the proposed name change saying it would reduce confusion.  There was no opposition to the proposal.

The Board of Trustees voted in favor of the name change.  The street since has been known as Lincoln Avenue.

*          *          *         *          *

Below are transcriptions of the text of two articles that appeared in a local newspaper about the name change, each followed by a citation to its source.  

"North Pelham Acts To Change Street's Name

NORTH PELHAM -- At the request of Mayor Stanley Church of New Rochelle, the North Pelham Village Board will hold a public hearing March 30 at 8 P. M. at Town Hall on a proposal to change the name of Fourth Street to Lincoln Avenue.  

New Rochelle requested the change because that City has re-designated Pelhamwood Road and Winyah Avenue, which are a continuation of Fourth Street in North Pelham to Lincoln Avenue.  It was brought out that Mount Vernon's part of Fourth Street is named Lincoln Avenue and that it will be  less confusing if the entire thoroughfare has the same name.  

The board decided to provide more parking areas by grading off the northwest areas by grading off the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Third Street for a temporary public parking space for day parking only.  It also decided to use the lot on Fifth Avenue adjacent to the fire headquarters for public all-day parking.  

Charles Nelson, chairman of the Village Board of Assessors, tendered his resignation effective March 31 because he has been named to the Town Board of Assessors.  The board accepted his resignation with regret and congratulated him on his elevation.

The board will hold an organization meeting April 5 at 8 P. M. at Town Hall when newly elected members will be welcomed.  

John W. Raymond, of Boston, Mass., was employed for a $300 fee as a consulting engineer to go over plans for a drain at First Street drawn up two years ago by Village Engineer George Godfrey.

The week of April 12 was designated as annual 'Clean Up Week.'

Sergeant Earl McCracken and Patrolman Robert Smith were put on permanent status after a three-month probationary period.  Mayor Dominic Amato presided."  

Source:  North Pelham Acts To Change Street's Name, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 17, 1948, p. 13, col. 3.

"No. Pelham Changes Fourth Street's Name

NORTH PELHAM -- The name of Fourth Street in this village was changed to Lincoln Avenue at a public hearing held last night by the Village Board in Town Hall.  No opposition was voiced to the change, and several of the 12 residents who attended pointed out that the change will avoid confusion, since New Rochelle changed the name of its part of the thoroughfare to Lincoln Avenue recently.  North Pelham thus links Mount Vernon's Lincoln Avenue stretch with that in New Rochelle."

Source:  No. Pelham Changes Fourth Street's Name, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 31, 1948, p. 9, col. 4. 

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Report of Fight with Trolley Construction Crew in Pelhamville in 1898

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In the late 19th century, rival trolley companies raced to construct lines throughout the New York region.  Rivalries among competing trolley lines led to at least one instance of violence in Pelhamville in 1898.  A fascinating account of the incident appeared in the October 8, 1898 issue of New Rochelle Pioneer.  The account appears below.

"TROLLEY ROW AT PELHAMVILLE.

-----

The little village of Pelhamville has a very lively railroad row on its hands the outcome of which will be watched with the keenest interest by the friends of the Union Trolley Company and the New York and Connecticut Traction Company. 

The rivalry between the Union and the Connecticut company precipitated a fight in Pelhamville Saturday afternoon. 

The trouble between the two companies dates back several years, when the Traction company received a franchise from the Trustees of North Pelham to construct a line connecting Mt. Vernon and New Rochelle.  The trustees granted the franchise on the condition that the line should be in operation inside of a year.  Last month the trustees granted a franchise to the Union Company, known as the Huckleberry road, over the same route, on the ground that the Traction Company had violated its franchise.

The Union Company was to have commenced work on this new franchise as soon as their lines to New Rochelle had been completed.

The Traction Company on Saturday decided to steal a march on its rival, and early in the afternoon a gang of Italians appeared on the ground and started to tear up the road at Fourth street and Fifth avenue, North Pelham.  The men under foreman Mack had succeeded in laying several feet of track when Councilmen Vincent Barker and George McGalliard drove up and ordered the men to stop. 

They refused to do so and Constable Marks, who appeared on the scene, arrested the foreman of the gang and some of the laborers.

Later the Councilmen were joined by Village President M. J. Lynch, Dr. Charles Barker, James Seaman, James Riley and John Case, who tried to block the street in order to prevent the transportation of rails.  Dr. Barker drove his buggy into th excavated tracks, but the Italians picked it up and removed it. 

At this juncture some members of the fire department appeared.  They turned the fire hose onto the gang of Italians who scattered into the woods. 

Word was telephoned to the Mt. Vernon police for assistance, but Chief Foley could not send men where he had no jurisdiction over them, and he was obliged to refuse the request. 

Contractor Smith's men were called on to fill in the excavated trenches and restore the street to its proper condition. 

Foreman Hannon, of the Union Company, who has a gang of men at work in New Rochelle, heard of the trouble, and hurried his force into Pelhamville, and started to lay a line of tracks for the Union Company. 

The Connecticut Company, anticipating some more trouble of this character, had procured an injunction from Justice Dickey, of the Supreme Court, Brooklyn, which was served on the Union Company, and for the time being work ceased.

The Union Company being in possession of the field, kept an army of Italians on the streets all Saturday night and all day Sunday."

Source:  Trolley Row at Pelhamville, New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 8, 1898, p. 1, col. 1.

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