More Pelham Trivia!

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

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).

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

1918 Foreclosure Sale of 100 Lots On Bolton Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue in Pelham Manor

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

Pelham, like much of the rest of the United States, suffered through a post-World War I recession in 1918 and 1919.  That recession seems to have taken its toll on local efforts to develop a large swath of undeveloped land along Pelhamdale Avenue from roughly Manor Circle to the Bolton Priory estate.  

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog reproduces the image of a large advertisement for a foreclosure sale of 100 lots along Pelhamdale Avenue in the area of Bolton Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue in Pelham Manor.  The lots belonged to Albemarle Realty Company "and others."  The foreclosure sale was scheduled to be conducted by H. E. Colwell, auctioneer, on October 10, 1918 on the steps of City Hall in the City of New Rochelle.

1918 Advertisement for Foreclosure Sale of

Lots Along Pelhamdale Avenue in the Area

of Bolton Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue, Pelham Manor.

Source:  FORECLOSURE SALE [Advertisement],

New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 5, 1918,, p. 2, cols. 5-7.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

To facilitate search, below is the transcribed text of the advertisement that appears immediately above. 

"FORECLOSURE SALE
H. E. COLWELL, AUCTIONEER
-----
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10TH, 1918
AT 11 O'CLOCK A.M.

At the front steps of the City Hall, in the City of New Rochelle, Westchester County, N.Y.

By order of the Supreme Court of Westchester County, and under the direction of Joseph J. Mancusi, Esq., Referee, I will sell

100 LOTS
BELONGING TO
Albemarle Realty Company and others, in Roosevelt Heights, Pelham Manor, N.Y.

AT PUBLIC AUCTION
-----

THERE ARE 45 LOTS ON BOLTON AVENUE AND 55 LOTS ON ROOSEVELT AVENUE.  THIS PROPERTY IS FINELY SITUATED ON PELHAMDALE AVENUE, 3 MINUTES WALK FROM THE PELHAM MANOR STATION, BETWEEN THE STATION AND PELHAM ROAD [i.e., Shore Road], AND IS CONVENIENT TO BOTH THE STATION AND THE NEW YORK ATHLETIC CLUB.  THE TROLLEY PASSES THE PROPERTY, ON PELHAMDALE AVENUE, AND THE PROPERTY ALSO ADJOINS THE PELHAM PRIORY PROPERTY.

THE SIZE OF THE LOTS ARE MOSTLY 25 X 125 AND VARIOUS OTHER DEPTHS.  

TERMS ARE 10% CASH ON DAY OF SALE.  BALANCE IN CASH IN 30 DAYS, OR A LIBERAL LOAN CAN BE ARRANGED, IF PURCHASER DESIRES.

THE LOTS WILL BE SOLD SEPARATELY FIRST, AND THEN AS ONE PARCEL, AND WILL BE SOLD TO WHICHEVER BID IS THE HIGHEST.

FOR FULL PARTICULARS, APPLY TO H. E. COLWELL, AUCTIONEER, 251 MAIN STREET:  JOSEPH J. MANCUSI, REFEREE, 254 HUGUENOT STREET, OR YOUNG, SEACORD & RITCHIE, ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF, 264 MAIN STREET, NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y."

Below is a detail from a map published in 1914 that shows the area along Bolton Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue that includes lots among those subject to the above-quoted notice of foreclosure sale.

Detail from Map Published in 1914 Showing Area of

Bolton Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue Containing

Undeveloped Lots Included Within Notice of Foreclosure

Sale.  Source:  "Pelham, New Rochelle" in Bromley,

G.W., Atlas of Westchester County, N.Y. Pocket, Desk and

Automobile Edition, Vol. I, p. 132 (NY, NY:  G.W. Bromley

& Co., 1914).  NOTE:  Click on Image To Enlarge.

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