What Do We Know of the Great "Race Field" of Pelham Used in the First Half of the 19th Century?

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Tradition long has held that in the early 19th century there was an important horse racing area in the Town of Pelham that was known as the great "Race Field."  The Race Field reportedly attracted important wealthy thoroughbred owners from far and near who traveled to Pelham to test their horses, race them, bet, and enjoy the region.

What do we really know about this tradition of a great "Race Field?"

In his seminal book on the history of Pelham published in 1946, Lockwood Barr mentioned the Race Field.  He wrote:

"In some of the ancient books narrating life in Westchester, there are references to a famous Pelhamville Race Track, where Westchester squires who bred fast-trotting and pacing horses and were proud of their sporting proclivities, would meet to hold friendly brushes, each driving his own favorite steed; and they do say the side bets were often sizeable!  In the map room of the New York Public Library, is a map of Westchester dated 1851, showing this 'Race Field' in Pelhamville as being located west of the present New Haven Railroad Station, east of the Hutchinson River, extending from about where is now the old ice plant, up beyond where is now St. Catharine's Church.  The word 'Race' is on the south side, and 'Field' on the north side of the New Haven Railroad.  Since the Railroad began operation through Pelham in 1848, the Race Field must have been there long before that date."

Source:  Barr, Lockwood, A Brief, But Most Complete & True Account of the Settlement of the Ancient Town of Pelham Westchester County, State of new York Known One Time Well & Favourably as The Lordshipp & Mannour of Pelham Also the Story of the Three Modern Villages Called the Pelhams, pp. 133-34 (Richmond, VA:  The Dietz Press, Inc., 1946).  

The map referenced by Lockwood Barr in the quote above is the "Map of West Chester County, New York" published by Newell S. Brown (Philadelphia, PA) in 1851.  The Surveyor was Sidney & Neff.  A pertinent detail from that map appears immediately below.

Detail from 1851 Map of Westchester County Showing Northern

Tip of the Town of Pelham with "Race Field" Noted on Each Side

of the New Haven Railroad Line.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

A sporting magazine published in 1884 provided some interesting information about the great Race Field that once stood in Pelham in an article about famed local horse Barometer, winner of the 1884 Great Pelham Steeplechase.  The article stated in pertinent part:

"The neighborhood [surrounding the Country Club Steeplechase grounds that once stood along today's Shore Road] is also not without its turf history.  About a mile to the north, and in sight of the spire of the old Eastchester Church is the broad heath which, in the past generation was known as the Race Field.  Here it was that nearly a century since the Pells, the Morrises, the Delanceys, and others of the old Westchester families tested their thoroughbreds.  Racing had a well-defined existence even at that early day, as many of the settlers had brought with them their fondness for the sport. . . ."

Source:  Barometer, Winner of the Great Pelham Steeplechase, Owned and Ridden by J. D. Cheever, Esq., The Spirit of the Times, Oct. 25, 1884, Vol. 108, No. 18, p. 409, col. 1.  

In 1881, Robert Bolton, Jr. made a brief reference to the "Race Field" in the second edition of his seminal history of Westchester County.  There, Bolton was writing about the home that once belonged to James Hay known today as Pelhamdale (located at 45 Iden Avenue).  Bolton stated in pertinent part:

"Pelham Dale, the property of Hargous, is delightfully situated near the junction of the salt and fresh waters of the Acqueanouncke.  This estate formerly belonged to Colonel David Pell; and upon the division of his property, was purchased by the late James Hay, Esq.  The dwelling house is a handsome structure of stone, and commands a beautiful view of Hutchinson's River, together with the distant village and spire of Eastchester.  The garden contains a choice collection of trees and shrubs, and is also enlivened by a running stream.  About half a mile further up the valley is situated the 'Race Field,' once famous in the annals of the turf, adjoining which is the village of Pelhamville; here is a depot of the New Haven Railroad and a small Episcopal church, called the Church of the Redeemer. . ."

Source:  Bolton, Jr., Robert, The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester from its First Settlement to the Present Time Carefully Revised by its Author, Vol. II, pp. 68-69 (NY, NY:  Chas. F. Roper, 1881).  

From such sources we can surmise the following about the Great Race Field of Pelham.  It predated the construction of the New Haven Line, the first tracks of which were laid in 1847 and 1848.  For perhaps a decade or two before that, maybe longer, the broad heath that stood between the intersection of today's Fifth Avenue and 1st Street and today's Pelham Reservoir beyond the Hutchinson River Parkway was the site of the great Race Field.  Very roughly, the tracks of the New Haven Line built on an artificial berm to raise the tracks through the region split the broad heath where the great Race Field once stood.  A portion of the Race Field must have been located where the giant parking lot now sits behind the Village of Pelham Village Hall.  On the other side of the New Haven Line, the Race Field must have extended roughly to where St. Catharine's now stands.  Additionally, it would seem that Westchester families such as the Morrises and the Delanceys raced and tested their thoroughbreds on the great Race Field in days long gone.

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The Whereabouts of the Pelham Coach: Colonel Delancey Kane's Famed 19th Century Tally-Ho Road Coach

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In 1876 a horse-drawn road coach known as “The Pelham Coach” (also known, informally, as the "Tally-Ho") began running between New York City’s Hotel Brunswick and the “Pelham Manor” of yore. This road coach was not a simple hired coach that ferried passengers from New York City.  Rather, this road coach was driven by Colonel DeLancey Kane, one of the so-called “millionaire coachmen,” who engaged in a sport known as “public coaching” or “road coaching” as it sometimes was called. The purpose of the sport was to rush the carriage between designated points on a specified schedule, with quick changes of horses at strategic points along the way, and to maintain that schedule rigorously. 

Colonel DeLancey Kane became quite famous for his handling of The Pelham Coach, a bright canary yellow coach that was cheered along its route from the Hotel Brunswick in New York City to Pelham Bridge in the Town of Pelham and, later, along Shore Road into New Rochelle. The iconic image of the Tally Ho! immediately below appeared on song sheets, in etchings and engravings distributed throughout the United States. It shows The Pelham Coach. 

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Colonel Kane changed the terminus of the Tally Ho! a number of times. In various years the coach traveled to the Lorillard cottage (Arcularius Hotel) at Pelham Bridge, the Pelham Bridge Hotel, the Huguenot House in New Rochelle, and a number of other locations in the region in and around Pelham. The Tally Ho! route always, however, either terminated at Pelham Bridge or continued through Pelham along Shore Road past the settlement of Bartow and Bolton Priory on its way to New Rochelle.

The first "Coaching Season" for the Delancey Kane's Tally Ho! was in 1876.  According to a number of sources, Delancey Kane ran his Pelham Coach at least during the coaching seasons of 1876, 1877, 1880, and 1882.  

Kane, who reportedly was the first to "put on a public coach" in sport, inspired others.  For example, as I have noted before, On April 25, 1881 a coach named the Tantivy was put on the road to Tarrytown by Colonel W. Jay, George Peabody Wetmore, T. A. Havemeyer, Hugo O. Fritsch, Isaac Bel, Jr., and F. Bronson.  The Tantivy ran at least six months that year and, the following year, was put back on the road to Yonkers.  In 1884, 1887, and 1889, public coaches were run by J. Roosevelt Roosevelt, C. Oliver Iselin, F. Bronson, R. W. Rives, and the Coaching Club (of New York).  See Whitney, Caspar W., "Evolution of the Country Club" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. XC, No. DXXXV, pp. 16 & 28 (Dec., 1894).  

I have written for many years and on many occasions about the Pelham Coach established by Col. Delancey Kane in 1876.  For dozens of examples, see the list of articles with links at the end of today's Historic Pelham Blog article.

A fascinating article about the current location of the Pelham Coach appeared in the August, 2009 issue of The Carriage Journal, the journal of the Carriage Association of America.  The article describes recent events leading to a change in the ownership and location of the Pelham Coach since I last visited that issue more than thirteen years ago in 2005.  See Fri., Feb. 11, 2005:  Col. Delancey Kane's "Pelham Coach", Also Known as The Tally-Ho, Is Located.  The wonderful article, by Ken Wheeling is available within Google Books.  See Wheeling, Ken, "The Tally-Ho:  A Road Coach," in The Carriage Journal, Vol. 47, No. 5, p. 261 (Oct. 2009).  

Although, as one would expect, Ken Wheeling's article focuses on the coach itself, the article also includes fascinating information about the color lithograph of the Pelham Coach included above (and in a number of other Historic Pelham Blog articles).   The lithograph was published by J. B. Brewster & Co., a New York City firm.  It was taken from a massive five-foot-long painting on the coach created by Philadelphia artist Henry C. Bispham who was "more known for his western art."  According to Ken Wheeling's article:

"It was also in 1876 that the Tally-Ho made its first appearance in art.  The Philadelphia artist Henry C. Bispham (1841-1882) painted a five-foot canvas depicting the coach and gave a reception at the Brunswick Hotel to unveil it.

'The picture . . . represents the coach and four-in-hand in a swinging trot out on the road, the Colonel driving and the horses well in hand, the nigh leader pacing and the others trotting.  The seats and top of the coach are filled with passengers, the box seat occupied by Colonel Kane and his wife, and just behind are seated Colonel Jay, the president of the Coaching Club; Mr. Sherman and Colonel Kane's brother, with the guard standing and sounding the horn.  The back seats are occupied by several passengers denoting the business element of the establishment.  Inside is one of the old-fashioned elderly women who have seen enough of this world to be content with quiet and retirement.  The horses are portraits and careful attention has been paid to the details of the gold mounted harness.  The extra straw collar hangs at the side of the coach, to be used in emergencies, and on the side under the window is painted in gilt letters the sign, 'Mott Haven and Pelham Bridge' . . ."

Id., p. 264 (endnotes omitted).  

According to Ken Wheeling's article, the Pelham Coach was built by Holland & Holland of Oxford Street in London.  The article states:

"John Holland was Master of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers in 1873, exhibiting his carriages five years later at the Paris Exhibition of 1878.  Ten years later the company was owned by V. Kesterton.  In 1912, Thrupp & Maberly bought out the business along with Wyburn & Co. and Silk & Sons.  Holland & Holland coaches were highly desirable then and very much prized today."

Id., p. 261.  

The Pelham Coach, as the Tally-Ho was called by many, was a striking sight.  As the image at the outset of today's Historic Pelham Blog posting shows, it was a striking canary yellow (with matching risers).  As noted by Ken Wheeling, the "lettering was red, highlighted in black.  When used for public coaching, the names of the terminal cities were painted in the crest panels, and the New York terminus points were altered accordingly".  Id., p. 262.  

When last I wrote (in 2005) of the whereabouts of the Pelham Coach, it was in the possession of the Museum of the City of New York.  At the time, I noted:

"The Pelham Coach still exists. I have corresponded with Ms. Melanie Bower, Collections Access Associate of the Museum of the City of New York.  On February 10 she wrote me saying '[t]he Museum does own the Tally-ho coach used by Col. Delancey [Kane]. The coach is currently stored in the Museum's off-site curatorial facility. While it is possible to schedule an appointment to view the coach in storage, it is currently not on display at the Museum.'"

Since then, ownership of the coach has changed, as has its location.  Ken Wheeling has detailed the provenance and location of the Pelham Coach as follows:

"Colonel DeLancey Kane died on Easter Sunday, April 3, 1915, ironically preceded in death by Colonel William Jay on March 28.  The two founders of the Coaching Club, both of whom had contributed so much to its success, died within days of each other.  The Tally-Ho remained at 'The Paddocks,' Colonel and Mrs. Kane's home in New Rochelle, New Jersey, until 1933, when Mrs. Kane donated it to the Museum of the City of New York.  In September 2008, ownership of the coach was transferred to the Long island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages. . . . Any subsequent chapters remain to be 'written.'"

Id., p. 267 (endnotes omitted).

The Pelham Coach that played a role in making Pelham famous in the 19th century as a playground of the rich and famous lives on.  Indeed, its "subsequent chapters remain to be written."

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Below is a list of articles and blog postings that I previously have posted regarding the subject of "Coaching to Pelham."

Tue., Apr. 10, 2018:  Crash of Col. Delancey Kane's "Pelham Coach" During its First Season in 1876.

Mon., Feb. 12, 2018:  Is This a Rare Photograph of the Famed Pelham Coach?

Tue., Aug. 15, 2017:  1877 Advertisement for Colonel Delancey Kane's Pelham Coach Known as the "Tally Ho".

Bell, Blake A., Col. Delancey Kane and "The Pelham Coach" (Sep. 2003).

Thu., Jul. 28, 2016:  The Chicago Tribune Lampooned Coaching to Pelham in 1884.

Wed., Jul. 30, 2014:  Yet Another Attempt in 1894 to Resurrect the Glory Days of Coaching to Pelham.  

Tue., Jul. 29, 2014:  Wonderful Description of Coaching to Pelham on the Tally-Ho's First Trip of the Season on May 1, 1882.

Wed., Apr. 14, 2010:  Col. Delancey Kane Changes the Timing and Route of The Pelham Coach in 1876.

Tue., Sep. 08, 2009:  1877 Advertisement with Timetable for the Tally Ho Coach to Pelham.

Mon., Mar. 23, 2009:  The Greyhound and the Tantivy-- The Four-in-Hand Coaches that Succeeded Col. Delancey Kane's "Tally-Ho" to Pelham.

Fri., Jan. 16, 2009: The Final Trip of the First Season of Col. Delancey Kane's "New-Rochelle and Pelham Four-in-Hand Coach Line" in 1876.

Thu., Jan. 15, 2009:  The First Trip of Col. Delancey Kane's "New-Rochelle and Pelham Four-in-Hand Coach Line" on May 1, 1876.

Thu., Mar. 06, 2008:  Auctioning the Tantivy's Horses at the Close of the 1886 Coaching Season.

Wed., Mar. 05, 2008:  Coaching to Pelham: The Tantivy Has an Accident on its Way to Pelham in 1886.  

Thu., Jan. 24, 2008:  An Account of the First Trip of Colonel Delancey Kane's Tally-Ho to Open the 1880 Coaching Season.

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008: Brief "History of Coaching" Published in 1891 Shows Ties of Sport to Pelham, New York

Thursday, August 3, 2006: Images of Colonel Delancey Kane and His "Pelham Coach" Published in 1878.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005: Taunting the Tantivy Coach on its Way to Pelham: 1886.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005: 1882 Engraving Shows Opening of Coaching Season From Hotel Brunswick to Pelham Bridge.

Thu., Jun. 09, 2005:  Coaching to Pelham: Colonel Delancey Astor Kane Did Not Operate the Only Coach to Pelham.

Fri., Feb. 11, 2005:  Col. Delancey Kane's "Pelham Coach", Also Known as The Tally-Ho, Is Located.

Bell, Blake A., Col. Delancey Kane and "The Pelham Coach", The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XII, No. 38, Sept. 26, 2003, p. 1, col. 1.

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Pelham Once Had its Own Toboggan Course

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The Olympic sport of luge is one of the most thrilling winter sports.  Racers rocket down icy chutes that twist and turn to the finish line at speeds of nearly ninety miles per hour.  They travel on the very precipice of death, always at risk of an icy wreck that makes all wince even to consider. 

Pelham, it turns out, once had its own such course, albeit a nineteenth centry version on which toboggans rocketed down icy chutes.  The story behind construction of the course is fascinating.

It truly is impossible to trace the origin and history of the "toboggan."  According to one book published on the subject:

"THE word 'Toboggan' is said to have originated among the North American Indians who applied it to the flat wooden sledges which they used for carrying provisions from camp to camp.  From them the use of the toboggan spread to the more civilised inhabitants of Canada, and for many years tobogganing has been looked upon as the great winter amusement of that country.  Of late years it has been taken up keenly in the United States, where 'coasting' and 'Bob-sleighing' have now become very popular. . . ."

Source:  Gibson, Harry, TOBOGGANING ON CROOKED RUNS, p. 18 (London and New York:  Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894).  

During the 1880s, toboggan fever swept the world.  The first International Race among toboggans was run on February 12, 1883.  id., p. 23.  For a brief summary of the many, many toboggan clubs and courses that popped up in the northeastern United States and in lower Canada during the early 1880s, see Outing, Vol. VII, No. 6, p. 712, col. 2 & p. 713, cols. 1-2 (Mar. 1886).  Though it took a little time, by late 1885 toboggan fever had reached the tiny little Town of Pelham on the outskirts of New York City.  

At the time Pelham was the site of one of the nation's earliest "Country Clubs."  Known simply as "The Country Club," "The Country Club at Pelham," and "The Country Club at Westchester," the organization was begun in the Autumn of 1883.  At that time a group of Pelham Manor residents led by James M. Waterbury joined with a group of New York City “club men” and organized a new “Country Club” dedicated to the enjoyment of all “legitimate sports.” 

By 1884, the Club commenced operations in the nearly-34-acre area encompassed by the Suydam / Morris Estate adjacent to the Bartow property (the site of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and carriage house. The group converted a mansion on the property known as “Oakshade” (built by artist James Augustus Suydam between 1846 and 1848 and later owned by Richard Lewis Morris) into a clubhouse. The group was unable to buy the property, so it leased the property for five years. 

The property was adjacent to and just northeast of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum property, but straddled today's Shore Road with most of the property on the Long Island Sound side and about one-third of the acreage on the opposite side of Shore Road now covered by a portion of the Pelham Bay Golf Course.

The Country Club was extraordinarily successful.  Yet, it faced issues.  One such issue was that revenues and member interest declined precipitously during the winter months despite the fact that the Club offered a host of winter sports.  That seemed to change in the winter of 1885-1886.  The President of the club, James M. Waterbury, paid for construction of, and donated to the club, a massive toboggan course that quickly became "the most popular attraction of anything ever started there."

Actually, the course was a marvel.  It was a pair of toboggan slides (known as "chutes") that ran parallel to each other permitting informal and formal races.  Built by James Henderson in about mid-December 1885, various reports described the course as between 750 feet and 800 feet long with a decline of about thirty degrees from its top to its base.  Thus, the two "slides" as they were called were at least as long as two and one-half modern football fields.  

The toboggan chutes began near the clubhouse formerly known as the Oakshade mansion originally built by famed Hudson River School artist James Augustus Suydam.  The clubhouse stood on the Long Island Sound side of today's Shore Road only dozens of yards away from the carriage house that stands on the grounds of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.  The toboggan chutes extended from near the clubhouse toward Long Island Sound and, shortly before reaching the water's edge, turned southward where, according to one account, the chute emptied onto the adjacent Bartow estate.  The image below shows a very rough approximation of the location of the toboggan chutes built in late 1885.

Google Maps Detail With Arrows Showing A Very Rough Approximation

of the Location and Direction of the Toboggan Chutes Built and Used by

Members of The Country Club in the Winter of 1885-1886.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

The toboggan course was opened by at least January, 1886.  It became an immediate success.  Parties of happy tobagganers spent afternoons and evenings racing down the chutes, then ended each day with a fine dinner in The Country Club dining room followed by a relaxing evening in front of a roaring fire in the clubhouse fireplace.  According to one report published on February 5, 1886:

"Members and their friends come in large groups from the City to enjoy the sport, returning the same day.  The slide is patronized by all the elite of society.  Messrs. Delancy [sic] and Woodbury Kane, and Smith Haddon, of New York, also Messrs. Bull, F. A. Watson, Wm. Watson, Sands Waterbury and others, have given toboggan parties during the season.  The club grounds pay much better with the toboggan slide, than during the summer with polo and tennis."

Another account published at about the same time said:  "Small and gay parties . . . have gone out there almost every afternoon and, after enjoying the slide, have dined and spent the evening around a blazing wood fire in the clubhouse."  

Club members and their guests found that roaring down the toboggan chutes was thrilling and exhilarating.  One account describing the toboggan chutes at Pelham said:  "Who that has ever ridden can forget the swift mad rush through the air, with the sensation of flying that it brings, the streaming eyes and tingling cheeks, and then the gradual and delicious slowing down, and then the toiling up the hill to return, a task made light by pleasant companionship and cheery laughter."

The sport of tobogganing, of course, was new to Pelhamites at the time.  It seems they could not agree on what should be the proper attire for the sport -- something that seems to have been particularly important to members of The Country Club at Pelham.  One publication noted Pelhamites' faux pas in this respect:

"There is a wide divergence of opinion among society men and women as to what is the proper and respective tobogganing costume, and all resident Canadians or persons who have visited Canada during the winter are eagerly consulted as authorities upon the subject.  Some of the hurriedly made costumes are gorgeous in the extreme, but hardly suited to the rough sport.  The general idea of the proper attire is that it shall surround the body with layers of wool, impervious to cold and invaluable as padding in case of a tumble, for a Canadian tobogganer, when pitched from his conveyance, simply rolls and bounds down the slide after it, like a foot-ball, until he either brings up against some obstacle or reaches the level.  Mr. and Mrs. Teall have set the fashion in tobogganing costumes at Orange, but there is somewhat of a chaos of ideas regarding them at the Country Club."

It appears that the toboggan chutes operated each winter until The Country Club moved its facility across Pelham Bridge to the opposite side of Eastchester Bay at the end of the 1880s.  For a time, however, it was an amazingly successful winter sport embraced by Pelhamites and members of The Country Club at Pelham.

"WINTER SPORTS IN ALBANY.  THE RIDGEFIELD TOBOGGAN CHUTE"

in 1886.  Lithograph.  This Shows a Pair of Side-by-Side Toboggan Chutes

Similar to the One that Once Stood in the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

German Toboggan Course Shown in 1886 Lithograph From

Illustrated Journal of The Times, Published in Germany.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

"TOBOGGANING 1886," a Lithograph Published in 1886 by L. Prang

& Co.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. . . .

-- The members of the Country Club intend to enjoy themselves this winter in Canadian style.  They are building a 'toboggan' slide, between 700 and 800 feet long, from the house toward the Sound, and then turn off on to the Bartow estate.  Mr. Jas. Henderson is doing the work. . . ."

Source:  LOCAL INTELLIGENCE, New Rochelle Pioneer, Dec. 19, 1885, p. 3, col. 1.  

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND. . . .

The toboggan slide at the Country Club grounds, has become the most popular attraction of anything ever started there.  It is 750 feet long and was built and donated to the Club by Mr. J. M. Waterbury, the president of the Club.  Members and their friends come in large groups from the City to enjoy the sport, returning the same day.  The slide is patronized by all the elite of society.  Messrs. Delancy [sic] and Woodbury Kane, and Smith Haddon, of New York, also Messrs. Bull, F. A. Watson, Wm. Watson, Sands Waterbury and others, have given toboggan parties during the season.  The club grounds pay much better with the toboggan slide, than during the summer with polo and tennis. . . ."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 5, 1886, Vol. XVII, No. 855, p. 1, col. 6.  

"A SLIDE has been built on the grounds of the Country Club, at Pelham, Westchester county.  The slides are two in number, facing each other, after the fashion of the Russian ice-mountains.  Their length is 800 feet.  Steps lead from the sharp ascent up which the toboggan shoots to the starting platform of the other track.  The angle of descent is about 30 [degrees].  It was through the exertions chiefly of Mr. James M. Waterbury, the president of the club, that the slide was built.  The secretary is William Kent."

Source:  Outing, Vol. VII, No. 6, p. 713, cols. 1-2 (Mar. 1886).

"THE WORLD OF SOCIETY.
-----
WINTER SPORTS AFTER LONG WAITING NOW THOROUGHLY ENJOYED.
-----
Sleighing and Tobogganing Monopolize the Attention of the Members of the Gay World -- The Opera and Three Private Dances the Leading Society Events of the Week in the City -- Numerous Teas and Receptions -- The Season Continues Dull -- Weekly Budget of Notes from Connecticut Towns -- Notes from Philadelphia and Albany.

After long delay, the desired advent of the snow king has brought to society its long-desired opportunity for the indulging in winter sports, and almost everything else has been forgotten in preparations for and enjoyment of sleighing, skating, and the new and imported pastime of tobogganing.  The toboggan slides erected by the Essex County Club at Orange, and by Mr. James M. Waterbury in the grounds of the Country Club at Bartow, have been resorted to every afternoon and evening of the week by merry parties of New Yorkers, many of whom have experienced for the first time the delights of the sport, and who, overcoming their first feeling of timidity, are now its devoted enthusiasts.  Would that all imported pastimes and customs were as healthful and beneficial as tobogganing.  Who that has ever ridden can forget the swift mad rush through the air, with the sensation of flying that it brings, the streaming eyes and tingling cheeks, and then the gradual and delicious slowing down, and then the toiling up the hill to return, a task made light by pleasant companionship and cheery laughter.

While the Orange slide has been widely described and heralded, that of the Country Club has crept into notice very unpretentiously.  Small and gay parties, however, have gone out there almost every afternoon and, after enjoying the slide, have dined and spent the evening around a blazing wood fire in the clubhouse.  There is a wide divergence of opinion among society men and women as to what is the proper and respective tobogganing costume, and all resident Canadians or persons who have visited Canada during the winter are eagerly consulted as authorities upon the subject.  Some of the hurriedly made costumes are gorgeous in the extreme, but hardly suited to the rough sport.  The general idea of the proper attire is that it shall surround the body with layers of wool, impervious to cold and invaluable as padding in case of a tumble, for a Canadian tobogganer, when pitched from his conveyance, simply rolls and bounds down the slide after it, like a foot-ball, until he either brings up against some obstacle or reaches the level.  Mr. and Mrs. Teall have set the fashion in tobogganing costumes at Orange, but there is somewhat of a chaos of ideas regarding them at the Country Club. . . ."

Source:  THE WORLD OF SOCIETY -- WINTER SPORTS AFTER LONG WAITING NOW THOROUGHLY ENJOYED, The World [NY, NY], Jan. 17, 1886, p. 16, col. 1.  

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I have written extensively about The Country Club at Pelham and its famous steeplechase races, rides with the hounds, baseball games, polo matches, and other such events of the 1880's.  For a few of many more examples, see:  

Bell, Blake A., The Pelham Steeplechase Races of the 1880s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIV, Issue 12, March 25, 2005, p. 10, col. 2.

Thu., Mar. 23, 2006:  Baseball Fields Opened on the Grounds of the Westchester Country Club in Pelham on April 4, 1884.

Tue., Apr. 14, 2009:  1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

Wed., Apr. 15, 2009:  More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.

Thu., Apr. 16, 2009:  A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.

Fri., Apr. 17, 2009:  A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.

Wed., Sep. 09, 2009:  1884 Engraving of Winner of the Great Pelham Steeplechase, Barometer, and His Owner and Rider, J. D. Cheever. 

Wed., Sep. 16, 2009:  September 1884 Advertisement for The Country Club Steeplechase.

Thu., Sep. 17, 2009:  Controversy in 1887 When The Country Club Tries to Dedicate a Large Area of Pelham as a Game Preserve.

Wed., Sep. 30, 2009:  Score of June 1, 1887 Baseball Game Between The Country Club and The Knickerbocker Club.

Mon., Oct. 19, 2009:  Polo at the Country Club in Pelham in 1887.

Fri., Oct. 30, 2009:  Preparations for Annual Country Club Race Ball Held in Pelham in 1887.

Thu., Apr. 15, 2010:  Account of Baseball Game Played in Pelham on June 9, 1884: The Country Club Beat the Knickerbockers, 42 to 22.  

Tue., Feb. 25, 2014:  An Interesting Description of the Country Club at Pelham Published in 1884.

Mon., Mar. 03, 2014:  The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam.  

Fri., Sep. 12, 2014:  Reference to an 1884 Baseball Game Between the Country Club of Pelham and Calumet.

Fri., Feb. 27, 2015:  Brief History of the 19th Century "Country Club at Pelham" Published in 1889.

Thu., Jul. 16, 2015:  More on the History of the Country Club at Pelham in the 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 03, 2015:  A Major Tennis Tournament was Played in Pelham in 1885.

Tue., Feb. 09, 2016:  Polo Played in Pelham in 1887.

Wed., Sep. 07, 2016:  Origins of the Country Club at Pelham and the Move to its New Clubhouse in 1890.

Thu., Jan. 26, 2017:  The First Formal Country Club Hunt in Pelham Began on October 2, 1886 at 2:30 P.M.

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More on the New York Athletic Club Cross Country Course that Crossed Much of Pelham Manor in the Early 1900s

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It is hard to imagine for the many, many Pelham Manor residents who live between Shore Road and the Branch Line railroad tracks that cross Pelhamdale Avenue at Trestle Field, but that area once was virtually pristine woods and meadows and was used by the New York Athletic Club to lay out a nationally-famous cross country course on which major cross country championship races were held.  Indeed, as noted before by Historic Pelham, "In 1903 and 1904, the large area of Pelham Manor bounded by Shore Road, the boundary with Pelham Bay Park in New York City, Pelhamdale Avenue and the railroad tracks along which Pelham Manor Station once stood looked very different than it does today. The area was virtually undeveloped with heavy woods. Indeed, before the area was developed it was widely used as a picnic ground."  See Tue., Sep. 13, 2016:  Notable 1903 and 1904 Cross-Country Championships Were Run on a Course Between Travers Island and Pelham Manor Station.  

In the earliest years of the 20th century, the New York Athletic Club was still an international force in the sport of Cross-Country.  Indeed, "The thirteen years extending from 1891 to 1903 are considered by many to be the Golden Age of NYAC's track and field history."  The Winged Foot, Vol. 62, p. 99 (1951).  

In 1903 and 1904, the cross-country course was the site of very significant competitions. On November 4, 1903, the "Cross-Country Championship of America" was held on the course. John Joyce of the Pastime Athletic Club ran the six-mile course with a time of 32:23-4/5ths. 

Only three weeks later on November 25, 1903, the "Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship" was run on the course with teams from Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. W. E. Schutt of Cornell won the six-mile race with a time of 53:15. Cornell finished first among the six teams that competed. 

The following year, on November 23, 1904, the Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship was run again on the same course. Unlike the previous year, this championship was for eastern teams with a separate championship scheduled for western teams. E. T. Newman of Cornell won the six-mile race with a time of 32:52. Once again, Cornell finished first among the five teams that qualified and competed.

Lest one believe that the only races run on the course were Intercollegiate championships, news reports make clear that in these same years the course was used for a host of other cross country races.  Indeed, on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1904 (the day after the 1904 Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship held on the course), the Metropolitan Cross Country Championships, senior and junior, were held on the course.  

News accounts of such races give some sense of the nature of the course that once covered the area.  For example, it appears that the cross-country races typically began and ended on the oval running track on the grounds of Travers Island.  The course was two miles long with runners making three laps of the course to complete a race.  Additionally, one of the more difficult aspects of the course was a fourteen foot water jump with shrubbery in front of it that runners had to leap over and run out of the water to the extent they could not clear the entire obstacle.  

The area of the course extended between Travers Island and the Pelham Manor Train Station at a time when the station still existed and served passengers and commuters who traveled between Pelham Manor and New York City.  This area, for a time, was a national focus as newspapers from coast to coast reported on the Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships in 1903 and 1904.

Detail from Plate 24 of the John F. Fairchild Atlas of the City of

Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham Published in 1899 Showing

the Area of the NYAC Cross-Country Course. NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"CORNELL AN EASY WINNER
-----
CAPTURES THE INTERCOLLEGIATE CROSS COUNTRY RUN.
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Pennsylvania Second, Yale Third, Harvard Fourth and Columbia Last -- Four Out of Seven Ithacans Entered Come in First in the First Five Places -- Yale Man Comes in Third.

New York, Nov. 23. -- Cornell's sturdy athletes once more captured the inter-collegiate cross country championship, in the run to-day, over the course between Pelham Manor station and the home of the New York Athletic club on Travers' Island in Long Island sound.  Five teams, made up of thirty-four runners representing Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, took part in the contest, and of the seven men who carried the Ithacan colors, four finished in the first five places, winning the honor with a total of 12 points.  E. T. Newman of Cornell led the big field during the greater part of the journey and finished fully fifty yards in front of his teammate, C. F. Magoffin, who in turn was a like distance ahead of W. J. Hall of Yale.  Nearly 100 yards back of these three leaders were D. C. Munson and A. Starr, both of Cornell.  The sixth place was won by C. D. MacDonald of Columbia, while W. G. Howard of Harvard was seventh and C. R. Major of the University of Pennsylvania, eighth.

Newman's time, 32:52, is 23 seconds faster than the time of his college mate, Schutt, made on the same course, a little over six miles, a year ago.

Cornell's colors were always in the van and while every one expected that the Ithaca men would win very few thought that they would be so well to the fore at the finish.  To-day's contest was the sixth event or its kind which has taken place under the auspices of the Intercollegiate Cross Country association of amateur athletes of America, and Cornell has won five times, upon the birth of an heir and tendering have been improved upon, and the race was well contested throughout.

Following is the result by points:

Cornell, first with 12; Pennsylvania second, with 41; Yale third, with 51; Harvard fourth with 52, and Columbia last with 73."

Source:  CORNELL AN EASY WINNER -- CAPTURES THE INTERCOLLEGIATE CROSS COUNTRY RUN -- Pennsylvania Second, Yale Third, Harvard Fourth and Columbia Last -- Four Out of Seven Ithacans Entered Come in First in the First Five Places -- Yale Man Comes in Third, Journal Courier [New Haven, CT], Nov. 24, 1904, Vol. LXX, No. 238, p. 1, col. 4.  

"CORNELL'S SWIFT RUNNERS.
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For the Fifth Time Won the Cross Country Event.
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New York, Nov. 23. -- Cornell's sturdy athletes have once more captured the inter-collegiate cross country championship in a run today over the course between Pelham Manor station and the home of the New York Athletic club on Travers Island, in Long Island Sound.  Five teams made up of thirty-four runners representing Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania took part in the contest and of the seven men who carried the Ithacan colors, four finished in the first four places, winning the honor, with a total of twelve points.

Today's contest was the sixth event of its kind which has taken place under the auspices of the inter-collegiate cross country association of amateur athletes of American and Cornell has won five times."

Source:  CORNELL'S SWIFT RUNNERS -- For the Fifth Time Won the Cross Country Event, The Arizona Republican [Phoenix, AZ], Nov. 24, 1904, Vol. XV, No. 187, p. 1, col. 6.

"Cross-Country Championships.

The revival last year on Election Day of the once popular paper chase, or hare and hounds run, elevated and dignified into a general competition for all registered amateur athletes, under the sonorous title of Cross-Country Championships, will be repeated this year.  The Marathon Race at the Olympic Games at the St. Louis World's Fair covered some of the elements and purposes of this method of testing the ability of athletes for sustained effort in running, but could not compare with a cross-country run as managed here in value or interest.  The second annual Cross-Country Championships will be started at 1.30 P.M., Tuesday, November 8, Election Day, at Travers Island.  The entries include runners of wiry muscles and good wind, and the winners will not have a walk-over.  With the good fortune of crisp, cool, bracing weather this will be one of the interesting events of Election Day in the vicinity of the Metropolis."

Source:  "Cross-Country Championships" in New York Athletic Club Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 11, p. 28 (Nov., 1904).

"Cross Country Championships.

The Metropolitan Cross Country Championships, senior and junior, were run on Thursday, Nov. 24, Thanksgiving Day, at Travers Island.  The winner was an Irishman from County Galway, J. J. Daly, although he represented the Greater New York Irish Athletic Association of the Borough of Queens.  The race was under N. Y. A. C. auspices, the start and finish being on Travers Island track.

The runners covered the course three times.  At the very start Daly dashed ahead, took the lead and covered the first lap of the three in 10.46 2-5.  Each lap measured two miles, and the final sprint was over the N. Y. A. C. track for a quarter of a mile.  For the first three miles John J. Joyce, his team mate, was the only man of the field of thirty able to keep at his heels.  When half of the second circuit had been covered Joyce turned the weak ankle that had prevented him from competing at St. Louis, and was forced to retire from the race.  This withdrawal left no one in the race who could force Daly to extend himself, so that it is hard to compare his running with that of Newman, of Cornell, who Wednesday covered the course in better time by eleven seconds than did Daly.  At the finish of the second lap Daly had a lead of two hundred yards on Carr of the Xaviers, who was being hard pressed by W. G. Frank, of the Irish A. C.  Three hundreds yards behind.  Newton was leading the second squad.

Daly came out of the woods for the final dash seemingly as strong as he was at the start, and, unlike most of the other runners, he neither stepped on the hedge in front of the fourteen foot water jump nor fell into the pool, but easily hurdled both and sprinted over the last hundred yards.

He covered the six and a quarter miles in 33 m. 11 s.  Twenty-two seconds afterward Carr came in, with the veteran runner Frank forty yards behind.

The Xavier A. C. team of five men won the club trophy with a score of 35 points, the Greater N. Y. I. A. A. took second place with 62, and the New West Side A. C. third with 65, and the Star A. C. fourth with 77.

M. Spring, of the Pastime Athletic Club, and winner of the last Boston Marathon road race, set the pace throughout the entire distance in the junior championship race.  Sullivan, from the same club, was at his heels at the conclusion of the first two miles, but from there on Spring increased his lead at each step, until he reached the tape a hundred yards ahead of Farrell, of the Star A. C.

The Pastime A. C. scored 38 points; the St. Bartholomew A. C., 48; the Mohawk A. C., 90; the Starr A. C., 92, and the Mort Haven A. C. came last with 111.  Summary:

Winners -- Senior Championship -- J. J. Daly (G. N. Y. I. A. A.), first, 33.11; E. P. Carr (X. A. C.), second, 33.33; W. G. Frank (G. N. Y. I. A. A.), third, 33.40; J. Foy (S. A. C.), fourth, 34.48; E. Coates (X. A. C.), fifth, 35.02; A. L. Newton (N. Y. A. C.), sixth, 35.18; R. Todd (N. W. S. A. C.), seventh, 35.23; C. Andrews (X. A. C.) eighth, 35.40; J. Burns (X. A. C.), ninth, 36.14; P. H. Pilgrim (N. Y. A. C.), tenth, 36.22.

Junior Championships -- M. Spring (P. A. C.), first, 34.18; J. J. Farrell (S. A. C.), second, 34.34; J. Hayes (St. B. A. C.), third, 34-37; W. C. Bailey (Mohawk A. C.), fourth, 34-42; P. Smallwood (P. A. C.), fifth, 34-43; J. N. Lonergan (National A. C.), sixth, 34.50; J. Sullivan (St. B. A. C.), seventh, 35.08; L. P. Marks (P. A. C.), eighth, 35.09; D. Miller (N. Y. A. C.), tenth, 35.28."

Source:  "Cross Country Championships" in New York Athletic Club Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 12, p. 22 (Dec., 1904).

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