More on the Early History of the Wolfs Lane Railroad Bridge on the New Haven Line in Pelham

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Recently I wrote about the fascinating history of the Wolfs Lane Railroad Overpass long known as the "Fifth Avenue Bridge" that carries the New Haven Main Line tracks over Wolfs Lane adjacent to the Pelham National Bank Building at One Wolfs Lane.  See Friday, October 06, 2017 Early History of the Wolfs Lane Railroad Bridge on the New Haven Line in Pelham.  Additional research now has revealed even more about the earliest efforts to have such a railroad overpass built at that location.  It now seems clear that efforts began in 1882 and ripened into a petition reportedly prepared for submission to the railroad in 1884.  Today's Historic Pelham article will detail the new research.

The earliest efforts to create a railroad overpass with the roadway running beneath it seem to have begun in about 1882.  A brief report (that will require a little explanation after quoting it) appeared in a local newspaper in 1884 and read as follows:

"A petition is in circulation, and has already been largely signed, asking that Pelhamdale avenue, where it crosses the New Haven Railroad track at Pelhamville, be cut through under the track at Pelhamville, be cut through under the track.  It is understood that the town of Pelham and the railroad company are to bear an equal share of the expense.  About two years ago, an interview was had with President Watrous, on the subject, and he then promised to use his influence towards accomplishing the object.  The crossing in question is probably one of the most dangerous on the road, as the approach from either side is up a steep grade, and incoming trains cannot be seen until one is upon the track.  This matter of cutting down the hill, so as to run underneath the track, is a subject that should have been considered years ago and it is a marvel that accidents have not been of frequent occurrence."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 4, 1884, Vol. XV, No. 772, p. 3, col. 5.  

The above-quoted reference may seem odd to those who read it carefully.  It states that the petition seeks to have PELHAMDALE AVENUE (rather than Wolfs Lane) lowered beneath the New Haven Main Line tracks.  Some may wonder:  is this the Pelhamdale Avenue that we know today -- an avenue that does not cross over or under the tracks but, instead, ends at East 1st Street in Pelham Heights at the railroad tracks adjacent to East 1st Street?

As noted by Lockwood Barr in his History of Pelham published in 1946, the 1881 Bromley Map of the area seems to provide the answer.  In the early 1880s, Pelhamdale followed a very different path from the path it now follows through Pelham Heights to the railroad tracks.  The neighborhood of Pelham Heights, of course, did not exist in the early 1880s; there were no roadways through the virgin forest in that area including that portion of what we know today as Pelhamdale Avenue that extends across Colonial Avenue and heads straight to the New Haven Main Line tracks.  Instead, in the early 1880s, Pelhamdale Avenue crossed today's Colonial Avenue and immediately made a diagonal turn toward today's Wolfs Lane, cutting across the back section of today's high school property until it reached what we know as Wolfs Lane roughly at Second Street in today's Pelham Heights (near today's Pelham Picture House).  At the time, Pelhamdale Avenue then merged with what we know today as Wolfs Lane.  Thus, the above-quoted reference to the petition in 1882 "asking that Pelhamdale avenue, where it crosses the New Haven Railroad track at Pelhamville, be cut through under the track at Pelhamville" is, indeed, a reference to a cut-through where the roadway was lowered and a railroad overpass actually was built several years later.

As Lockwood Barr stated:

"There was no trail or early road across the Town of Pelham, that would correspond to the present Pelhamdale Avenue. When Elbert Roosevelt, in 1800, purchased his tract of 250 acres on the Mainland, opposite Travers Island and Hunter's Island, the northern boundary of his property was evidently an old dirt road--now Pelhamdale Avenue--beginning at the Shore Road, near the present boundary line between New Rochelle and the Village of Pelham Manor, and running north to where is now Hillcrest. When the New Haven Railroad, Harlem Division, opened the Pelham Manor Station in 1873, Pelhamdale was extend.ed from the Shore Road to that Railroad Station, and reached the Boston Post Road soon thereafter, as is shown on maps of The Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association.

"On the Bromley map of the Town of Pelham, dated 1881, Pelhamdale then crossed Colonial Avenue, diagonally through the back corner of the present High School property, intersecting Wolf Lane near 2nd Street, Village of Pelham, not far from the Pelham Picture House. On this old map that section of the Village of Pelham (now The Heights), between 2nd Street and Colonial, appeared the name "Pelhamdale" while the word "Avenue" was in Pelham Manor. The road was named from the old Philip Pell stone house, called Pelham Dale. When Pelham Heights was developed, after 1890, and the Village of Pelham incorporated in 1896, the diagonal cut was eliminated and Pelhamdale was cut through to the New Haven Main Line Railroad Station."

Source:  Barr, Lockwood Anderson, 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 & Manour of Pelham Also The Story of the Three Modern Villages Called The Pelhams, pp. 118-19 (The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946).

A look at a detail from the 1881 Bromley map certainly confirms the conclusions of Lockwood Barr.  The detail immediately below has been rotated from the original so that due North is at the top of the image.

Detail of 1881 Map of Pelham Showing "Pelhamdal" [sic],

Immediately East of Esplanade, Following a Course of 

Crossing "Old Post Road" (Today's Colonial Avenue) and

Drifting Northeast Across Grounds That Became Today's

Pelham Memorial High School, Then Joining "FIFTH AVE"

At About Where Today's East Second Street Intersects

Wolfs Lane Near the Modern Picture House.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Clearly the reference published in 1884 to efforts to create a cut under the New Haven Main Line tracks where "Pelhamdale Avenue" intersected the tracks was a reference to the very spot where a modern railroad overpass stands to this day.

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The Original Name of a Famous Pelham Roadway Was "Woolf's Lane"

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Wolfs Lane extends from today's Boston Post Road to the New Haven Main Line railroad tracks where it becomes Fifth Avenue, the principal commercial stretch within the Village of Pelham.  Pelhamites have debated for years whether the proper name of the road is Wolfs Lane or Wolf's Lane (i.e., with or without an apostrophe).  There is, however, evidence that the original name of the roadway was "Woolf's Lane."  This, of course, would make sense because the pathway that became the roadway extended from today's Boston Post Road to the homestead of early Pelham settler John Anthony Woolf (known in Pelham as "Anthony Wolf").  Woolf was a shoemaker and early Mormon convert who settled his family during the 1830s in a homestead once located on the north side of Third Street between today's Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue long before the area became known as "Pelhamville."  The roadway, of course, is named after John Anthony Woolf.

There are a few early records that refer to the roadway as "Woolf's Lane."  None of those early records refers to it as either "Wolf's Lane" or "Wolfs Lane."  

For example, on Monday, December 23, 1872, the Board of Supervisors of Westchester County met in an adjourned meeting of the Board's Annual Session.  One matter before the Board was the Town of Pelham's application to issue bonds to fund the "building, completing and repairing of a road now being constructed in said town, and known as Woolf's Lane, and for the building, completion and repairing a certain road in said town, running from Woolf's Lane to Hutchinson's River. . ."

The town officers of Pelham had made application to be permitted to borrow $2,000 to build, complete, and repair "Woolf's Lane."  The matter had been referred to the Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors.  Reporting that day on behalf of the Judiciary Committee, Supervisor Odle Close reported that the committee had considered the matter favorably and proposed the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the Supervisor of the town of Pelham be, and he hereby is authorized, with the consent of the Justices of the Peace, Town Clerk and Commissioners of Highways of said town, to borrow on the credit of said town the sum of $12,000, for the building and completing a highway in said town, known as Woolf's Lane; and also a highway running from Woolf's Lane to Hutchinson's River; and also a bridge across said Hutchingson's [sic] River; that the bonds or obligations to be issued to secure such loan shall be exercised by the Supervisor of said town, and shall be executed by the Supervisor of said town, and shall be each of the denomination of $500, and bear interest, respectively, at the rate of 7 per cent per annum; that the entire principal sum and interest shall be made payable within eleven years from the date of said bonds or obligations, at the East River Savings Institution, and the consent of the Justices of the Peace, Town Clerk and Commissioners of Highways of said town to the issuing thereof, shall be endorsed on said bonds or obligations, and upon each and every of them."

As the authorized work later was being performed, public records continued to reference the roadway as "Woolf's Lane."  For example, an abstract of the town accounts of various Westchester towns published on the front page of the February 23, 1877 Eastern State Journal of White Plains.  The abstract of accounts audited by the Board of Town Auditors of the Town of Pelham indicated that during 1876, the Town of Pelham appropriated $300 "To build retaining walls on road from Woolf's lane to Hutchinson river."  See Fri., Oct. 23, 2015:  Abstract of the Town Accounts of the Town of Pelham in 1876.

John Anthony Woolf in An Undated Photograph. Caption:

"Born July 31, 1805. Came to Utah Oct. 6, 1847, Edward Hunter

Company. Pres. of Seventies. Bishop's Counselor, Farmer and

Stockraiser." Source: Esshom, Frank, PIONEERS AND PROMINENT

MEN OF UTAH COMPRISING PHOTOGRAPHS - GENEALOGIES -

BIOGRAPHIES, p. 96 (Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Pioneers Book Publishing

Co., 1913).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

I have written about members of the Woolf family and the Woolf Homestead (often referenced in an anglicized fashion in local records as the "Wolf Homestead) on numerous occasions.  See, e.g.:

Tue., May 09, 2017:  Absolom Woolf, Famed Original Mormon Convert, Born in Pelham in 1832.

Thu., Aug. 27, 2015:  More About Anthony Wolf of Wolfs Lane Fame Who Built the Wolf Homestead that Once Stood in Pelhamville.

Wed., Aug. 26, 2015:  Stories About The Old Wolf Homestead in Pelhamville, Told by J. Gardiner Minard.

The Anthony Woolf Homestead that Once Stood in Pelhamville in an

Undated Photograph Courtesy of The Office of The Historian of the 

Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

No one knows how the name of the roadway came to be anglicized to "Wolf's Lane."  Nor is there any indication as to why the roadway since has been referenced in official and unofficial records as "Wolfs Lane" without any apostrophe.  It certainly seems, however, that in its earliest days, when the roadway was still under construction, it was named "Woolf's Lane."

*          *          *          *          *

"MONDAY, December 23, 1872.

Board met pursuant to adjournment. . . . 

MR. CLOSE, from Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred the application to borrow money upon the credit of the town of Pelham, presented the following report thereon; said report was considered and adopted, two-thirds of all the members of the Board, including the Supervisor of the town of Pelham voting in favor thereof.

To the Board of Supervisors:

The Judiciary Committee, to whom was referred the application of the town officers of the town of Pelham, for authority to the Supervisor of said town to borrow the sum of $2,000 for, and upon the credit of said town, for the purpose of building, completing and repairing a road now being constructed in said town, and known as Woolf's Lane, and for the building, completion and repairing a certain road in said town, running from Woolf's Lane to Hutchinson's River, and also for building and completing a bridge across said Hutchinson's River, pursuant to chapter 855 of the Laws of 1869, respectfully report that your committee have had the matter under consideration, and submit for adoption the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Supervisor of the town of Pelham be, and he hereby is authorized, with the consent of the Justices of the Peace, Town Clerk and Commissioners of Highways of said town, to borrow on the credit of said town the sum of $12,000, for the building and completing a highway in said town, known as Woolf's Lane; and also a highway running from Woolf's Lane to Hutchinson's River; and also a bridge across said Hutchingson's [sic] River; that the bonds or obligations to be issued to secure such loan shall be exercised by the Supervisor of said town, and shall be executed by the Supervisor of said town, and shall be each of the denomination of $500, and bear interest, respectively, at the rate of 7 per cent per annum; that the entire principal sum and interest shall be made payable within eleven years from the date of said bonds or obligations, at the East River Savings Institution, and the consent of the Justices of the Peace, Town Clerk and Commissioners of Highways of said town to the issuing thereof, shall be endorsed on said bonds or obligations, and upon each and every of them.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

ODLE CLOSE,                 )
AMHERST WIGHT, Jr.     }     Judiciary
DANIEL HUNT,                }      Committee.
E.G. SUTHERLAND,       ) "

Source:  ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF WESTCHESTER CO., pp. 363 & 366-67 (Westchester County:  1873).  

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The Recently-Saved Pelham Picture House Was Saved Once Before in 1928

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In 2001 and 2002, a group of civic-minded Pelhamites and others set out to save the Pelham Picture House, a large single-screen movie theater located at 175 Wolfs Lane.  The theater, built in 1921 by Clint Woodward of Bronxville, was set to be sold and demolished with plans to erect a retail bank branch on the site.  The citizens created a non-profit organization named "Pelham Picture House Preservation."  The organization spent the next four years raising the money to acquire the theater.  On May 28, 2010, the Pelham Picture House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

Nearly everyone in Pelham knows of the intense efforts to save the Pelham Picture House during the 2001-2005 time period.  Few know, however, that the Pelham Picture House had to be "saved" once before in 1928.

The Pelham Picture House in 2011.

Source:  Wikipedia.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

In late 1927 -- even before the advent of "talkies" in Pelham -- the management of The Pelham Picture House found itself in "severe hardship" due to competition from "larger theatres in neighboring communities."  A decision was made to pull the plug on the theater.  It went dark, disappointing residents throughout the Town of Pelham.  The owners of the theater sold the property which sat, unused, for months.

In July, 1928, a local real estate company, Lander Realty Corporation, applied on behalf of the property to the Board of Trustees of the Village of Pelham (today's Pelham Heights) to reopen the motion picture theater.  The application was met with enthusiasm and was approved unanimously by the board.  

The move by Lander Realty Corporation seems to have been prompted by an initiative to renovate the Pelham Picture House and have a New Rochelle motion picture theater operator named Carl F. Michelfelder operate the Pelham Picture House.  

On Thursday, August 16, 1928, after a shutdown that lasted more than eight months, The Pelham Picture House reopened.  The new management showed the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film "The Crowd."  A large audience attended and enjoyed the newly-renovated theater under the management of Carl F. Michelfelder.  The single-screen theater had been saved -- nearly eighty years before Pelham saved it yet again!

Below is text from a series of articles reflecting this interlude in the history of The Pelham Picture House.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

The Pelham Picture House in an Undated Photograph,

Ca. 1920s.  NOTE:  Click Image To Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"Pelham Heights Village Fathers Like the Movies
-----
Proposal To Reopen Pelham Picture House Pleases Members Of Village Board; Permit Granted
-----

The Pelham Heights Village Board is going to the 'movies.'  The application of the Lander Realty Corporation for a permit to operate the Pelham Picture House on Wolf's Lane was greeted with much enthusiasm by the Pelham Heights Trustees Tuesday night.  The permit to reopen the motion picture theatre, which has been dark for the last six months was granted without a dissenting vote.

Trustee Talbert W. Sprague, who attended his first meeting,, announced that he had stopped going to the 'movies' since the picture house closed.  'I used to enjoy sitting in those comfortable box seats and going to sleep during the picture,' he said.  

Mayor Maxwell B. Nesbitt, none the less appreciative of a community motion picture house, agreed that he had missed the performance and welcomed the proposal to reopen the theatre.

Inasmuch as the former management of the Pelham Picture House operated the theatre under severe hardship due to competition of the larger theatres in neighboring communities, the enthusiasm of the Pelham Heights Village Fathers is assurance that the programs will receive some patronage, and evidence that the little theatre was an important part of the local community life.

Alterations are being made at the theatre.  The opening date is soon to be announced."

Source:  Pelham Heights Village Fathers Like the Movies -- Proposal To Reopen Pelham Picture House Pleases Members Of Village Board; Permit Granted, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 20, 1928, p. 13, cols. 5-6.  

"PELHAM PICTURE HOUSE SOON TO OPEN
-----

When renovations are completed Pelham Picture House will be opened by Carl F. Michelfelder, New Rochelle motion picture house operator, who has had long experience in the business.  It is expected that Mr. Michelfelder will announce his plans next week.

Pelham Picture House on Wolf's Lane at Brookside avenue was built by Clint Woodward, of Bronxville.  It was opened in 1921 and continued until late last year when the building was sold."

Source:  PELHAM PICTURE HOUSE SOON TO OPEN, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 13, 1928, Vol. 19, No. 20, p. 2, col. 4.

"PELHAM THEATRE OPENED LAST NIGHT
-----

A large audience attended the opening of The Pelham Theatre on Wolf's Lane, Pelham, last night.  The theatre, which has undergone a complete renovation and is entirely re-decorated, is under the management of Carl Michelfelder.  Under the new management, first run pictures will be shown for the entertainment of Pelhamites."  

Source:  PELHAM THEATRE OPENED LAST NIGHT, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 17, 1928, p. 1, col. 3.  

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1846 Notice of Sheriff's Sale of Land Owned by William McClellan of the Town of Pelham

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William McClellan once owned a large swath of land between the location of today's New Haven main line tracks and the old Boston Post Road (known today as Colonial Avenue) in today's Village of Pelham. (He also owned at least one other large tract in Pelham, nearby.) In 1846 a notice of sheriff's sale of those lands appeared in a Sing-Sing, New York newspaper. That notice is quoted in its entirety below, followed by a citation to its source.

An interesting feature of the notice is that it affirms local tradition of the origins of the street name "Wolf's Lane". The notice makes reference to "the lane leading to Andrew Wolf's". The notice immediately follows:

"Sheriff's Sale. - By virtue of an execution to me directed and delivered against the goods and chattels, lands and tenements of William W. McClellan, I have levied upon and will expose to public sale at the Court House in the village of White Plains, on the 7th day of May next, at 1 o'clock, P. M. of that day, all the right, title and interest which the said William W. McClellan had on the 5th day of March, 1845, or at any time afterwards, in whose hands soever the same may be, in and to the following described premises, viz. :

All that certain piece, parcel or lot of land, situated, lying and being in the town of Pelham, county of Westchester, and state of New York, and bounded and described as follows: On the south by the old Boston Post Road, on the west by the lane leading to Andrew Wolf's, on the west by lands of Philip Pell, on the east by lands of Henry Granzebeak [sic], containing about fifty acres, be the same more or less.

Also, all that certain lot, piece or parcel of land, situated, lying and being in the town, county and state aforesaid, and bounded and described as follows: On the south by lands of Philip Pell, on the west by lands of Andrew Wolf, on the north by lands of Francis Seacor [sic], on the east by lands of Henry Guion, and on the south and east by lands of Henry Granzeback [sic], containing about 30 acres be the same more or less.

WM. H. BRIGGS, Sheriff.
By JACOB FOSHAY, Under Sheriff 22w7"

Source: Sheriff's Sale, Hudson River Chronicle [Sing-Sing, NY], Vol. 9, Issue 22, Mar. 17, 1846, p. 3, col. 3.

That particular Sheriff's Sale does not appear to have been held since essentially the same notice appeared in the same newspaper later the same year. See Sheriff's ale [sic], Hudson River Chronicle [Sing-Sing, NY], Vol. 9, Issue 38, Jul. 7, 1846, p. 4, col. 3.

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