History of New Rochelle, New York

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Map of New Rochelle in 1918 and historical sites

New Rochelle (French: Nouvelle-Rochelle [la nuvɛl ʁoʃɛl] ) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. The town was settled by refugee Huguenots (French Protestants) in 1688 who were fleeing Catholic pogroms in France. Many of the settlers were artisans and craftsmen from the city of La Rochelle, France, thus influencing the choice of the name of "New Rochelle."

In 2007, the city had a population of 73,260, making it the seventh largest in the state of New York.

17th century

Protestants in France

In 1689, the absolutist Catholic monarch of France Louis XIV unilaterally revoked the Edict of Nantes. This royal edict had protected the minority Protestant population from religious persecution within certain defined areas of France. Despite the fact that the Protestants were France's most industrious class, Louis XIV was determined to drive them out of France. Faced with the prospect of the resurgence of another war of religion, Protestant countries of Europe opened up their territories to the these French Protestants, or Huguenots. John Pell, Lord of Pelham Manor, under warrant from the King William III of England, provided land to Huguenot families, most of whom were from the Province of Annis and the city of La Rochelle.

Settlement

Statue of Jacob Leisler

Thomas Paine Memorial

Some 33 families established the community of New Rochelle. A monument containing the names of these settlers stands in Hudson Park, the original landing point of the Huguenots in 1688. Thirty-one years earlier, the Siwanoy Indians sold their land to Thomas Pell. His land patent was confirmed by his nephew, John Pell, who became lord of Pelham Manor - a feudal domain with its own civil and criminal courts. It was from John Pell and his wife that Jacob Leisler, acting as an agent for a group of Huguenots in New York, purchased the land upon which they would settle for a sum of 1,675 pounds. In 1689 Pell officially deeded 6,100 acres (25 km²) to Leisler for the establishment of a Huguenot community. In addition to the purchase money, Jacob Leisler and his heirs and assigns were to yield and pay unto John Pell and his heirs and assigns (Lords of the Pelham Manor) one 'Fat Calf' yearly as acknowledgement of their feudal obligation to the Manor.

Jacob Leisler is an important figure in the early histories of both New Rochelle and the nation. He arrived in America as a mercenary in the British army and later became one of the most prominent merchants in New York. He also served for a time as mayor of New York City. He was subsequently appointed acting-governor of the province, and it was during this time that he acted on behalf of the Huguenots.

Several other prominent Huguenots were integral in the creation of New Rochelle, including Jacques Flandreau, Gabriel Minivielle, Broussard Des Champs, Jean Bouteillier, and Ambroise Sicard, to who the naming of the town is attributed. Jacques Flandreau owned extensive acreage in town and along the Boston Post Road; of their family cemetery, Flandreau Cemetery, a small and overgrown part remains. Gabriel Minvielle arrived in New York in 1673 and prospered both as a merchant and also politically, becoming mayor of New York City in 1684. Broussard Des Champs was in New York as early as 1674, where he was established as a merchant. Between 1678 and 1683 he was involved in lending money on mortgage on lands in and around New York City and on Long Island. Bouteillier was a merchant on the Island of Martinique as early as 1678, and, upon his removal to New York, he became actively interested in helping other refugees upon their arrival to the city.

Each of these men participated in promoting the first settlement of Huguenots at New Rochelle along with the assistance of Jacob Leisler. An initial purchase of the tract including Davenport Neck and the adjacent island, now Davids' Island, with Leisler securing the largest share. This purchase proved too limited to handle the lage number of refugees arriving in New York, thus resulting in the larger purchase of land from John Pell in 1687. No conveyance of the New Rochelle purchase, pursuant to the 1687 contract, was delivered until 1689, and John Pell conveyed it to Jacob Leisler alone, ignoring all others interested in the purchase. The explanation may be that there had already developed among the Huguenot refugees considerable hostility to Leisler and opposition to his political activities and ambitions. Many of the prominent settlers of New Rochelle actively opposed Leisler. Minivielle was so hostile that he cast his vote in the Governor's Council in 1691 for Leisler's execution.

French character

Of all the Huguenot settlements in American founded with the view of being distinct French colonies, New Rochelle most clearly conformed to the plans of its founders. The colony continued to attract French refugees until as late as 1760. The choice of name for the city reflected the importance of the city of La Rochelle and of the new settlement in Huguenot history and distinctly French character of the community. French was spoken, and it was common practice for people in neighboring areas to send their children to New Rochelle to learn the language. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay and author Washington Irving were among the most notable individuals to have been educated in the private boarding school at Trinity Church.

18th century

The French Huguenots, as Protestant Europeans, quickly assimilated into the English colony. Although, most continued to marry within other Huguenot families over the first two generations, the colonists use of English and their similarity in customs and race to the larger English population quickly promoted the assimilation of the Huguenots into overall society. By 1738 the last recorded entries in French were made on town records.

Revolutionary War

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Paine cottage

In 1775 General George Washington stopped in New Rochelle on his way to assume command of the Army of the United Colonies in Massachusetts, recounting: "The road for the greater part, indeed the whole way, but the land strong and well covered with grass and a crop of Indian corn intermixed with Pompions (which were yet ungathered) in the fields... The distance of this day's travel was 31 miles (50 km) in which we passed through Eastchester, New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, but as these places (although they have houses of worship in them) are not regularly laid out, they are scarcely to be distinguished from the immediate farms which are very close together and are separated as one inclosure from another is, by fences of stones which are indeed easily made as the country is immensely stony". The British Army briefly occupied sections of New Rochelle and Larchmont during the critical weeks of the Revolutionary War in 1776. The war took a heavy toll on the community. Families often chose conflicting sides, and those who remained neutral were torn apart by the casualties of battle, and the loss of homes and farms to raiders. Following British victory in the Battle of White Plains, New Rochelle became part of a "Neutral Ground" for General Washington to regroup his troops.

After the Revolutionary War ended in 1784, patriot Thomas Paine was given a farm in New Rochelle for his service to the cause of independence. The farm, totaling about 300 acres (1.2 km²), had been confiscated from its owners by state of New York due to their Tory activities. Now located on a small street in New Rochelle, the Thomas Paine Cottage is a small museum where many Revolutionary War re-enactments occur. Six years after the Revolutionary War had ended, the first national census of 1790 shows New Rochelle with 692 residents, 136 of whom were African American.

19th century

Early economy

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	692		—
1890	9,057		—
1900	14,720		62.5%
1910	28,867		96.1%
1920	36,213		25.4%
1930	54,000		49.1%
1940	58,408		8.2%
1950	59,725		2.3%
1960	76,812		28.6%
1970	75,385		−1.9%
1980	70,794		−6.1%
1990	67,265		−5.0%
2000	72,182		7.3%
2007 (est.)	73,260

Through the 18th century, New Rochelle had remained a modest village that retained an abundance of agricultural land. During the 19th century, however, with the rapid growth of New York City by immigration principally from Ireland and Germany, more American families left New York City and moved into the area. Although the original Huguenot population was rapidly shrinking in relative size, through ownership of land, businesses, banks, and small manufactures, they retained a predominant hold on the political and social life of the town. A tollhouse was constructed in 1802 across the Westchester County Turnpike (now known as Main Street). Four cents was charged for each horse and rider and ten cents was charged for each horse-drawn cart. The tollhouse remained in operation until the discontinuation of all tolls in 1867.

The Mott family build Premium Mill in 1801. Said to be the country's largest flour mill, it was four stories high with a twelve-stone run. Most of the flour was exported to Europe. The industry and the mill itself declined with the embargoes port blockades during the War of 1812 and the opening of the Erie Canal. The 1820 Census showed 150 African-Americans residing in New Rochelle, six of whom were slaves. Lucretia Mott, whose family owned the mill, formed an anti-slavery society in 1833 and later championed the woman's suffrage movement. The Mott family home in New Rochelle may have been used on the underground railroad.

Washington Irving's publisher, G.P. Putnam, built his manufacturing plant on Webster Avenue in 1890. Irving's best selling book 'Diedrich Knicerbocker's History of New York' was clearly an inspiration for the massive Dutch-style Knickerbocker Building which housed the company. For 40 years the works of Irving, Herman Melville, Charles Dickens and other celebrated authors were printed and bound at the New Rochelle factory.

Country Estates

For the upper echelon of Manhattan, New Rochelle was the perfect location for a summer home in the mid-1800's. Huge tracts of farmland on prime waterfront property could be bought up easily and inexpensively. Davenport Neck was a desirable spot for many large summer homes and estates. The Davenport family, for whom the important promontory is named, commissioned one of the countryks leading architects, Alexander Jackson Davis, to design Overlook above Echo Bay, and the larger Gothic villa Sans Souci in the middle of the Neck. Other Davis designs were built inland including 'Winyah', the summer home of Col. Richard Lathers, and the homes on 'Lather's Hill'. In 1892 the artist Frederic Remington purchased one of the 'Lather's Hill' homes situated on a 3-acre (12,000 m²) estate.

International banker and industrialist Adrian Iselin purchased most of Davenport Neck by 1850's on which estates were built for each of his seven children. The Iselin family began the New Rochelle Water Company as well as the first savings bank in the city. C. Oliver Iselin, and the six other children of Adrian Iselin, engage in many philanthropic causes in New Rochelle, donating substantial financial gifts to The College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle Hospital and also the World War Memorial Committee.

The Hotelier Simeon Leland bought 40 acres of farmland on which his 60-room summer home, "Castleview" was completed in 1855. Builder-architect Thomas Beers took four years to complete the home, which included a moat and fine woodwork crefted by masters brought over from Germany. Notable guests of "Castleview" included the Prince of Wales and Charles Dickens.

John Stephenson, inventor of the horse-drawn streetcar, was a frequent vacationer to New Rochelle. He purchased a large tract of shoreline property in 1862 and built 'Clifford', a towering mansion overlooking Echo Bay.

Beginning tourism

New Rochelle's location on Long Island Sound propelled the farming community into becoming a resort destination. Sophisticated entrepreneurs and the advancement of steamboat travel ensured its sucess, as developers and visitors were lured by the country landscape and unlimited aquatic activities offered by waerfront hotels and resorts, just a boat ride from the crowded streets of Manhattan.

In 1892, Rose Hill Gardens, one of the largest botanical gardens in the country during the 1800s, cultivated the first orchid in the United States. Rose Hill was comprised of about 68 enormous hothouses, filled with winter-blooming lilies of the valley, roses, and other flowers never before seen in the Americas. The gardens furnished elite florists in Manhattan and premier estate gardens.

One of the earliest and most extravagant amusement areas opened off New Rochelle's shoreline during the summer of 1880. Within two years, over a half-million visitors each summer were enhoying the waterfront attractions offered at John H. Starin's Glen Island Resort, " the World's Pleasure Grounds". Starin, a former United States Congressman and the owner of the largest fleet of steamboats in Manhattan, created a lucrative destination for his vessels. He purchased five islands off of Davenport Neck in 1879,a total of 102 acres, creating one of the first theme parks open to the public. Glen Island boasted a natural history museum, an aviary, zoo, railway, bathing beach, German beer garden, Grand Cafe and a Chinese pagoda. A chain ferry brought people to the island from a mainland dock.

Government and politics

In 1857 the Village of New Rochelle was established within the borders of the Town of New Rochelle. With its own president and board of trustees, the village eventually included most of the southern part of the community. On April 24, 1889, the entire town, includind the village, was incorporated as city. The bill creating the New Rochelle City Charter was signed by Governor Theodore Roosevelt. At the time there were about 14,000 residents.

Davids’ Island became the site of Fort Slocum in 1896, named for General Henry Warner Slocum, a Huguenot descendant and a Civil War officer. It was originally the site of DeCamp Hospital which treated thousands of wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. Fort Slocum became one of the largest recruiting stations in the country, with greatest use during World War I and World War II.

New Rochelle's fire service began at the time of the Civil War, starting as two separately established volunteer fire companies; ‘The Enterprise Hook, Ladder, and Bucket Company’ and the 'Huguenot Hook and Ladder Company'.

In 1899 Michael J. Dillon narrowly defeated Hugh A. Harmer to become New Rochelle's first mayor. The recently established city charter designated four wards, a board of alderman (two from each ward), and 10 elected from the city at large.

20th century

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Map of Sound Shore communities in 1900

Poet and resident James J. Montague captured the image of New Rochelle in his 1926 poem Queen City of the Sound. The last four lines of the poem are:

(...)
When Nature, seeking upon men
        To cast a magic spell,
She looked the world around - and then
        She fashioned New Rochelle.

— JAMES J. MONTAGUE

Suburban living

By 1900 New Rochelle had a population of 14,720. As the effects of continuing immigration continued throughout the northeastern United States and New York in particular, the early French Huguenot character of the town and its ruling class dissolved. In 1930 New Rochelle recorded a population of 54,000, up from 36,213 only ten years earlier. During the 1930’s New Rochelle was the wealthiest city per capita in New York state and the third wealthiest in the country. In the early part of the 20th century, the County's famous Glen Island Casino on Long Island Sound continued to draw such celebrities as Glenn Miller, the Dorsey Brothers and Ozzie Nelson. In 1904 plans were completed for Rochelle Park, one of the first planned communities in the country. Two of the nation's first suburban branch department stores, Arnold Constable & Co. and Bloomingdales, opened in New Rochelle in the 1940s.

Cultural developments

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Downtown New Rochelle

The "funniest man in the world", as vaudeville star Eddie Foy was called by the press in the late 1800's, settled his family in a large home in the city's south end. 'Forty-five Minutes from Broadway, a musical comedy about New Rochelle, opened January 1 1906. In 1909, Edwin Thanhouser established Thanhouser Film Corporation. Thanhouser's Million Dollar Mystery was one of the first serial motion pictures. The artist Norman Rockwell moved to New Rochelle in 1915, sharing a studio with the cartoonist Clyde Forsythe, who worked for The Saturday Evening Post. He often drew his illustration subjects from members of the community. J. C. Leyendecker and his younger brother Francis settled and worked in New Rochelle after coming to America from Germany. In 1941 New Rochelle based Terrytoons Studio introduced the famous Mighty Mouse cartoon character. In 1976 New Rochelle resident E.L. Doctorow wrote the novel Ragtime, which would later become a major Broadway musical.

Desegregation

New Rochelle was the scene of the first court-ordered school desegregation case in "the north", when the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962 denied certiorari and so let stand a decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that the Lincoln School boundaries had been intentionally drawn to create segregated elementary school districts. Lincoln School was closed and demolished in 1965, with students of that district allowed to attend certain other city elementary schools. The school district is known for its diversity, and the high school honors civil rights leader Whitney Young in the name of its auditorium and civil rights martyr Michael Schwerner in the name of its library. In May 1968, New Rochelle High School was damaged by an arson fire. Displaced students were accommodated at local junior high schools under a time-sharing arrangement while the high school was being rebuilt.

Society and government

Bicentennial half-dollar

New Rochelle resident Anna Jones became the first African American woman to be admitted to the New York State Bar in 1923. In 1928, women's rights advocate Carrie Chapman Catt settled in New Rochelle. Catt, President of The National American Womans Suffrage Association, was influential in the fight for the 19th Amendment (Susan B. Anthony Amendment).

The city manager form of government was adopted in 1929. Under this arrangement, the city council is the legislative body that establishes city laws, ordinances and resolutions. The council appoints the city manager, who oversees and implements the directives of the council. On June 18, 1938 the City celebrated its 250th anniversary with a massive parade of more than 6,000 marchers. Notable spectators included Governor Herbert H. Lehman, U.S. Postmaster General James A. Farley and a number of visiting dignitaries from La Rochelle, France. The U.S. Government authorized a limited edition of New Rochelle half dollar commemorative coins to mark the anniversary.

In 1987 New Rochelle was awarded the U.S. Conference of Mayors City Livability Award.

Modern history

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Trump Plaza

At the turn of the 21st century, New Rochelle had begun a massive revitalization of its 'downtown'. Part of downtown near the Metro North train station was rebuilt with a $190 million entertainment complex, nicknamed New Roc City, which features a 19-screen movie theater, Westchester's first IMAX theater, an indoor ice-hockey arena, mini-golf, go karts, an arcade, a health club, restaurants, a hotel, loft-apartments and a mega supermarket. The complex was built on the former Macy's and Mall which had opened in 1968.

Additional revitalization has come by way of two new luxury residences. The construction of Avalon On The Sound East, a luxury apartment complex was unveiled by Avalon Bay Communities in 2007. Trump Plaza, a 40-story luxury residence is the second tallest building in Westchester County. Properties along 'main street' which had been empty for years, such as the former Bloomingdales department store and Lillian Vernon headquarters, have been transformed into condominiums and rental apartments.

Railroad history

19th century

After the end of the Civil War, proposals for new railroads reached new levels. As New York City continued to expand, many proposals were made to link The Bronx with Westchester County, hoping to capitalize on increasing real estate values. Banking that the city would continue to grow northward, the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway Company developed new lines of service to serve the large populations moving to the suburbs. Two main lines were built as part of the NYW&B; the Port Chester line and the White Plains line. The Port Chester Line ran along the same route as the New York Railroads New Haven line which remains in service today. The White Plains Line ran north through much of New Rochelle's rural, undeveloped Northend.

20th century

Even by 1912, much of 'Upper Rochelle' remained sparsely populated. The Wykagyl and Quaker Ridge stations fronted dirt roads and were not served by public transportation. Ironically, most of the real-estate development that did occur at the time was attracting wealthier residents who owned their own automobiles, frequently chauffeur-driven, and used them instead of public-transportation for local trips. While the populations of some communities served by the NYWB did grow between 1912 and 1937, the growth was not large enough or fast enough to provide sufficient business for the railroad, and service was discontinued on December 31, 1937. The only signs of the railway that are left can be found in a few remaining station houses, most notably the Quaker Ridge station, currently a private residence, and the former Wykagyl station, now part of a shopping center.

External links

• Universiy of Columbia - History of New Rochelle, New York