Larchmont
From pre-history to the present, humans have been drawn to Larchmont's shore. Earliest settlers were the Siwanoy Indians, an Algonquin tribe. They harvested the rich marshlands for clams and hunted inland for bear, deer, racoon and muskrat.
In 1614, a Dutch sea captain discovered Long Island Sound after passing through Hell's Gate. He reported seeing campfires in what is now known as Larchmont Manor Park. The indigenous population was not long for the area, once the British and Dutch began buying up the land. By 1720, only a handful of Siwanoys remained in what is now Larchmont.
The next century saw a steady increase in population, as first Quaker refugees from New England and then wealthy New Yorkers established estates in the area. During the late 19th century, Larchmont was known as a summer playground for New York's elite. Many of the large Victorian "cottages" of that era survive in Larchmont Manor.
The summer residents chose to incorporate as a municipality in 1891. Today, Larchmont is a one-mile-square village within the Town of Mamaroneck, served by the New Haven line of Metro-North Railroad and several major highways. No longer just a summer resort, Larchmont is a thriving community year-round, offering easy access to New York City and points north and west.
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The Streets of Larchmont
Larchmont Place-Names
The Streets Are NOT All Named for Trees
© Copyright Judith Doolin Spikes 1991
| Phyliss
McGinley used poetic license when she wrote of Larchmont that "all the
streets are named for trees." In plain prose, only 15 streets in the
incorporated Village are named for trees, while 52 are named for people. All
the streets acquired their names in one of these two ways: the names were
assigned either by their developers or by the Village trustees upon petition
of resident property owners. Who were the people for whom 53 of our streets
were named? Addison J. Addison Young, a resident of New Rochelle, owned much of the commercial district on the northern side of the Boston Post Road at the turn of the century. Among other distinctions, Young was a founder of the Westchester Bar Association (1896), a Westchester County District Attorney (1902)), Supreme Court Justice for the 9th District of the State of New York (1915), and Justice of the Appellate Division (1922). Bayard Anna Maria Bayard (1670-1756) was the wife of Augustus Jay (founder of the Jay family in America) and great- grandmother of Peter Jay Munro, who once owned almost all of the land that now makes up the Village of Larchmont. Beverly No information: probably the developer's wife or daughter. Bishop
Bonnett Several members of this old New Rochelle Huguenot family owned in the area--among them, Abraham, Peter, and William. Another married into the Vanderburgh family whose house stood near this street in the latter part of the 19th century. Bozell Plaza H.V. Bozell was a village trustee around 1940, much involved in the Parks Committee.
Bronson Mayhew Wainwright Bronson (1864 - 1936), philanthropist and
man-about-town, is best remembered as the flamboyant fire chief of 1900-04.
He was also active in
Clark Court Lest we forget...there should be an "e" on the end. Charles Sheldon Clarke, son of early settlers in Mamaroneck and a member of the Larchmont Police Department, was killed in France during World War I, leaving a wife and infant twin daughters. In 1923, the editor of the Larchmont Times proposed naming streets after Larchmonters who fell in the war. The Village Board accepted the suggestion, and Clarke Court was the first so named. Coolidge No information; named for the U.S. President by the developer, presumably. Dawes Place No
information; possibly Coolidge's vice-president; possibly for F. F. Dawes,
who in the second decade of the 20th century operated Oak
Bluff House on Oak Bluff Avenue
Franklin No information. Gerlach In the early 20th century, Mary Keller owned the land surrounding the present Gerlach and Stafford places. Her second husband was Julius Gerlach, a Larchmont housepainter, fire chief and Village trustee, who inherited the land on her death in 1911. Gilder Joseph Gilder, editor of The Dramatic Critic around 1896, owned this part of the commercial district in the early 20th century. His son Harwood was born in Larchmont in 1895. Griffin Edward C. Griffin served as Village president 1909-11 and 1915-20 and was
chairman of the Larchmont Free Library Committee, which donated the libra
Guion An early Huguenot family from New Rochelle. Hall Thomas G. Hall married Caroline Wilmarth, who had inherited a large tract of land between the Post Road and Palmer Avenue from Chatsworth Avenue to the eastern boundary of the Village. He created the development known as Forest Park. In 1922 the Village Board renamed the part of Roosevelt Avenue between Palmer and Forest Park Avenue in memory of Hall, "a public spirited man." Harrison No information; presumably for the U.S. President. Hazel No information. Helena Helena Flint, spinster daughter of T. J. S. Flint, founder of the
Larchmont Manor
Howard No information . Iden The land through which this Street runs, developed in 1919 as "Parkside," was formerly the Henry Iden estate. Iselin C. Oliver Iselin, a famous yachtsman from New Rochelle, bought land in this area in the 1890s. His father, Adrian, was a banker and president of the New Rochelle Water Company. Jochum Andrew and Gertrude Jochum were early residents of Woodbine Park. When the deed to the street was conveyed to the Village, the trustees suggested renaming it, but this never came to pass. Kane Thomas Kane, an Irish immigrant, made a fortune by collecting horse manure in the streets of New York City for fertilizer. In 1876, he bought from E. K. Collins' widow, Sarah, a 50-acre tract along the western side of Beach Avenue below the Post Road. The property was developed as Woodbine Park in 1890. Described in his 1894 obituary as 'of a somewhat retiring disposition and never what is know as a club man,' he contributed [generously] to a number of charitable organizations and was a major donor to the building funds of St. Augustine's Chapel in Larchmont and Holy Trinity Church in Mamaroneck. Kilmer Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918), a writer and reviewer for the New York Sunday
Times Magazine best known for his poem "Trees," moved into a rental house
(now 15 Maple Avenue) in Larchmont with his family in 1917. Outraged by the
sinking of the Lusitania, he volunteered for military service and was killed
July 30, 1918, in the
Lincoln No information; presumably for the U.S. president. Lindsley Emily Earle Lindsley (1858-1944), a watercolorist and portrait painter
who studied in Rome and at the National Academy of Design, was the first
woman to vote in Larchmont under the Suffrage Act. She was a founder of
Lorenzen Frederick Lorenzen owned the triangle of land through which this street runs in the late 19th century and attempted to develop it in 1888, although development did not succeed until the early 20th century. Lorenzen Place was formerly the western continuation of Oak Avenue, which crossed the Premium River from the Manor and Woodbine Park by means of a bridge erected in 1890 when Woodbine Park was developed. After the bridge collapsed in 1920, the two ends of Oak Avenue were no longer connected, causing confusion, so in 1927 the Village Board substituted "Lorenzen." Lyons John L. Lyons, Larchmont's first boy to make the supreme sacrifice in World War I. Formerly Monroe Place, and briefly, Sycamore Road. The name was changed to Sycamore Road by the Trustees in 1924, over the protest of residents, because of confusion with Monroe Avenue. Protest continued, and the original name was restored one month later. The name was changed to Lyons Place in 1926, in keeping with the Trustees' policy of naming streets for World War I dead; the residents at that time petitioned for naming it Dupont Place, but the Trustees' designation prevailed. Author's Query: Does anyone know why "Dupont" was proposed? Margaret Thanks to Paul Andersen, we now have the following information on the Margaret of Margaret Lane: Margaret Lord, a long-time Village Clerk and previously Deputy Clerk-Secretary. She served in these capacities from at least 1936 to 1945--probably longer. Mayhew Mayhew Wainwright Bronson. See information under Bronson Avenue [above]. Monroe Probably a corruption of Munro, for Peter Jan Munro, who built the Manor House and who owned from 1795 to 1845 all the land now comprising the village. (Buccaneer Channel was formerly known as Munro's Gut, later corrupted to Monroe Inlet; the present name was given by James Adamson, the developer of Larchmont Shores.) Or possibly Augustin Monroe (1854-1904), an early Village resident and an organizer and third commodore of the Larchmont Yacht Club, which had a golf club in this area in the early 20th century. Palmer Samuel Palmer (1648-1716), his wife, Mary Drake, and their six sons (William, Obadiah, Nehemiah, Samuel Jr., Sylvanus, and Solomon) were Larchmont's first settlers and left many descendants in the area. Palmer Avenue, which was laid out as a public highway from Chatsworth Avenue to Weaver Street in 1874, was probably named for the Thomas Palmer (1804-1886) who purchased the land now known as Howell Park in 1842; Palmer Avenue was laid out along the northerly boundary of his property. (He was the grandfather of Miss Ella Howell, into whose hands the property had passed by the time it was sold for development) Pryer John Pryer (1802-1887) purchased the c. 1776 Mill House (4 Pryer Manor
Road) and several acres along the easterly shore of the Premium River and
Mill Pond around 1850. The property passed by will to his son Charles (1851-
1916), an author,
Roosevelt In the early 1840s, James John Roosevelt (born c. 1795), son of Jacobus (also known as James I. Roosevelt, Sr.) and brother of Cornelius (founder of the Chemical Bank), assembled a 500-acre country estate that stretched along the Post Road from the easterly boundary of the Village to near Beach Avenue and ran north of the railroad tracks up into New Rochelle. In 1850 he sold off a 28-acre parcel bounded to the south by the Post Road and to the north by "a certain street or road recently laid out" that was named Roosevelt Avenue as part of the deal. A portion of that road remains as Roosevelt Avenue today. Shepard In the 1880s-90s, Charles D. Shepard (1840- 1894) owned several acres surrounding Shepard Place. He also owned a large parcel near the railroad tracks, later known as the Iden Estate (see Iden, above), Shepard's Fields (present site of Mamaroneck High School), and Shepard's Point (the waterfront side of Park Avenue between Magnolia Avenue and Manor Park). An actor in early life, he later acquired "many friends in sporting and political circles" and engaged in a variety of pursuits, including serving as the first manager of the Larchmont Yacht Club and as proprietor of the White Elephant Billiard Hall on Broadway. Sherwood Unknown. Could be a family name, but more likely was intended by the developer to suggest Sherwood Forest. Stafford Unknown. Stuyvesant Unknown. Possibly Peter Stuyvesant. Vanderburg Mary E. Vanderburg. wife of George, purchased 28 acres of the Roosevelt estate (see Roosevelt) in 1850 and another 33 acres of that estate in 1855 from the Chatsworth Land Company, together comprising the land bounded by the Post Road, the eastern Village line, Palmer Avenue, and Chatsworth Avenue. Her husband, sometimes referred to as Colonel Vanderburg, served the Town of Mamaroneck as Inspector of Elections in 1859, Assessor in 1870, and in several other capacities through 1879. The northerly parcel passed by will to daughter Eugenia Brown and her children and was developed as Vanderburg Park in the early 20th century. Various spellings of the name are found. Virginia Unknown. Wakeman Eugene Wakeman, a florist and long-time Village Clerk, who owned property surrounding Wakeman Place. Wendt Carsten Wendt, a German-born attorney, purchased approximately 30 acres bounded by Palmer, Larchmont, Chatsworth, and Forest Park avenues from the Chatsworth Land Company in 1885. He was the second Village President, serving in that capacity from 1893-1900, and thereafter as Village Attorney for many years. Winans Unknown. Winslow Unknown. |
Robert (Bobby)
Bishop, a member of the Merchant Marine, was the first Larchmonter to die in
World War II.
the
local Boy Scouts and Masonic Lodge and took a leading role in creating Flint
Park.
in grain elevators in Chicago, then moved to New York City where he became a
wholesale grocery merchant and banker. Flint Avenue was formerly the
continuation of Bonnett Avenue; the name was changed on petition in the
1920s.
ry
building to the Village. In 1932 he founded the Larchmont Unemployment
Relief Organization, which in 1935 became the Larchmont Aid Society. A
40-year member of the Ambulance Protective Corps, he was president of the
Larchmont Trust Company, vice-president of the Bank of Westchester and
president of the Fort George Realty Company
Company.
Ms. Flint donated "The Mermaid's Cradle" in Fountain Square in 1894 in
memory of her father, and in 1915, the land for Flint Park.
second battle of the Marne. When Moses Cherry presented plans for a
development along Ferguson Road in 1923, the Village Board asked him to
rename the road "Kilmer," in keeping with their policy to name new streets
for Larchmonters killed in the World War. Author's Query: Does anyone know
who Ferguson was?
the
Larchmont Avenue Church, Larchmont League of Women Voters, and Larchmont
Garden and Women's clubs. 
antiquarian,
yachtsman, and director of the Knickerbocker Press (New Rochelle), and then
to Charles' son, Harold, under whose ownership the last remnants of the
estate were sold for development.We'll be updating this index frequently. Check back often!
Photos courtesy of Judith Spikes, Village Historian and President of Larchmont Historical Society.