In the beginning...

Pelham was first settled in 1654. The Village of Pelham Manor, Pelham and North Pelham were incorporated in the late 1890's.

In 1654 Thomas Pell purchased 9,160 acres from the Siwanoy Indians. He named his new tract of land PELHAM.

In 1673 the Boston Post Road was opened. Used primarily for mail service from New York to Boston, the round trip by horseback required one month.

Thomas Pell died in 1669. His nephew Sir John Pell,who was living in England, was designated as heir to the property. Following his death, his eldest son, Thomas Pell II became Lord of The Manor. Thomas married an Indian Princess. When he died the large estate was divided among his children. and the title of Lord of The Manor went to his grandson, Joseph Pell II. He was the last Lord of The Manor. During the Revolutionary War the Pell mansion was burned to the ground.

1740

In 1740 Joshua Pell erected a mansion which was to become a showplace. The estate was purchased by the soldier and statesman Aaron Burr in 1790. A short time later Burr gave the property to his stepson, Augustine Provost. Burr had married Provost's widowed mother. The Provost family held the property until the 1890's when it was included in the land purchased for the Pelham Home for Children.

1776

On October 18, 1776, the British Army, under General Howe, made its first permanent invasion of the American mainland in the Revolutionary War. The battle was fought with the Americans under the command of Colonel John Glover, at Pell's Point, now the grounds of of Pelham Memorial High School. Glover and 750 American troops fought 4000 British invaders from behind stone walls for over eight hours. The valiant stand by Glover's men caused the British to halt their invasion and gave General Washington time to move his army off Manhattan and into the safety of White Plains.

For the rest of the Revolution, Pelham Manor was largely deserted and until the 1850's contained only a few farms. The first major development occurred in the 1860's north of the railroad in what was called Pelhamville.

The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad reached Pelham in 1843.

1873

In 1873 a group of young landowners organized a million dollar development with the goal of making Pelham a model village. The village was to be strictly residential with no businesses or factories. Prospect Hill Village, one of the earliest settlements in the Town, was the last area to join the Village of Pelham Manor in 1915.

In the 1870's the Pelham Manor and Huguenot Heights Association began building fine residential homes south of the Post Road. Pelham Heights was the last area to be developed, beginning around 1900. The heaviest building occurred in the 1920's.

Originally three villages, North Pelham, Pelham, and Pelham Manor comprised the Town of Pelham, however North Pelham and Pelham merged in 1974, and the Town now consists of the two villages and Pelham Manor.