Origins through the 19th Century

Long before colonization, the area that would become Pelham Bay Park was part of the ancestral homeland of the Siwanoy, who lived along the shores of the Long Island Sound and the Hutchinson River. They fished, farmed, and hunted amid its salt meadows and oak forests, their settlements connected by coastal trails and canoe routes. The region’s abundance of oysters and clams made it an important seasonal gathering place, rich in both resources and spiritual meaning.

In 1654, Thomas Pell, a physician and trader from Fairfield, Connecticut, signed a treaty with the Siwanoy leaders Wampage and Ann-hook, acquiring 50,000 acres of land stretching from the Bronx to the Mamaroneck River. Pell built his manor on what is now Rodman’s Neck, where he lived until his death in 1669. His descendants continued to farm and manage the estate for generations, their lands encompassing much of what would later become Pelham Bay Park and City Island.

The area’s Revolutionary War history is profound: in 1776, the Battle of Pell’s Point (now part of the park) saw Colonel John Glover’s Marblehead Regiment delay British forces advancing toward Washington’s army retreating from Harlem Heights. The skirmish, fought among stone walls and rocky ridges still visible today, was pivotal in allowing the Continental Army to regroup and avoid capture.

By the mid-19th century, the land was dotted with farms, estates, and small communities. Wealthy families from Manhattan built summer homes overlooking the Sound, while working-class residents settled inland near what is now Pelham Parkway. When New York City annexed the area in 1895, civic reformers quickly moved to preserve its sweeping landscapes from suburban development, envisioning a park that would provide “the city’s lungs” on the Sound.

In 1888, under the leadership of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and the New York City Parks Department, Pelham Bay Park was formally established. It joined Van Cortlandt, Bronx, and Crotona Parks as part of the Bronx’s monumental greenbelt—an ambitious expression of the 19th-century belief in parks as instruments of health, morality, and democracy.

Early 20th Century: The People’s Seaside and the Park Beautiful

In the early 20th century, Pelham Bay Park became a playground for the entire city. The vast open spaces that had once been private farmland now hosted ballfields, bridle paths, and picnic grounds, while the Pelham Bay Golf Course (opened 1901) offered the first public golf experience in the Bronx. The park’s natural diversity—salt marshes, oak-hickory forests, freshwater ponds, and rocky outcrops—attracted naturalists and Sunday strollers alike.

The most transformative project came under Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, who in 1936 constructed Orchard Beach, often called “the Bronx Riviera.” Built on landfill connecting Hunter and Twin Islands, Orchard Beach featured a grand crescent-shaped promenade, bathhouse complex, and wide sandy shoreline. Designed in Art Moderne style by Aymar Embury II, it became one of the most popular beaches in New York City, accessible via the new Orchard Beach Parkway.

Moses’ era also saw the expansion of recreation: playgrounds, athletic fields, and the Split Rock Golf Course joined the landscape. At the same time, however, parkland was sacrificed for parkways and infrastructure, including the Hutchinson River Parkway and new traffic corridors along Shore Road—foreshadowing the mid-century tension between preservation and progress.

Still, Pelham Bay Park flourished as a democratic landscape. Families from across the Bronx came to swim, picnic, and celebrate holidays along its shores. For countless residents, the park became synonymous with summer freedom, its name etched into the borough’s collective memory.