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2010 Heritage Award Properties
Flandreau Family Cemetery
With the first documented burial
on February 19, 1800, until 1892, when the last known burial took place, a
small plot on the rolling farmlands along Boston Post Road at New Rochelle’s
eastern border was used as a graveyard by at least 30 members of the Flandreau
family. From one of original founders of the 17th century French
settlement, (Jacques) through several generations, including the only New
Rochellean killed in the Civil War (John), the Flandreau family has figured
prominently in this community.
The burials began when the
Flandreau family owned extensive acreage along the road and continued here long
after the family sold the farm in 1815. The year before, on February 16 1814,
the children of Benjamin Flandreau laid out by deed "the Flandreau Burying
Ground," 28 yards by 13 yards, and a right-of-way to the Boston Road (also
referred to as Turnpike Road.)
After the Civil War, the owner of
the former Flandreau property, Samuel Chowdrey, was unsuccessful in his bid to
buy the plot for his farm (and move the bodies to another site, at his own
expense). Instead, he enclosed it with a stone wall and hedge. After he died,
his “Hazelhurst Farm” was caught-up in the building boom of the early 1900s. As
building lots encroached on the graveyard, some bodies were exhumed and
reinterred in Beechwoods Cemetery. A monument to Elisha Harsen, a Flandreau
descendant killed while serving on the monitor Tecumseh when it was sunk in
Mobile Bay in 1874, was also moved to Beechwoods. As early as 1923 the cemetery
was considered grossly neglected, as a local newspaper columnist and historian
reported tumbled stones lying amidst weeds and construction debris.
The historically-important sliver
of land, today completely overgrown with invasive foliage, now has the
attention of concerned neighbors and descendants of the Flandreau family. With
the 2010 Heritage Award, it is hoped that other New Rochelle and area residents
will join their efforts to restore it to its rightful dignity.
The Mahlstedt House (c. 1906)
956 North Avenue
Perched on the hillside
overlooking North Avenue and Paine Heights, the striking house at 956 North
Avenue displays a wonderfully eclectic mix of architectural details
representing what is commonly referred to as Victorian styles – Queen Anne,
Shingle and Romanesque Revival that were popular in America during the late
1800s and early 1900s. These distinctive features, most of which were completed
around 1906, are clearly evident thanks
to the extensive and entirely appropriate restoration work its current owners
have lovingly completed over the past 30 years. This exemplary restoration included
the removal of aluminum siding, the replacement of 16 columns with custom
replicas, replacement of sheet metal ornamentation with replicas made from the
original stamps and the original supplier, the removal of 15 coats of paint to
the original wood siding, and the replacement of about 150 panes of glass with
original-styled diamond divided light windows.
Howard R. Ware House (1907)
96 Pryer Terrace
Ware’s
Department Store, Westchester’s first and, for many years, largest department
store had a prominent place on New Rochelle’s most fashionable Main Street and
in the community’s illustrious history. From 1881 to the late 1930s, when it
was sold to become the first suburban “Bloomingdales,” the pioneering emporium a
key place in New Rochelle during its 20th century boom years. Its
founder and owner, Howard R. Ware was a leading figure in the rapidly-growing
community of New Rochelle. He was a director and vice president of the National
City Bank of New Rochelle, a founder of the local Y.M.C.A. and an active member
of St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church.
With the success of his store,
Ware was able to buy into in one of the most prestigious of the residential
parks being developed primarily in the southern tier of New Rochelle, beginning
in the 1880s with Rochelle Park. By 1904
the development trend had extended up North Avenue, and City Realty Company sold
the first homes in the neighborhood they developed as Beechmont. City Realty
was formed by the Lambden family, local lawyers and bankers, who purchased the
former Pugsley and Montgomery Farms to build Beechmont. The centerpiece was the
lake they created by damming Pine Brook.
Statue of Jacob Leisler (1913)
North Avenue and Broadview Avenue
The statue of Jacob Leisler was
created by one of the country's leading sculptors, Solon H. Borglum. Cast in
bronze from an imagined likeness, the statue was unveiled on June 25, 1913 -
one of many highlights during New Rochelle's 225th anniversary celebration. A
local chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution (not to be confused with the
Daughters of the American Revolution) commissioned the work to immortalize the
man who helped a group of Huguenots (French Protestants) find a new home in
America after fleeing their native country's tyranny and religious persecution
dealt by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
On July 2, 1667, Jacob Leisler
completed the deal that enabled the Huguenots to purchase from John and Rachel
Pell the 6,100 acres that became New Rochelle. A wealthy merchant with
involvement in numerous enterprises, Leisler later assumed the title of
Lieutenant Governor of the Province of New York, under King James II. In 1691
he was unlawfully convicted of felony and treason and executed. Four years
later, Parliament reversed the conviction, exonerating the deceased friend of
the Huguenots.
This statue is believed to be the
only monumental memorial to Jacob Leisler and it received professional cleaning
and conservation in 2015, with funds raised during the city’s 325th
anniversary celebration.
Mahlstedt Lumber Company Building (1920)
415 North Avenue
When New Rochelle’s civic and
commercial buildings were constructed in the late part of the 1800s and early
1900s, no expense was spared in the materials used; the craftsmanship employed.
This was certainly the case when the owner of the J. A. Mahltstedt Lumber and
Coal Company (incorporated 1895) erected a handsome Neo-Classical Revival style
building for his thriving enterprise’s offices. The limestone two-story
structure was prominently sited just opposite the Soldier’s Monument at the
west junction of Huguenot and Main Streets.
The lumber yards were located directly behind the building, to the
north, and additional storage years and a mill were nearby on Pine Street. The
Mahlstedt family had deep roots in the community- from involvement in civic
affairs and elected position, to supplying and overseeing the construction of
scores of residences, to the operations of the ice manufacturing concern on the
lake that is now the Twin Lakes in front of New Rochelle High School.
After the Mahlstedt business
closed following The Depression, the building served multiple purposes,
including a temporary site of the Post Office, while the building at Huguenot
and Street and North Avenue was constructed (1937-1938), offices for the New
Rochelle Water Company, and the Landis Hardware Store. At some point the upper
part of the facade was covered with an aluminum cap, hiding gorgeous detail work
and the location of the former lettering: “J. A. Mahlstedt Lumber and Coal
Company.”
Those letters again appear on the
top of the façade—serving as the “icing” on the recently and beautifully
restored exterior and interior of the building.
After purchasing the property in 2008, the current owner invested
considerable money, thoughtful care and appropriate professional assistance to
restore 415 Huguenot Street to its earlier and befitting glory.
Beauchamp Gardens Apartments (1928)
151-155 Centre Avenue
“Beauchamp Garden Apartments represent the finest type of building construction. In design and
A group of German immigrants bought the land for the building in the 1920s and hired Otto W. Kritz to design and construct the six-story, 76-unit building. He employed the popular Tudor-Revival style architecture so widely used in homes of growing neighbors in the wealthiest of suburban communities of the day. The attention to detail, Old World craftsmanship, coupled with the “modern” technologies, resulted in a residential complex loaded with charm and new amenities—all contained in a lovely park-like setting. “It is situated on one of the finest avenues in New Rochelle,” continues the brochure, “overlooking Residence Park and in the best residential part of town… The house stands on a large plot and the spacious the spacious courts which surround the building are all landscaped with shrubs and trees, while magnificent shade trees line the curbs of Centre Avenue.” Exemplifying the new concept of “garden apartments,”
Isaac E. Young Junior High School (1928)
270 Centre Avenue