New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County in the state of New York, 16 miles from Grand Central Terminal in New York City and 2 miles north of the border with The Bronx. The city is named after the city of La Rochelle in France, which was a stronghold of the Huguenots. New Rochelle is the seventh largest city in the State of New York and the second largest city in Westchester County.

New Rochelle’s earliest residents were the Siwanoys, living on the southern end of Davenport Neck — the area known as Titus Mill farm. They sustained themselves by gathering food from the abundant fish, clams and oysters found along the shore of Long Island Sound. The Huguenots followed in 1688. Also settling along the water’s edge, they used the water routes into New York City to transport their locally grown produce by sloop. In later years a steamboat provided daily service from New Rochelle to the City.

For almost 300 years, New Rochelle’s waterfront has continued to play an important role in the life of the community. In the nineteenth century it became a popular place for summer fun. Numerous parks were built as play lands for pleasure-seekers, including Starin’s “Island Grand Cafe and Amusement Park.”

In the early part of the twentieth 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. Others came to the waterfront seeking the peace, tranquility and scenic beauty along this splendid shore.

As the crow flies, the shoreline within the City of New Rochelle measures 2.7 miles. But with its many irregularities and off-shore islands, the actual length of the waterfront is 9.3 miles. The unusual features of this splendid coast have over the years earned it the nickname, “the Queen City of the Sound.”

Echo Bay

ln 1690, Jean Machet acquired the property that is now the New Rochelle Municipal Marina, from Jacob Leisler to develop his shipbuilding and trading business with the West Indies. He continued to own this land, as well as the Echo Bay Island, until 1694 when he sold it to Joshua Ferris, a Tory, who then re-named it Ferris Creek.

Joshua Ferris ran a tavern on his property which became popular with Shubel Merritt and his gang of ruthless outlaws, the “Skinners.” At the close of the Revolutionary War Shubel Merritt was shot and killed in the Black Walnut Tavern at the corner of Old Town Dock and Pelham Roads. Enoch Crosby, General Washington’s most celebrated spy, was said to have started his career at the Ferris Tavern. In 1827, David Harrison purchased the land and built a dock in an attempt to revive it as a local landing site.

Snuff Mill Creek, located next to Sutton Manor, was built in the early 18th century by Jacob Leisler, Jr. and operated as a grist mill along with a mill at Crystal Lake, (now the Stephenson Boulevard area). It was later owned by David Lispenard and used as a snuff mill. Over succeeding years it passed through the hands of a number of Quakers, including one who was supposedly active in the movement to liberate slaves. The mill was said to have been used as a stop for the underground railroad. This area eventually became the home of the New Rochelle Coal and Lumber Company.

In 1945, the City acquired it for use as the Municipal Marina. In 1889, C. Oliver Iselin acquired Echo Island, from Charles Leland. He later built the imposing mansion on Premium Point known as “All Views” which remains today.

Davenport Neck

Davenport Neck was the home of the Siwanoys in the seventeenth century before the arrival of the Huguenots. Over the years many Siwanoy artifacts have been found which demonstrate their trading activities with other tribes, some as far away as the Ohio Valley.

Thomas Pell purchased the Neck from the Indians in 1654, and in October 1666, received his patent from the Governor as deed for the property. The Neck was called Pell’s Little Neck to distinguish it from a larger piece of land he owned along the shore.

The Huguenots, French refugees escaping persecution, sought religious freedom in America. Traveling by boat from New York, they landed on the Neck and chose to settle along the New Rochelle shoreline because of its ideal location for fishing and planting. A New York merchant, Jacob Leisler, and six other men, later purchased the Neck from Pell and divided it among themselves. Leisler became the largest landholder of the group.

After the Edict of Nantes, (which had assured religious freedom in France), was revoked in 1685, more Huguenots arrived in America. Leisler purchased 6,000 additional acres because the Neck could no longer accommodate the large number of settlers. This land was called New Rochelle after the Huguenot stronghold, La Rochelle in France.

Eventually, Jacob Leisler, Jr. and Guilliaume LeConte acquired the original properties along the Neck which then became known as “Leisler’s and LeConte’s Neck.” Later, in 1724, Anthony Lipsenard acquired both portions of this land on which he built mills and a milldam between the Neck and the main shore.

In October, 1776, during the Revolutionary War, General Knyphausen and his Hessian troops landed on the Neck to join General Howe’s army in New Rochelle before the Battle of White Plains. After the Revolutionary War a piece of the Neck was sold to Newberry Davenport, who re-named the land Davenport Neck. The Neck remained in the Davenport family for 145 years.

Population: 72,182

Area: 10.67 square miles

Sales tax: 8.375%