Split Rock
About This Listing
Place Details
- Borough: Bronx
- Neighborhood: Pelham Bay
- Categories: American Indian, Gathering Place, Open Space
Place Matters Profile
Although once one giant glacial boulder, it has been split in half for as long as there has been records of the rock. Split Rock used to run along a Native American path, which was renamed as “Split Rock Road” during colonial times. This road was also the site of the Battle of Pelham fought during on October 18th, 1776 during the American Revolution. Later, Split Rock was one of the most popular picnic area for generations of Pelham locals.
Split Rock is also said to be the site of settler Anne Hutchinsons death in 1638 by Native Americans in the area who opposed her preaching. A plaque in her memory was once affixed to the rock.
In the late 1950s, Split Rock was the topic of a community organized preservation effort. Plans for the New England Thruway (I-95), which involved destroying Split Rock. The local movement, led by Bronx County Historian Theodore Kaziroff, successful moved the Thruway a few feet north, saving Split Rock.
Nominations
AnnMarie Lynch
Large ice-age boulder split in two, hence the name Split Rock. It is where Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan woman who was evicted from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for preaching, was massacred by the local Native American tribe in colonial times. Her daughter, who survived, lived with the Indians for several years.
In the 1960s when the New England Thruway was being built, local Bronxites had to fight to keep this boulder from being dynamited and hot the highway shifted to save the Split Rock. The nearby Split Rock golf course is named after this geographic form. Although a local landmark, no one seems to care for it today. A tree is growing in the middle of the boulder and its roots will further split the rock apart. It may eventually fall on the Hutchinson River Parkway below in time. (June 2012)
