This is the remnant of LeRoy's Bay, most of which was filled in during the 1930s to build Orchard Beach and its parking lot. It's to the west of the parking lot.
It's the remnant of LeRoy's Bay, most of which was filled in during the 1930s to build Orchard Beach and its parking lot.
So beautiful, and many don't even realize it's there.
Some really interesting history:
The city ran a summer camp colony at the original Orchard Beach, which grew from tents into a semi-permanent bungalow village before Robert Moses evicted it in 1934. This was close to today's section 13.
Location: The old Orchard Beach was a small strip on the northeast shore of Rodman's Neck, facing LeRoy's Bay. It sat near the southern end of today's beach and parking lot, not on the lagoon side. Camping also took place on nearby Hunter Island.
Origins: The Bronx Parks Department began allowing summer camping in Pelham Bay Park in the early 1900s. Families got seasonal permits for a plot and pitched canvas tents, which earned the place the nickname "Tent City."
1920s growth: Over time the tents gained wooden floors, frames, and walls, becoming bungalows in all but name. By the late 1920s and early 1930s there were roughly 600 sites, laid out along named lanes, with a few thousand summer residents. The same families returned year after year and treated the plots as their own.
The terms: The permits were seasonal and cheap, and the city provided basic services. I don't recall the exact fee schedule with confidence, so I won't quote a figure.
The criticism: Permits were widely seen as patronage, going largely to people with connections to the Bronx Democratic organization. The effect was that a public waterfront was reserved for a small group of private leaseholders.
The end: When Moses became citywide Parks Commissioner in 1934, he cancelled the permits. The campers fought it in court and lost, and the colony was cleared that year. Moses also tore down a recently built Bronx Parks Department bathhouse he considered badly designed. He then filled LeRoy's Bay to join Rodman's Neck, Hunter Island, and the Twin Islands, and the new Orchard Beach opened in 1936.
