New Rochelle's October Calendar Is Running on 1776 Time

"In fact it was more like a 'no-man's land of pillaging, plundering and strife.'" That is how City Historian Barbara Davis described New Rochelle's place in the Revolution this summer, while she curated the "It Happened Here" exhibit for the New Rochelle Council on the Arts. The exhibit hung in the Rotunda Gallery at City Hall through September 11. It covered two periods. The first was October 1776, when British and Hessian troops landed, camped here and placed the town under martial law. The second ran from then until the war ended in 1783.

The exhibit has closed, but the month it was about is here. The 250th anniversary events filling New Rochelle's calendar over the next three weeks are set in the same October weeks and along the same stretch of the Sound Shore where the 1776 events happened. That timing explains why the city's busiest Saturday this fall falls on October 17, and why the only Westchester stop for a visiting tall ship is the dock at Hudson Park.

A town of under a thousand, an army of nearly ten thousand

In October 1776, General William Howe gathered nearly 10,000 troops in New Rochelle to prepare for the Battle of White Plains. At the time, the town had fewer than a thousand residents. The city's heritage-property history says Hessian soldiers landed on Davenport Neck and marched into New Rochelle to join the British force headed for White Plains.

Revolutionary Westchester 250, the county group behind much of this month's programming, gave its series the name Revolution on the Sound! and set it for October 1 through 23. The organizers say the goal is to mark the events "in the very communities where they unfolded 250 years ago." Read the 1776 dates and this month's dates side by side and the planning becomes clear.

The 1776 dates come from the National Park Service's account of Pell's Point and the Scarsdale Historical Society's chronology. The 2026 dates come from the City of New Rochelle and RW250. According to the NPS, the Pell's Point landing happened at what is now Pelham Bay Park, and Glover's action held Howe's force back long enough for Washington's army to pull north toward White Plains. That explains why the Sunday reenactment is watched from Orchard Beach and not from somewhere in New Rochelle.

The ship at Hudson Park belongs to the next war

The City of New Rochelle and RW250 call the Lynx a replica of a historic privateer, which it is. What most announcements leave out is which war it comes from. The Lynx organization describes the ship as an interpretation of an actual privateer built in 1812. It is a Baltimore Clipper, and the crew's teaching on board covers the War of 1812.

That doesn't make the visit any less of a fit. RW250 frames this month around the "spies, smugglers and privateers who plied the waters of Long Island Sound for nearly eight years of war." The Lynx represents the kind of privately armed vessel that worked these waters during the Revolution. If someone in your group asks, you can tell them its design comes from a generation later.

A few things about the ship affect how you plan the day:

• Tours are free, and sailing is by group charter. The public event on October 17 offers guided deck tours. The ship's own site says day sails can be set up during port visits for groups of up to 40, and sunset sails are private charters with the same 40-passenger limit.
• Tickets are handed out on site. The city says free tour tickets will be given out at Hudson Park, where parking will also be free.
• You can see it before Saturday. The Wednesday listing for Tavern Night says the Lynx will be tied up at the Hudson Park dock and visible from Kenny's on the Water. It also calls this "the only stop in Westchester County" on the ship's 250th tour of eastern seaboard ports. None of the published sources I checked give the exact day it arrives or leaves.
• On deck you'll see six-pounder carronades and a rig that carries 5,000 square feet of sail. On sailing trips, passengers help raise that canvas.

Wednesday night at Kenny's sets the scene

The first big waterfront event is "Toast 250! Tavern Night" on Wednesday, October 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Kenny's on the Water, 2 Pelham Road. The cast includes George Washington, Ben Franklin, Col. John Glover, British Gen. Howe, the 5th NY and the Revolutionary Women. The Whiskey Rebels play tavern music, Philipse Manor Hall runs games, Kenny's serves a special tavern menu, and there's an original American Revolution trivia game. Food and drink are for purchase. RW250 presents the evening with the New Rochelle 250th Committee.

Several of those characters will be back at Hudson Park three days later, which is why Wednesday works as an opener for the weekend.

Saturday, October 17, hour by hour

On October 17 the Lynx tours, a rare open house at the Paine Cottage, a costume parade for dogs and a downtown tavern night all fall on the same calendar square. ArtsFest, the New Rochelle Council on the Arts' festival of arts, music, markets, open studios and family activities, runs October 15 through 18 around them. Here's how I'd lay the day out:

1. 10 a.m. Lynx tours open at the New Rochelle Municipal Marina, 1 Hudson Park Road, and run until 4 p.m. Around the dock, Hudson Park becomes a small history festival with reenactors playing Howe and Marblehead's John Glover, live music, colonial games from Philipse Manor Hall, local history booths and food trucks.
2. 10:30 a.m. Howl'oween, the dog parade and costume contest, begins at Ward Acres, Quaker Ridge Road and Sussex Road. The parade steps off at 11 and the event wraps at 1 p.m.
3. 11 a.m. The Paine Cottage Open House at 20 Sicard Avenue runs until 2 p.m. as part of the Huguenot & New Rochelle Historical Association's ArtsFest weekend. The same day, the association lists a Youth Makers Market from 11 to 3 and a Builder's Workshop from 11 to 2:30 at the Cottage.
4. 4 p.m. Lynx tours close for the day.
5. 4:30 p.m. The New Rochelle Downtown BID's "Colonial Tavern Experience" takes over 18th Ward Brewing Taproom at 40 Division Street until 8 p.m., with the Tutti Bravi Singers, a sing-along and tavern games. The poster on the city's listing says "Saturday October 14," but the listing's own date is October 17, and October 17 is the Saturday.

Of everything on that list, the Paine Cottage is the hardest to get into on an ordinary weekend. The historical association says public tours of the museum for non-members won't resume until 2027, though special events continue through 2026. That makes this Saturday window one of the few open-house chances left this year. At the Cottage you can pick up "A Common Sense Tea," a blend made for the house by Puddings and Biscakes, along with Paine bobbleheads. Donations from both go toward the Cottage's programs and upkeep.

If you'd like to stay with ArtsFest the night before, The MOTH Story Slam is Friday, October 16, at Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 311 Huguenot Street. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30.

Sunday morning, the story moves to Pelham Bay

On Sunday, October 18, the full Battle of Pell's Point/Pelham reenactment runs from 10 a.m. to noon, with viewing at Orchard Beach. That is the 250th anniversary of the landing to the day. The NPS dates both the landing and the battle to October 18, 1776.

After that, the 1776 timeline moves north and so do this month's events. Rev Fest 250 at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation on October 24 and 25 includes a large-scale reenactment of the Battle of White Plains, where Howe's New Rochelle buildup was headed.

The Paine thread runs into November

Two events earlier in October and three in November keep the commemoration going in New Rochelle after the reenactors leave:

• Sunday, October 11: The Paine to Pain Trail Half Marathon runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting at New Rochelle High School, 265 Clove Road.
• Monday, October 12: A Quaff & Quill author talk at the Paine Cottage, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
• Thursday, November 12: The Third Annual Lapidus Lecture in Paine Studies with Dr. Danielle Allen, 5 to 6:30 p.m., Henry Lecture Hall, Iona University, 715 North Avenue.
• Wednesday, November 18: The Institute for Thomas Paine Studies' Quaff and Quill with Dr. Lauren Duval, 6 to 7 p.m., in the same hall.
• Saturday, November 21: Tutti Bravi's "Voices of the American Revolution: Songs, Poetry and Monologues of Patriots & Loyalists," 3 to 5 p.m., Murphy Auditorium, Iona University, 515 North Avenue.

The City's announcement of the Lynx visit sends readers to newrochelleny.gov/250 to learn more about its 250th programming.

I've spent more than 25 years working with homes along these same streets, and plenty of them sit on ground where this history happened. If you're walking out to see the Lynx on the 17th and wondering how your own place fits into the city's story today, April Helene Monaco can help. Get your free home valuation and personalized market plan, and I'll walk you through what your home is worth this fall.