New Rochelle, NY news and local guide

Native peoples lived in the area for thousands of years, drawing on the resources of Long Island Sound, and by the 17th century Algonquian-speaking Lenape bands were prominent. In 1654 the Siwanoy, a Lenape band, sold land to the English settler Thomas Pell. In 1688 some 33 Huguenot families, many of them artisans and craftsmen from La Rochelle, France, founded La Nouvelle-Rochelle, named for their home city, and in 1689 Pell formally deeded 6,100 acres for the Huguenot community. A monument listing the settlers stands in Hudson Park, their original landing place. The residents kept speaking French, and families in neighboring areas sent their children to New Rochelle to learn the language. Jacob Leisler, a prominent New York merchant who served as acting governor of the province, aided the Huguenots.

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One condition of the sale was that Pell and his heirs would receive "one fatt calfe" every June 24 if they asked for it. The calf was commemorated on New Rochelle's 250th anniversary half dollar, minted in 1937, and after Pell's descendants first requested one in the 1950s, occasional ceremonies have been held. Of all the Huguenot settlements in America meant to be distinctly French, New Rochelle most fully fulfilled that aim, drawing French refugees until as late as 1760. In 1775 George Washington stopped in New Rochelle on his way to take command of the Continental Army in Massachusetts. Sources Wikipedia: New Rochelle, New York