Split Rock (Bronx, New York)

Split Rock is a large spherical granite boulder measuring approximately 25 feet across and located in the borough of The Bronx in New York City, at the southeast corner of the New England Thruway and the Hutchinson River Parkway near the border of the Bronx and Westchester County and the village of Pelham Manor.

In addition to its imposing size, it has historical significance as it is the location where in 1643, Anne Hutchinson and her followers were massacred by Native Americans of the Siwanoy Tribe. It is possible that Hutchinson's group was mistaken for Dutch colonists who were enemies of the Siwanoy. According to her son, Anne Hutchinson attempted to hide in this crevice during the attack.

The rock itself is located in the confines of Pelham Bay Park, and appears to be a glacial erratic that may have originated as far north as Canada. It derives its name from a large crevice dividing the stone into two half domes.

The boulder is of enough historic importance that in the 1950s officials were persuaded by The Bronx Historical Society to move the planned Interstate 95 New York State Thruway 50 feet north to save Split Rock from being dynamited.Fact|date=February 2007 It was saved by Dr Theodore Kazimiroff, the society's founder.Fact|date=February 2007

Today the Split Rock may be in danger of falling off a man-made cliff onto the Hutchinson River Parkway 30 feet belowFact|date=July 2008.

The nearby Split Rock Golf Course was named after it, and a nearby street in Pelham Manor, Split Rock Drive, is north of it.

External links

* [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/vt_pelham_bay_park/vt_pelham_05.html Pelham Bay Park Virtual Tour: The Split Rock/Split Rock Trail]
* [http://historicpelham.blogspot.com/2005/03/split-rock-pelham-landmark-for.html Historic Pelham: Split Rock: A Pelham Landmark for Centuries]