Parts of the Manor of Pelham were sold as Eastchester and New Rochelle developed, while other portions were annexed by New York City. There are only 1,568 acres of the original manor left in the Town of Pelham. It was one of the original towns established in 1788 and comprises two villages, Pelham and Pelham Manor; there is no unincorporated area.

The Village of Pelham, incorporated in 1896, is the portion of the town north of Colonial Avenue. The railroad station, built in 1848, was so far from the center of population at the Shore Road that a trolley line was built. Later, its odd-looking four-wheel trolley car would inspire Fontaine Fox’s The Toonerville Trolley comic strip. The part of the village north of the railroad station was a separate village known as North Pelham from 1896 until 1976, when it was merged into the Village of Pelham.

Photograph of the Wreck of the Boston Flyer in Pelhamville, ca. December 29, 1885