Political Formation and Topography 7 



streets should be placed under the Park Department, a scheme 

 that worked more harm than good to the newly annexed 

 district until the streets were put under a special Department 

 of Street Improvements of the Twenty-third and Twenty - 

 fourth wards, January 1, 1891. 



On January 1, 1874, by ac t °f tne Legislature mentioned 

 above, the townships of Kingsbridge, West Farms, and Mor- 

 risania became a part of the (old) city of New York, and were 

 formed into the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth wards. 

 The new wards were also spoken of as the Annexed District ; 

 they constitute that part of the Borough lying west of the 

 Bronx River and comprise 12,317 acres. 



At the election of November 6, 1894, the question of the 

 Greater New York was submitted to the inhabitants of the 

 localities affected, including Westchester, Eastchester, Pel- 

 ham, and the city of Mount Vernon. The result of the referen- 

 dum showed good majorities for annexation in Eastchester 

 and Pelham, while Mount Vernon and Westchester voted 

 against, the former by a large majority, and the latter by a 

 majority of one. The adverse majority in Westchester was 

 so small that it was ignored by the annexationists; and July 

 I, 1895, the whole section east of the Bronx River became a 

 part of the city of New York, forming part of the Twenty- 

 fourth Ward. It comprises nearly 14,000 acres, making the 

 total area taken from Westchester County by the two annexa- 

 tions 26,017 acres, or about 39! square miles. 



January 1, 1898, the charter of the Greater New York went 

 into effect, and the whole annexed section north of the Harlem 

 River became officially known as the Borough of The Bronx, x 



'The question is often asked: "Why the Borough of The Bronx?" 

 For the same reason that we speak of the Army of the Potomac, the valley 

 of the Hudson, etc. — all taking their names from rivers, to which it is 

 customary to prefix the article. 



