West Farms 381 



a son-in-law of Edward Jessup. The Indian name of the neck 

 was Quinnahung; and it is also spoken of in the early deeds and 

 grants as the " Great planting field, or neck." It lies between 

 the Bronx River and the Sackwrahung Creek, which Lewis 

 Morris says in a deed of 1740 to his father-in-law, James 

 Graham, is falsely so called but which should be called Wig- 

 wam Brook. But we should bear in mind that there was a 

 strip of land here, called the "debatable land," in dispute 

 between Morris and the heirs of the West Farms patentees, 

 and that Morris would naturally not admit the slightest thing 

 that would be of advantage to his adversaries. The more 

 westerly portion of the " Planting neck " came into possession 

 of Gabriel Leggett in 1679, through his wife Elizabeth, a 

 daughter of John Richardson, one of the original patentees; 

 this is the part now known as Barretto's Point. Thomas 

 Hunt and John Richardson both had houses on the point; 

 for in a contract between them of August 12, 1669, for the 

 division of the come field neck, the houses are mentioned. 



A trolley line, inaugurated in the spring of 191 1, now runs 

 down Hunt's Point Avenue, almost to the end of the neck, 

 which it will reach in time. As late as 1906, the point retained 

 its rural character, with several houses of two generations ago 

 still standing. The most prominent was the Spofford place 

 with its beautifully kept grounds ; but most of these old man- 

 sions have disappeared or are poorly kept up. The part of the 

 neck near the Southern Boulevard is fairly well built up; and 

 further operations will be started when necessary. The city 

 has a site for a school-house to accommodate the children of 

 the point ; it is now occupied by a portable building, but a fine 

 edifice will be erected in the near future. Beyond Lafayette 

 Avenue, the neck still remains a meadow land, though some 

 of the streets are laid out and are being graded. 



