The Bronx

===Before 1914===
{{See also|List of former municipalities in New York City}}
The Bronx's development is directly connected to its strategic location between [[New England]] and New York ([[Manhattan]]). Control over the bridges across the Harlem River plagued the period of British colonial rule. The King's Bridge, built in 1693 where [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] reached the [[Spuyten Duyvil Creek]], was a possession of [[Frederick Philipse]], lord of [[Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site|Philipse Manor]].<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12"/> Local farmers on both sides of the creek resented the tolls, and in 1759, Jacobus Dyckman and Benjamin Palmer led them in building a free bridge across the Harlem River.<ref name=Fordam>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/ganelli2.html |title=Dyckman House – History |work=fordham.edu |access-date=July 30, 2014 |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014214304/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/ganelli2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> After the [[American Revolutionary War]], the King's Bridge toll was abolished.<ref name="Jenkins1912">{{cite book |author=Stephen Jenkins |title=The Story of the Bronx from the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9nIC6Lva5sC&pg=PA177 |access-date=January 2, 2017 |year=1912 |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] |pages=177–208}}</ref><ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12">{{cite web |title=Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Croton Water Treatment Plant at the Harlem River Site; 7.12: Historic and Archaeological Resources |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/croton/7-12resources.pdf#page=5 |publisher=[[New York City Department of Environmental Protection]] |access-date=January 2, 2017 |date=June 30, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211054643/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/croton/7-12resources.pdf#page=5 |archive-date=February 11, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The territory now contained within Bronx County was originally part of [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]], one of the 12 original counties of the English [[Province of New York]]. The present Bronx County was contained in the town of Westchester and parts of the towns in [[Yonkers, New York|Yonkers]], [[Eastchester (town), New York|Eastchester]], and [[Pelham, New York|Pelham]]. In 1846, a new town was created by division of Westchester, called West Farms. The town of [[Morrisania, Bronx|Morrisania]] was created, in turn, from West Farms in 1855. In 1873, the town of [[Kingsbridge, Bronx|Kingsbridge]] was established within the former borders of the town of Yonkers, roughly corresponding to the modern Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]], and [[Woodlawn Heights, Bronx|Woodlawn Heights]], and included [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)|Woodlawn Cemetery]].

Among famous settlers in the Bronx during the 19th and early 20th centuries were author [[Willa Cather]], tobacco merchant [[Pierre Lorillard IV|Pierre Lorillard]], and inventor [[Jordan L. Mott]], who established [[Mott Haven]] to house the workers at his iron works.<ref>For Jordan L. Mott:
* {{cite book|author=John Thomas Scharf|title=History of Westchester County: New York, Including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which Have Been Annexed to New York City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EkgVAAAAYAAJ|year=1886|publisher=L. E. Preston & Company|pages=830–832}}
* {{cite book|first1=Edwin |last1=Troxell Freedley|first2=Edward |last2=Young|title=A History of American Manufactures from 1608 to 1860...: Comprising Annals of the Industry of the United States in Machinery, Manufactures and Useful Arts, with a Notice of the Important Inventions, Tariffs, and the Results of Each Decennial Census|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mugJAAAAIAAJ|year=1868|publisher=E. Young|pages=576–578}}</ref>

The consolidation of the Bronx into New York City proceeded in two stages. In 1873, the state legislature annexed Kingsbridge, West Farms, and Morrisania to New York, effective in 1874; the three towns were soon abolished in the process.<ref name="thorne">{{cite book|author1=Thorne, Kathryn Ford|editor=Long, John H.|title=New York Atlas of Historical County Boundaries |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1993 |pages=33, 118–133 <!-- "P. 033" was cited in error? --> |isbn=0-13-051962-6}}</ref><ref>New York. ''Laws of New York''. 1873, 96th Session, Chapter 613, Section 1. p. 928.</ref>

The whole territory east of the Bronx River was annexed to the city in 1895, three years before New York's consolidation with [[Brooklyn]], [[Queens]], and [[Staten Island]]. This included the Town of Westchester (which had voted against consolidation in 1894) and parts of Eastchester and Pelham.<ref name="ultan"/><ref name="thorne"/><ref>Articles on "consolidation" (by David C. Hammack) and the "Bronx" (by David C. Hermalyn and Lloyd Ultan) in ''[[The Encyclopedia of New York City]]'', Yale 1995</ref><ref>New York. ''Laws of New York''. 1895, 118th Session, Chapter 934, Section 1. p. 1948.</ref><ref name=NYT1973>Peck, Richard. [https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/02/archives/in-the-bronx-the-gentry-live-on-the-gentry-live-on.html "In the Bronx, the Gentry Live On; The Gentry Live On"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 2, 1973. Accessed July 17, 2008. "But the Harlem riverfront was industrializing, and in 1874 the city annexed the area west of the Bronx River: Morrisania, West Farms and Kingsbridge. A second annexation in 1894 gathered in Westchester and portions of Eastchester and Pelham." However, 1894 must refer to the referendum, since the enabling act was not passed or signed until 1895.</ref> The nautical community of [[City Island, Bronx|City Island]]<!---what on earth is a "nautical community"??---> voted to join the city in 1896.<ref>[https://www.cityisland.com/history.html History of City Island], CityIsland.com. Accessed January 2, 2024. "In 1896, residents of City Island voted to detach themselves from Westchester County and to become part of New York City proper."</ref>

Following these two annexations, the Bronx's territory had moved from Westchester County into New York County, which already included Manhattan and the rest of pre-1874 New York City.

On January 1, 1898, the consolidated [[City of Greater New York|City of New York]] was born, including the Bronx as one of the five distinct [[Borough (New York City)|boroughs]]. However, it remained part of New York County until Bronx County was created in 1914.<ref>Macy, Harry Jr. [https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/blog/five-borough-city-old-cities-towns-and-villages-came-together-form-greater-new-york "Before the Five-borough City: The Old Cities, Towns, and Villages That Came Together to Form 'Greater New York'"], [[New York Genealogical and Biographical Society]], January 11, 2021. Accessed January 2, 2024. "The present City of New York, consisting of five boroughs, came into existence on January 1, 1898.... In 1914, The Bronx became a separate county of the same name."</ref>

On April 19, 1912, those parts of New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County in previous decades were newly constituted as Bronx County, the 62nd and last county to be created by the state, effective in 1914.<ref name="thorne"/><ref>New York. ''Laws of New York''. 1912, 135th Session, Chapter 548, Section 1. p. 1352.</ref> Bronx County's courts opened for business on January 2, 1914 (the same day that [[John P. Mitchel]] started work as [[Mayor of New York City]]).<ref name="courtstart" /> [[Marble Hill, Manhattan]], was now connected to the Bronx by filling in the former waterway, but it is not part of the borough or county.<ref name=NYT1993>Steinhauer, Jennifer. [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/10/nyregion/fyi-123693.html "F.Y.I."], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 10, 1993. Accessed August 23, 2021. "Marble Hill's Exile Q. Why is there a small piece of Manhattan in the Bronx?.&nbsp;... A. Marble Hill was originally attached to the northern part of Manhattan, but was severed in 1895 when the city deepened and straightened the waterway that connected the Hudson River to what was known as Spuyten Duyvil Creek (Dutch for 'in Spite of the Devil', thought to be a reference to the trouble it took to cross it).&nbsp;... Around 1914, Spuyten Duyvil Creek was filled in and the area became physically a part of the Bronx, but it remained politically part of Manhattan."</ref>