A Small Neighborhood with a Long Memory
Anchorage is one of New Rochelle’s quieter and most distinctive neighborhoods, a small waterfront enclave tucked along Davenport Neck. The neighborhood includes roughly 33 homes along portions of Gail Drive, Clover Place, and Davenport Avenue, but its story reaches far beyond those modern residential boundaries. Anchorage is part of a landscape shaped by Native American life, Huguenot settlement, colonial farming, tidal mills, grand summer estates, and the gradual transformation of New Rochelle into a suburban city. ([everything.explained.today](https://everything.explained.today/List_of_neighborhoods_in_New_Rochelle%2C_New_York/?utm_source=openai))
What makes Anchorage special is the way those layers remain close together. A short walk can take you from quiet residential streets to Titus Mill-Pond, from contemporary homes to historic estates, and from the sheltered waters of Echo Bay toward the broader horizon of Long Island Sound.
Before Anchorage: The Ancient Landscape of Davenport Neck
Long before the neighborhood acquired its modern name, Davenport Neck was an important coastal place for the Siwanoy people. The peninsula offered fishing, shellfish, salt meadows, fresh water, and protected coves. Archaeological evidence and historic accounts indicate that Native American encampments existed along the Neck, particularly near its southern and eastern shores. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_Neck?utm_source=openai))
European settlement began in the late seventeenth century, when the New Rochelle area was being established by French Huguenots and other colonial families. Davenport Neck changed hands several times during its early history. It was associated with the Lispenard, Rodman, and Myer families before Newberry Davenport acquired the property in 1784. The Davenport family name eventually became attached to the entire peninsula. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_Neck?utm_source=openai))
For generations, the Neck was not a suburban neighborhood but working countryside. Families farmed the land, harvested salt hay, and made use of the waterways. The shoreline was also valuable for transportation and commerce, connecting the peninsula to New Rochelle Harbor, Echo Bay, and Long Island Sound.
How Anchorage Got Its Name
The name *Anchorage* reflects the neighborhood’s enduring relationship with the water. The enclave occupies part of Davenport Neck near Titus Mill-Pond and the waterfront, where boats historically found sheltered waters. Local descriptions identify Anchorage as a waterfront community along the pond and Neck, while the Davenport Club notes that its property was once known as “The Anchorage.” ([liquisearch.com](https://www.liquisearch.com/list_of_new_rochelle_neighborhoods/primary_and_secondary_areas?utm_source=openai))
The name therefore appears to be connected less to a single founding event than to the character of the place: a protected coastal setting where vessels could rest, and where waterfront life shaped the identity of the surrounding land. Like many New Rochelle neighborhood names, Anchorage grew from geography and local usage rather than from a formal municipal designation.
Titus Mill-Pond and the Working Waterfront
One of the most important early landmarks near Anchorage is Titus Mill-Pond, a tidal wetland at the northeastern end of New Rochelle Harbor. The pond was formed and modified by mill dams, including the dam associated with the Lispenard-Titus grist mill. These mills used the movement of water to process grain and support the agricultural economy of colonial and early national New Rochelle. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Mill-Pond_%26_New_York_State_Tidal_Wetlands?utm_source=openai))
Today, the pond has a quieter appearance, but its wetlands preserve a reminder of the area’s working waterfront. The shoreline, marsh grasses, narrow channels, and tidal changes help explain why this part of New Rochelle developed differently from the busier commercial districts along Main Street. Anchorage remains defined by water, privacy, and the natural shape of the land.
Historic Houses Along Davenport Avenue
Although Anchorage itself is a small residential enclave, it sits beside some of New Rochelle’s most important historic properties.
- The Lispenard-Rodman-Davenport House at 180 Davenport Avenue began as a pioneer stone structure dating to the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Over time, it evolved into a colonial farmhouse and later a Victorian-era country residence. It is considered the oldest standing residential structure in New Rochelle and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ([newrochelleny.gov](https://www.newrochelleny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6015/New-Rochelle_Draft_LWRP_160422?bidId=&utm_source=openai))
- The Davenport House, also known as Sans Souci, at 157 Davenport Avenue, was built in 1859. Designed in the Gothic Revival tradition associated with architect Alexander Jackson Davis, it reflects the era when wealthy New Yorkers began building elaborate summer homes along the Westchester waterfront. ([newrochelleny.gov](https://www.newrochelleny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6015/New-Rochelle_Draft_LWRP_160422?bidId=&utm_source=openai))
- Wildcliff Manor, located elsewhere on Davenport Neck, is another Gothic Revival landmark associated with Alexander Jackson Davis. Together, these properties reveal how the rural peninsula became a destination for prominent families seeking fresh air, water views, and proximity to New York City. ([newrochelleny.gov](https://www.newrochelleny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6015/New-Rochelle_Draft_LWRP_160422?bidId=&utm_source=openai))
These buildings are not simply grand houses. They mark the transition from working farmland to a coastal resort landscape and, eventually, to the residential neighborhoods familiar today.
From Farms to Summer Estates
By the nineteenth century, New Rochelle’s waterfront had become increasingly fashionable. Steamboat travel, resort culture, and the city’s easy connection to New York encouraged wealthy families to establish seasonal estates along Davenport Neck and nearby shores.
The Iselin family was particularly influential. Members of the family built several large properties overlooking Long Island Sound, including the estate that later became associated with the Davenport Club. Other estates eventually became country clubs, beach clubs, or residential developments. The transformation was gradual, but it changed the Neck from an agricultural peninsula into a landscape of manicured lawns, private roads, waterfront clubs, and elegant homes. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_Neck?utm_source=openai))
That history can still be sensed along Davenport Avenue, where older trees, broad lots, stonework, and surviving historic structures contrast with newer houses tucked into the surrounding streets.
Davenport Park and Public Stewardship
Another important milestone came in 1929, when Lydia Davenport Thorne gave part of the family property to the City of New Rochelle. Her gift became Davenport Park, with the stipulation that it be used for passive recreation so the peaceful character of the Neck would be preserved. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_Neck?utm_source=openai))
That decision helped protect the open, reflective quality that residents still associate with the area. Nearby Hudson Park, at the northeastern end of Davenport Neck, also reflects the city’s long relationship with public waterfront recreation. Once known as Bonnefoy Point and later Hudson Grove, the site became a public park in 1886 and eventually developed into one of New Rochelle’s best-known shoreline destinations. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_Neck?utm_source=openai))
Anchorage Today
Today, Anchorage is residential, peaceful, and unmistakably coastal. Gail Drive and Clover Place have the intimate feel of neighborhood streets, while Davenport Avenue connects the enclave to the larger historic story of the Neck. The setting is close to New Rochelle’s marinas, beaches, private clubs, wetlands, and parks, yet it retains a tucked-away atmosphere.
The neighborhood has changed in appearance over the decades, as older estates were subdivided and new homes replaced former outbuildings and landscaped acreage. Still, the essential geography has endured. Water remains the central presence. The curves of the shoreline, the sheltered pond, and the long views toward the Sound continue to shape daily life.
For longtime residents, Anchorage is special not because it is large or heavily marked on a map, but because it preserves a rare sense of continuity. Its streets carry the names of families and places that reach back centuries. Its parks protect quiet shoreline. Its historic houses recall earlier generations. And its name still evokes what the neighborhood has always offered: a sheltered place beside the water, connected to New Rochelle’s past while remaining very much a living community.