Pelham is the oldest town in Westchester County. Thomas Pell signed a treaty in 1654 with the Siwanoy Indians to buy what is not only the Town of Pelham but is all of the Bronx, and the land along Long Island Sound, north to the Rye border.  The State Legislature incorporated the Town of Pelham on March 7, 1788, and at that time included all of City Island and what is now Pelham Bay Park east of the Hutchinson River. In 1895, the Town of Pelham was reduced to its current area. Two Villages were incorporated within the Town, the Village of Pelham Manor in 1891, and  the Village of Pelham, in 1896.