Historic Cross River market lies in limbo

The Fifth Division Market building in Cross River. THANE GRAUEL PHOTO; The historic market was named for an Army unit. CONTRIBUTED; Still waiting for a refill. The gutted interior. THANE GRAUEL PHOTO

Fifth Division Deli gutted inside, awaits reconstruction

By THANE GRAUEL

The building that has been home to a post office, general store and for decades the Fifth Division Market has been empty for weeks, ripped down to the studs inside and awaiting its next incarnation.

The 2,100-square-foot structure perched over the Cross River Reservoir was recently sold to an LLC. 

It appears the interior work began before necessary paperwork was in hand. A notice of violation was issued by the Lewisboro Building Department on Jan. 14, stating the reason as “building permit required.” The violation was issued to 788 RT 35, the LLC that purchased the property.

That same day, an application for for demolition work was submitted by a builder from Trumbull, Conn. The permit was issued by the town a week later, on Jan. 21.

Since the work was ordered stopped, it appears little progress has been made converting the space to its next use, which some say will also be a deli or similar food business. The owners have not responded to questions from The Recorder.

There is no shortage of history at the wooden, two-story structure a stone’s throw from the northwest edge of what is now the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, Westchester County’s largest park.

The building was assembled using some parts of an old general store that was dismantled across the road in 1890 when the reservoir was constructed. 

In 1938, Anthony Felice began running the “new” general store, which he renamed the Fifth Division Market, in honor of his World War I army division, according to Maureen Koehl, Lewisboro’s town historian.

The “Red Devils,” as the division became to be known, was hastily formed for the U.S. to enter the growing conflict in Europe. It saw heavy casualties in eastern France.

After World War II, the store was run by Ralph Felice and his fellow veteran and lifelong friend, Waldie Gullen. Gullen died in December 2024, at age 100. Felice died at 77 in January 2004. 

“The Fifth Division is indeed a Cross River historic landmark,” said Koehl, who included photos and history of the business in her book, “Images of Lewisboro.” 

“It is the successor to John Hunt’s market from the 19th century,” she said. “Hunt’s market stood across the street from the 5th’s location, in what is now reservoir property. When the Cross River reservoir was built, the store had to be moved. The store stood kind of between the swampy woods and the Route 121 bridge. When the Hunt store was dismantled, much of the building was used to build the present store and it was still called Hunt’s Market. During this time and in the next postmaster, Chapman Miller’s time, it served as the Cross River Post Office until Postmaster Miller moved the PO eastward on Route 35 to a building that is now part of Yellow Monkey Village.”

The Lewisboro Building Department does not yet have an application that details building plans for the old deli. The Planning Board said it does not have any application filed.

Neal Rentz contributed to this report.