A pair of streets called Magenta and Bartholdi can be found south of East Gun Hill Road and east of White Plains Road in Williamsbridge. On the face of it, you may think they were named for the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, and the color magenta. But you would only be half right.
As you know, Liberty was a gift from France to the USA in 1886. Interestingly, though, both Bartholdi Street and Magenta Street were named to honor a small French colony that sprung up in Bronxwood-Williamsbridge in the late 1800s. Only peripherally is Magenta Street, a block north of Bartholdi Street, named for the bright violet color. Instead it was named for a French-Italian victory over the Austrians in 1859, led by Napoleon III at the Italian town of Magenta. Because both French and Italian immigrants resided in this Bronx enclave it was thought fitting to name the street Magenta in honor of a battle that led to the unification of Italy. The color itself was named for the town.
And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, you know the rest of the story.
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