Rodman had owned a ferry that ran between Minneford Island (now known as City Island) and Anne's Hoeck where the bridge is now. Then L.R. Marshall built a Southern-style mansion on his estate, renamed "Hawkswood", at the southernmost tip of Rodman's Neck. His mansion was converted and used as an inn until 1888, when the New York City Parks Department acquired the property for Pelham Bay Park. A dock for the eastern shore of Rodman's Neck was approved in 1891, with funds appropriated for said dock.