Westchester County History
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Dotted with small villages, comfortable manors and farms
The first European settlement in Westchester dates from 1639 when Jonas Bronck, a Dane, established a farm between the Bronx and Harlem Rivers. The Bronx, which was named in his memory, was part of Westchester County until it was annexed to New York City, part in 1874, and the rest in 19\895. Adriaen Van der Donck, the county’s first lawyer and only patroon, established Colen (Colony) Donck in 1646 north of Spuyten Duyvil. His settlement was known as “Der Jonkheer’s Land” (the young gentleman’s land), from which the name of Yonkers derived.
In 1664, the English took over control of New Amsterdam and New Netherland, which then became New York, city and colony. Under the English, settlement increased. The manors of Pelham, Fordham, Philipsburgh, Morrisania, Cortlandt, and Scarsdale were granted by the English crown; groups of investors also bought tracts of land known as the Three Great Patents in the interior of the counts, which they sold or leased to settlers. French Huguenots settled in New Rochelle and Quakers in New Castle and Mamaroneck, both groups seeking religious freedom. Quakers from Long Island hired John Harrison to purchase property for them, establishing the town of Harrison and within it, the village of Purchase. Westchester Couny was officially created by an act of the New York State General Assembly in 1683.
By 1775 the county was dotted with small villages, comfortable manors and subsistence farms, and the boundaries of today’s towns had been established. Westchester County was the most populous and prosperous of the colony of New York. It is not surprising, therefore, that a majority of Westchester residents remained loyal to England when the revolution began.
One of the major events of the war occurred in Tarrytown in 1780, when three local militiamen captured British spy John Andre, who had been given the plans to West Point by traitor Benedict Arnold. Andre was hanged as a spy and Arnold escaped, but West Point remained in American hands.
It took almost a generation for Westchester to recover from the Revolution, but gradually, life returned to normal. As the county grew, regular post and stage service was established along the post roads, and turnpikes were built to provide transportation for growing businesses. In 1840’s, three railroads were built in the county. During this period, wealthy New York City families built luxurious mansions along the Hudson River and Long Island Sound.
The county began to change from an agricultural to an industrial economy between 1850 and 1900 as factories were built and farms began to serve New York City markets via the railroad. The city’s need for water had a major impact on the county in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The railroads and water projects provided employment for immigrants, chiefly Irish and Italian. The industrial factories which developed in the late 19th century provided jobs for laborers emigrating from central and eastern Europe. By the end of the nineteenth century, residential developments replaced farms, as the railroads allowed commuting to New York City. The population of the county increased, especially in the southern villages which began to incorporate to secure better services. It was the automobile, however, that brought about a second phase of residential building in the 1920’s. The Bronx River Parkway, which opened in 1925, was the world’s first public parkway.
The post-World War II period was one of prosperity and optimism. The parkways were refurbished and the Cross Country Shopping center, the world’s first, opened in Yonkers. Corporate headquarters began to move to Westchester in 1953, with General Foods the first to relocate. By the 1970’s, corporate office parks along the “Platinum Mile” of the Cross-Westchester Expressway were replacing the heavy industry that had categorized the 19th century. Today, private and public sector leaders are working together to facilitate the social and economic transitions which will keep Westchester one of the nation’s best counties in which to live and work.