The African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County [1] in New York was created in 2004 to help preserve and interpret the historic landmark places that help tell the narratives of women and men of African descent who have made significant contributions to an American identity. [2] The initial list had 13 sites. Westchester County historian and Schulman History Honoree Dr. Larry Spruill was lead consultant and researcher for the project. [3] [4]
As early as 1984, leaders of Westchester's African American community under the guidance of John Harmon began building awareness about important heritage sites in the county. [5] A more formalized trail was later created under the auspices of the African American Advisory Board of Westchester County (AAAB) currently chaired by Barbara Edwards. [6] Associated AAAB events like the annual Trailblazer Awards each February and other programs and exhibits are regularly hosted at several of the 16 sites. [7] [8]
The trail includes 16 heritage destination sites as of 2023:
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population of 1,004,456, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 55,344 (5.8%) from the 949,113 counted in 2010. Located in the Hudson Valley, Westchester covers an area of 450 square miles (1,200 km2), consisting of six cities, 19 towns, and 23 villages. Established in 1683, Westchester was named after the city of Chester, England. The county seat is the city of White Plains, while the most populous municipality in the county is the city of Yonkers, with 211,569 residents per the 2020 U.S. Census.
Rye is a coastal city in Westchester County, New York, United States, located near New York City and within the New York metropolitan area. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it received its charter as a city in 1942, making it the youngest city in the State of New York. Its population density for its 5.85 square miles of land is roughly 2,729.76/sq mi.
Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in Mount Vernon, New York, just north of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The site was authorized in 1978 to protect Saint Paul's Church from increasing industrialization of the surrounding area. Saint Paul's Church is one of New York's oldest parishes and was used as a military hospital after the American Revolutionary War Battle of Pell's Point in 1776. The 5-acre (20,000 m2) cemetery surrounding the church is also within the historic site and contains an estimated 9,000 burials dating from 1704.
The John Jay Homestead State Historic Site is located at 400 Jay Street in Katonah, New York. The site preserves the 1787 home of Founding Father and statesman John Jay (1745–1829), one of the three authors of The Federalist Papers and the first Chief Justice of the United States. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1981 for its association with Jay. The house is open year-round for tours.
The Boston Post Road Historic District is a 286-acre (116 ha) National Historic Landmark District in Rye, New York, and is composed of five distinct and adjacent properties. Within this landmarked area are three architecturally significant, pre-Civil War mansions and their grounds; a 10,000-year-old Indigenous peoples site and viewshed; a private cemetery, and a nature preserve. It is one of only 11 National Historic Landmark Districts in New York State and the only National Historic Landmark District in Westchester County. It touches on the south side of the nation's oldest road, the Boston Post Road, which extends through Rye. A sandstone Westchester Turnpike marker "24", inspired by Benjamin Franklin's original mile marker system, is set into a wall that denotes the perimeter of three of the contributing properties. The district reaches to Milton Harbor of Long Island Sound. Two of the properties included in the National Park designation are anchored by Greek Revival buildings; the third property is dominated by a Gothic Revival structure that was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis.
The Jay Estate is a 23-acre park and historic site in Rye, New York, with the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House at its center. It is the keystone of the Boston Post Road Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District (NHL) created in 1993. The site is the surviving remnant of the 400-acre (1.6 km2) farm where US Founding Father, John Jay, grew up. It is also the place where Jay returned to celebrate the end of the American Revolutionary War, after he negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris with fellow peacemakers John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The preserved property is located on the south side of the Boston Post Road and has a 3⁄4-mile (1.2 km) view of Milton Harbor.
The Jay Heritage Center (JHC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1990 and chartered by the New York State Board of Regents to act as stewards of the 23-acre Jay Estate, the National Historic Landmark home of American Founding Father John Jay. Jay's ancestral property in Rye, New York is considered the centerpiece of the Boston Post Road Historic District.
Peter Augustus Jay was a prominent New York lawyer, politician and the eldest son of Founding Father and first United States Chief Justice John Jay.
The Rye African-American Cemetery, also known as the African Cemetery in Rye, is a historic 1.4 acre cemetery on North Street in Rye, New York. It was established as a burying ground for local African-Americans in 1860 through a donation of land by the Underhill family with the intent that it “shall forever hereafter kept, held and used for the purpose of a cemetery or burial place for the colored inhabitants of the said Town of Rye, and its vicinity free and clear of any charge". At least 35 of the individuals buried there are American veterans including men who served with the 20th United States Colored Infantry Regiment. The last documented burial in the cemetery was in 1964.
Philipsburg Manor was a manor located north of New York City in Westchester County in the Province of New York. Netherlands-born Frederick Philipse I and two partners made the initial purchase of land that had been part of a Dutch patroonship owned by Adriaen van der Donck. Philipse subsequently bought his partners out and added more land before being granted a royal charter in 1693 for the 52,000 acres (21,000 ha) estate, becoming its first lord.
Stony Hill Cemetery, also known as the Cemetery of the Asbury Colored Peoples Church, is a historic cemetery located at Harrison, Westchester County, New York. It is an example of a rural, 19th century African American burial ground.
Neuberger Museum of Art is located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is affiliated with Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system. It is the nation's tenth-largest university museum. The museum is one of 14 sites on the African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County.
The Pocantico River is a nine-mile-long (14 km) tributary of the Hudson River in western central Westchester County, New York, United States. It rises from Echo Lake, in the town of New Castle south of the hamlet of Millwood, and flows generally southwest past Briarcliff Manor to its outlet at Sleepy Hollow. Portions of the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining are within its 16-square-mile (41 km2) watershed.
There are numerous nationally and locally designated historic sites and attractions in Westchester County. These include architecturally significant manors and estates, churches, cemeteries, farmhouses, African-American heritage sites, and underground railroad depots and waystations. There are sites from pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary times, as well as battlegrounds. Westchester County also played an important role in the development of the modern suburb, and there are many associated heritage sites and museums.
John Jacob “Rifle Jack” Peterson was a Revolutionary war era patriot of African and Kitchewan descent whose quick thinking helped repel British forces in Croton, New York. His actions threw Benedict Arnold’s treasonous plans into disarray and led to the capture of Major Andre. This heroism inspired the erection of a memorial plaque at Teller's Point, now Croton Point, in Croton New York. The plaque also commemorates the actions of George Sherwood but the marker has been more popularly known as the Jack Peterson Memorial.
Christ's Church, Rye, is an Episcopal church in the Diocese of New York, located next to the Boston Post Road in Rye in Westchester County, New York. Established in 1695, the parish is one of the oldest in the United States of America. Construction of the first church began in 1706; the present building, dating from the 1860s, is the fourth to be erected on the site.
The Chappaqua Friends Meeting House, built 1753, is the oldest Quaker meeting house in Westchester County, New York, a stop on the Underground Railroad and a birthplace of the abolitionist movement in New York. In 1776 it would serve as a hospital for Continental Army soldiers injured at the nearby Battle of White Plains. Part of the Old Chappaqua Historic District, it is a stop on the African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County.