Historic house museums
- 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House, Rye
- Timothy Knapp House and Milton Cemetery, Rye
- Kykuit, Pocantico Hills
- Leland Castle, New Rochelle
- Lyndhurst, Tarrytown
- Thomas Paine Cottage, New Rochelle
- Jacob Purdy House, White Plains
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. [1] 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.
Some of these landmarks have earned distinction as members of other notable designations including the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area list. Still others are on New York State's Path Through History or Westchester County's African American Heritage Trail.
According to the National Park Service [2] "National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) are historic properties that illustrate the heritage of the United States. The over 2,600 NHLs found in the U.S. today come in many forms: historic buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts. Each NHL represents an outstanding aspect of American history and culture." There are 19 NHLs in Westchester County and one NHL District. [3]
Including the 19 NHLs listed above, there are 240 total sites in Westchester County that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Westchester County, New York, National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Westchester County, New York. A partial list follows:
Some historic sites may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places but have not yet been nominated or may never be nominated. Others are governed by local landmark laws.
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.
Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson, is a suburban village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, 20 miles (32 km) north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a station stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line. To the north of Irvington is the village of Tarrytown, to the south the village of Dobbs Ferry, and to the east unincorporated parts of Greenburgh, including East Irvington. Irvington includes within its boundaries the community of Ardsley-on-Hudson, which has its own ZIP code and Metro-North station, but which should not be confused with the nearby village of Ardsley.
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line. To the north of Tarrytown is the village of Sleepy Hollow, to the south the village of Irvington and to the east unincorporated parts of Greenburgh. The Tappan Zee Bridge crosses the Hudson at Tarrytown, carrying the New York State Thruway to South Nyack, Rockland County and points in Upstate New York. The population was 11,860 at the 2020 census.
Philipse Manor station is a commuter rail stop on the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line, located in the Philipse Manor area of Sleepy Hollow, New York, United States.
The New York and Putnam Railroad, nicknamed the Old Put, was a railroad line that operated between the Bronx and Brewster in New York State. It was in close proximity to the Hudson River Railroad and New York and Harlem Railroad. All three came under ownership of the New York Central system in 1894. The railroad was abandoned starting in 1958, and most of the former roadbed has been converted to rail trail use.
The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity 41 miles (66 km) from the Croton River in Westchester County to reservoirs in Manhattan. It was built because local water resources had become polluted and inadequate for the growing population of the city. Although the aqueduct was largely superseded by the New Croton Aqueduct, which was built in 1890, the Old Croton Aqueduct remained in service until 1955.
The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow (Dutch: Oude Nederlandse Kerk van Sleepy Hollow), listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Dutch Reformed Church (Sleepy Hollow), is a 17th-century stone church located on Albany Post Road (U.S. Route 9) in Sleepy Hollow, New York, United States. It and its three-acre (1.2 ha) churchyard feature prominently in Washington Irving's 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The churchyard is often confused with the contiguous but separate Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
There are forty-five local police agencies in Westchester County, New York. As well as other county, state, and federal agencies responsible for protecting Westchester County, these agencies frequently work with one another and other agencies located in the surrounding counties and states as well as the NYPD. Current economic times has caused a few Westchester municipalities to consider consolidation of police services. The Westchester County Department of Public Safety started providing primary police services for the Town/Village of Mount Kisco in 2015.
Westchester County, New York, in the United States, contains 40 public school districts, 118 private schools and 14 colleges/universities. According to the 2018 rankings provided by the education website Niche, taking into account public comments, 28 of the top 100 school districts in New York State were located in Westchester County.
Pocantico Hills is a hamlet in the Westchester County town of Mount Pleasant, New York, United States.
Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. The organization runs tours and events at five historic properties in Westchester County, in the lower Hudson River Valley.
Villa Lewaro, is a 34-room 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway in Irvington, New York, 30 miles north of New York City. It was built from 1916 to 1918, and was designed in the Italianate style by architect Vertner Tandy for A’lelia Walker, for her mother, Madam C.J. Walker. An additional site, the Dark Tower Walker residence with business occupancy, was established in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, thus completing the Walker property portfolio.
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.
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.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Westchester County, New York, excluding the city of Peekskill, which has its own list.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in southern Westchester County, New York, excluding the cities of New Rochelle and Yonkers, which have separate lists of their own.
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.
The history of Westchester County, a county in the state of New York, can be traced back to the founding of a settlement between the Hudson River and Long Island Sound in the 17th century. The area now known as Westchester County had seen human occupation since at least the Archaic period, but significant growth in the settlements that are now incorporated into the county did not occur until the Industrial Revolution.
The African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County 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. The initial list had 13 sites. Westchester County historian and Schulman History Honoree Dr. Larry Spruill was lead consultant and researcher for the project.