The following streetcar lines once operated in Westchester County, New York. Many systems in Westchester eventually came under control of either the Third Avenue Railway, [1] the Fifth Avenue Coach Company, or the Connecticut Company-owned New York and Stamford Railway.
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.
The Westchester County Bee-Line System, branded on the buses in lowercase as the bee-line system, is a bus system serving Westchester County, New York. The system is owned by the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation.
The Harlem Line is an 82-mile (132 km) commuter rail line owned and operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. state of New York. It runs north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower 53 miles (85 km) from Grand Central Terminal to Southeast, in Putnam County, is electrified with a third rail and has at least two tracks. The section north of Southeast is a non-electrified single-track line served by diesel locomotives. The diesel trains usually run as a shuttle on the northern end of the line, except for rush-hour express trains in the peak direction and one train in each direction on weekends.
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 Journal News is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett.
New York State Route 9A (NY 9A) is a state highway in the vicinity of New York City in the United States. Its southern terminus is at Battery Place near the northern end of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in New York City, where it intersects with both the unsigned Interstate 478 (I-478) and FDR Drive. The northern terminus of NY 9A is at U.S. Route 9 (US 9) in Peekskill. It is predominantly an alternate route of US 9 between New York City and Peekskill; however, in New York City, it is a major route of its own as it runs along the West Side Highway and Henry Hudson Parkway. It is also one of only two signed New York State routes in Manhattan. In northern Westchester County, NY 9A follows the Briarcliff–Peekskill Parkway.
New York State Route 100 (NY 100) is a major north–south state highway in Westchester County, New York, in the United States. It begins parallel to Interstate 87 (I-87) at a junction with the Cross County Parkway in the city of Yonkers and runs through most of the length of the county up to U.S. Route 202 (US 202) in the town of Somers. NY 100 was designated as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. Prior to becoming a state road, various sections of NY 100 were part of several important early roads in the county.
Westchester–Putnam Council was a local council of the Boy Scouts of America, serving Boy Scouts in southeastern New York State. It merged with the Hudson Valley Council in January 2021 to become the Greater Hudson Valley Council.
The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS), founded 1852, was a streetcar system serving the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx along with lower Westchester County. For a brief period of time, TARS also operated the Steinway Lines in Long Island City.
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.
The New York, Westchester and Boston Railway Company, was an electric commuter railroad in the Bronx and Westchester County, New York from 1912 to 1937. It ran from the southernmost part of the South Bronx, near the Harlem River, to Mount Vernon with branches north to White Plains and east to Port Chester. From 1906, construction and operation was under the control of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH) until its bankruptcy in 1935.
The Union Railway Company of New York City was chartered in 1892, and consolidated several streetcar transit franchises across Manhattan and The Bronx in New York City in the late 19th century. The Harlem Bridge, Morrisania and Fordham Railway combined with the North Third Avenue and Fleetwood Park Railway and the Melrose and West Morrisania Railroad to form the nucleus of the Union Railway in 1892. All lines were electrified the same year. Union Railway was acquired by Third Avenue Railroad Company in 1898, which was later reorganized as the Third Avenue Railway.
The New York and Stamford Railway was a streetcar line that connected the Westchester County suburbs of New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison, Rye, and Port Chester, with the Connecticut suburbs of Greenwich and Stamford. The company was formed in 1901 when the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad combined the Larchmont Horse Railway Company with the Port Chester Street Railroad Company. The Larchmont Horse Railway Company was founded in 1888 by the Larchmont Manor Company to construct a line from the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Larchmont train station to its development 1.2 miles from town. The line was rebuilt for electric operation and extended to Harrison in 1901. The Port Chester Street Railroad opened in 1898 serving Port Chester, New York. The trolley line was soon extended west through Rye to Harrison in 1901. The two companies were merged that summer to form the New York and Stamford Railway. Trackage rights over the Westchester Electric Railroad were obtained for access to New Rochelle.
The Peekskill Lighting and Railroad Company was a streetcar transit line operating in northern Westchester County and southern Putnam County, New York. The earliest segment was constructed by the Peekskill Traction Company in 1899, running 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the New York Central Railroad train station at Peekskill to Lake Mohegan. The company was unable to meet payments for construction of the line, so the contractor operated the railroad until it was sold to the Peekskill Lighting and Railroad Company in 1900. The associated Westchester and Putnam Traction Company built extensions beyond Lake Mohegan, though the two companies were operated as one. In 1902, an extension was constructed through Buchannan to Verplanck. Another extension was opened in 1907 to Cortlandville, and Varian's Mills in 1908. The final extension to Oregon opened in 1909. President of the company was F.A. Stratton, who was also president of the Hudson River and Eastern Traction company, operators of the Ossining Electric Railway.
The Ossining Electric Railway was a streetcar transit line that operated in northern Westchester County. Chartered in 1892 as the Ossining Street Railway, the first section of the line opened in 1893, starting at the New York Central Railroad station at Ossining, and terminating at the Methodist Meeting Grounds 1.8 miles away. There was also a short branch off Main Street to Sparta Hill. The town purchased the company in 1897 for unpaid taxes and continued operation until 1902 when the Westchester Traction Company took control. The new company announced an ambitious project to build a new line to White Plains as well as a route to Port Chester, but the only extension built was from Sparta Hill to Ossining Hospital. Westchester Traction Company took control of the Danbury and Harlem Traction Company project, which was only partially constructed between Danbury, Connecticut, and North Salem, New York, and never put into operation. The Industrial Contracting Company was hired to construct the Danbury and Harlem line as well as the extension of the Ossining Electric Railway. Considerable grading and some track construction took place on the Danbury line, but no evidence of construction on the Ossining line could be found.
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.
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.
White Plains TransCenter is an intermodal transit center in White Plains, New York. It serves as a terminal/transfer point for many Bee-Line Buses, as well as intercity buses, and taxicabs. The terminal is located along Ferris Avenue north of Hamilton Street, diagonally across from the White Plains station of Metro-North Railroad, and includes a parking garage located next door to the railroad station, across that street. Ferris Avenue is a one-way street north of Main Street, and is flanked by northbound and southbound buses only lanes between Hamilton Street and Water Street.