The Wappinger ( / ˈ w ɒ p ɪ n dʒ ər / WOP -in-jər ) were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut .
77-536: Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York , immediately north of New York City. It may also refer to: Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York , bordering the Long Island Sound to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous county in
154-523: A Wappinger people living along the lower Hudson River near today's New York City, were among the first to be recorded encountering European adventurers and traders when Henry Hudson's Half Moon appeared in 1609. Long after their original settlements had been decimated by wars with the colonists, wars with other Indian tribes, questionable land sales, waves of diseases brought by the Europeans, and absorption into other tribes, their last sachem and
231-407: A Westchester Parks Department run beach and park, was one of the first amusement parks in the country serving as a summer resort at the turn of the twentieth century; Huckleberry Island is largely undeveloped, and has one of the largest rookeries in western Long Island Sound; Echo Island is owned and used by a private yacht club ; Execution Rocks is the site of a 19th-century lighthouse listed on
308-653: A black ring around their eyes." As the Dutch began to settle in the area, they pressured the Connecticut Wappinger to sell their lands and seek refuge with other Algonquian-speaking tribes. The western bands, however, stood their ground amid rising tensions. Following the Pavonia massacre by colonists, during Kieft's War in 1643, the remaining Wappinger bands united against the Dutch, attacking settlements throughout New Netherland . The Dutch responded with
385-510: A group of their heavily dwindled people were residing at the "prayer town" sanctuary of Stockbridge, Massachusetts . A stalwart spokesman for Native American concerns and valiant soldier, Daniel Nimham had traveled to Great Britain in the 1760s to argue for a return of tribal lands, and served in both the French and Indian Wars (on behalf of the English) and American Revolution (in support of
462-471: A manufacturing base, particularly along the Hudson River and Nepperhan Creek . In 1874, the western portion of the present Bronx County was transferred to New York County, and in 1895 the remainder of the present Bronx County was also transferred to New York County. These would later split from Manhattan to form a county. During the 20th century, the rural character of Westchester would transform into
539-594: A total of 25,276 cases, 838 deaths, and 9,371 recoveries. As of May 22, 2020, there were between 30 and 35,000 cases going both by COVID-19 testing and serological samples, constituting the highest number of highest per capita infections in the world: 3% out of 1 million residents. On May 26, 2020, the area started their first phase of reopening after being placed on lockdown for two months. Westchester County has six cities , 19 towns , and 23 villages . Cities in Westchester have many well established sub-areas within
616-533: A walkway along the Hudson River of 51.5 miles (80 km) which will provide pedestrian access between New York City and Putnam County. 32.9 miles of the route are complete and accessible. At 987 feet (301 m), the highest elevation in the county is a U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey benchmark known as "Bailey" in Mountain Lakes Park near the Connecticut state line. The lowest elevation
693-703: Is a marketing name for the eastern part of New York State, including the Hudson Valley and the Capital District . The term originated in 1998 to promote the Greater Albany metropolitan area as a competitor to regions such as Silicon Valley and Boston . It has since grown to represent the counties in New York between IBM 's Westchester County plants in the south and the Canada–U.S. border to
770-520: Is bordered on the west side by the Hudson River and on the east side by the Long Island Sound and Fairfield County, Connecticut . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 500 square miles (1,300 km ), of which 430 square miles (1,100 km ) is land and 69 square miles (180 km ) (14%) is water. Where Pelham Manor meets Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx,
847-502: Is borderline humid subtropical and humid continental (Köppen: Cfa/Dfa ). Winters are cold, wet, and occasionally snowy throughout the county, with more snow inland in higher elevations. Summers are hot inland but cooler towards the coast, with a relative dryness in the early summer. Precipitation is plentiful and in some elevated areas reaches over 50 inches. Snowfall is more common in Westchester than in New York City, with
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#1732764781261924-401: Is completely separate from the city of Rye. Pelham is the name of a town and also of a village in the town. The village of Mamaroneck is located partially in the town of Mamaroneck and partially in the town of Rye, but has nothing to do with the city of Rye. ZIP Codes in Westchester often are not coterminous with the actual municipality borders, causing mailing addresses to sometimes differ from
1001-497: Is full of great and tall oakes. This day [September 5, 1609] many of the people came aboord, some in mantles of feathers, and some in skinnes of divers sorts of good furres. Some women also came to us with hempe. They had red copper tabacco pipes and other things of copper they did wear about their neckes. At night they went on land againe, so wee rode very quite, but durst not trust them" (Juet 1959:28). Dutch navigator and colonist David Pieterz De Vries recorded another description of
1078-489: Is in a transitional period, converting from primarily industrial uses to mixed residential, commercial, retail, and recreational uses. This transformation is most notable in Yonkers, Hastings-on-Hudson , Dobbs Ferry , Irvington , Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Ossining , and Peekskill , where redevelopment projects are in various stages of design and completion. In 2004, the county began a project to create Westchester RiverWalk,
1155-708: Is sea level, along both the Hudson and Long Island Sound. Westchester County is divided into six primary drainage basins or watersheds: the Upper and Lower Long Island Sound; and the Bronx, Upper Hudson, Lower Hudson, and Croton River basins. Within these primary drainage basins are approximately 60 smaller basins, or subwatersheds. The principal streams draining the southern part of the county include Beaver Swamp Brook, Blind Brook , Bronx River , Hutchinson River , Mamaroneck River , Saw Mill River , Sheldrake River, Stephenson Brook and Tibbetts Brook . The primary streams draining
1232-864: The Half Moon . The total population of the Wappinger people at that time has been estimated at between 3,000 and 13,200 individuals. Robert Juet, an officer on the Half Moon , provides an account in his journal of some of the lower Hudson Valley Native Americans. In his entries for September 4 and 5, 1609, he says: "This day the people of the country came aboord of us, seeming very glad of our comming, and brought greene tobacco , and gave us of it for knives and beads. They goe in deere skins loose, well dressed. They have yellow copper. They desire cloathes, and are very civill ... They have great store of maize or Indian wheate whereof they make good bread. The country
1309-672: The Amawalk Reservoir , and the Muscoot Reservoir . Other major reservoirs are the Kensico and Byram Lake Reservoir, while there are a number of smaller reservoirs throughout the county. The Westchester County Department of Planning divides the county into North, Central and South sub-regions. The rock that underlies Manhattan and Westchester is chiefly gneiss and mica - schist , with layers of dolomitic marble and serpentine . The climate of Westchester County
1386-699: The Battle of Kingsbridge in the Bronx on August 30, 1778. It proved an irrevocable blow to the tribe, which had also been decimated by European diseases. Following the American Revolutionary War, what was left of a combined Mohican and Wappinger community in Stockbridge, Massachusetts left for Oneida County in western New York to join the Oneida people there. There they were joined by
1463-581: The Delaware and Hudson Rivers . Several different tribes occupied the area, including The Manhattans, and the Weckquaesgeek and Siwanoy bands of the Wappinger in the south, and Tankiteke, Sintsink and Kitchawank Wappinger in the north. The first European explorers to visit the Westchester area were Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 and Henry Hudson in 1609. Dutch settlers began arriving in
1540-607: The International Science and Engineering Fair and similar STEM -based academic awards. At the time of European contact in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Native American inhabitants of present-day Westchester County were part of the Algonquian peoples , whose name for themselves was Lenape , meaning the people . They called the region Lenapehoking , which consisted of the area around and between
1617-693: The Kensico Reservoir are important components of the New York City water supply system. The system is a series of interconnected reservoirs and lakes in northern Westchester and Putnam Counties that provide 10% of New York City's water under normal conditions and up to 30% in times of drought. The components of the system include the New Croton Reservoir , the Cross River Reservoir , the Titicus Reservoir ,
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#17327647812611694-703: The Munsee , a large subgroup of the Lenape people . All three were among the Eastern Algonquian -speaking subgroup of the Algonquian peoples . They spoke using very similar Lenape languages , with the Wappinger dialect most closely related to the Munsee language . Their nearest allies were the Mohican to the north, the Montaukett to the southeast on Long Island, and the remaining New England tribes to
1771-423: The Munsee language -word wápinkw , used by the Lenape and meaning " opossum ", might be related to the name Wappinger. No evidence supports the folk etymology of the name coming from a word meaning "easterner," as suggested by Edward Manning Ruttenber in 1906 and John Reed Swanton in 1952. Others suggest that Wappinger is anglicized from the Dutch word wapendragers , meaning "weapon-bearers", alluding to
1848-514: The National Register of Historic Places ; Columbia , Pea , and Goose Islands are undeveloped; Clifford, Harrison and Tank Islands are part of the "Five Islands Park" and nature preserve; while Oak and Pine Islands are used as private residences. The widest section of the Hudson River, at 3.6 miles (6 km), is found between the Westchester and Rockland County shorelines immediately north of Croton Point. In Colonial times, this area
1925-484: The Revolutionary War devastated the county, recovery after the war was rapid. In 1788, five years after the end of the war, the county was divided into 20 towns. In 1798, the first federal census recorded a population of 24,000 for the county. Two developments in the first half of the 19th century—the construction of the first Croton Dam and Aqueduct , and the coming of the railroad—had enormous impacts on
2002-763: The southern border of Westchester is just under 11 miles (18 km) from Columbus Circle in Manhattan . At over 2,700 acres (11 km ), Pelham Bay Park is the largest of New York City's parks, forming a substantial buffer between suburban Westchester and the urban Bronx, while Van Cortlandt Park to the west acts as a similar buffer. Westchester's Long Island Sound shore is generally rocky, interspersed with tidal mud flats , marshes and wetlands , as well as several natural and artificially-maintained sand beaches. Municipal and county owned parks provide access to beaches, nature preserves and passive and active waterfront recreational facilities. Several large harbors lie along
2079-763: The "prayer town" Stockbridge, Massachusetts in the western part of the colony, where Natives had settled who had converted to Christianity. In 1765, the remaining Wappinger in Dutchess County sued the Philipse family for control of the Philipse Patent land but lost. In the aftermath the Philipses raised rents on the European-American tenant farmers , sparking colonist riots across the region. In 1766 Daniel Nimham , last sachem of
2156-541: The 1620s, followed by settlers from England in the 1640s. Westchester County was one of the original twelve counties of the Province of New York , created by an act of the New York General Assembly in 1683. At the time it included present-day Bronx County , and abutted then- Dutchess County to the north. By 1775, Westchester was the richest and most populous county in the colony of New York. Although
2233-634: The Colonists). He died with his son Abraham in a slaughter of the Stockbridge Militia at the Battle of Kingsbridge in 1778. Following the war, what was left of a combined Mohican and Wappinger community in Stockbridge, Massachusetts left for Oneida County in western New York to join the Oneida people there. There they were joined by the remnants of the Munsee , forming the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe. From that time,
2310-570: The Hudson River to its west. Westchester was the first suburban area of its scale in the world to develop, due mostly to the upper-middle-class development of entire communities in the late 19th century and the subsequent rapid population growth. Westchester County has numerous road and mass transit connections to New York City, and the county is home to the headquarters of large multinational corporations including IBM , Mastercard , PepsiCo , and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals . Westchester County high school students often feature prominently as winners of
2387-470: The Hudson. He argued before the royal Lords of Trade , who were generally sympathetic to his claims, but did not arrange for the Wappinger to regain any land after he returned to North America. The Lords of Trade reported that there was sufficient cause to investigate "frauds and abuses of Indian lands...complained of in the American colonies, and in this colony in particular." And that, "the conduct of
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2464-835: The Indians would set an adverse precedent regarding other similar disputes. Nimham did not give up the cause. When the opportunity to serve with the Continental Army in the American Revolution arose, he chose it over the British in the hopes of receiving fairer treatment by the American government in its aftermath. It was not to be. Many Wappinger served in the Stockbridge Militia during the American Revolution . Nimham, his son and heir Abraham, and some forty warriors were killed or mortally wounded in
2541-614: The March 1644 slaughter of between 500 and 700 members of Wappinger bands in the Pound Ridge Massacre , most burned alive in a surprise attack upon their sacred wintering ground. It was a severe blow to the tribe. Allied with their trading partners, the powerful Mohawk of the Iroquois nations in central and western New York, the Dutch defeated the Wappinger by 1645. The Mohawk and Dutch killed more than 1500 Wappinger during
2618-465: 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 . Westchester covers an area of 450 square miles (1,200 km ), consisting of six cities, 19 towns, and 23 villages. Established in 1683, Westchester
2695-538: The Wappinger ceased to have an independent name in history, and their people intermarried with others. Their descendants were subsequently relocated to a Stockbridge-Munsee reservation in Shawano County, Wisconsin . The tribe operates a casino there, and in 2010 was awarded two tiny parcels suitable for casinos in New York State in return for dropping larger land claims there. The totem (or emblem) of
2772-593: The Wappinger was the "enchanted wolf," with the right paw raised defiantly. By one account, they shared this totem with the Mohicans. The origin of the name Wappinger is unknown. While the present-day spelling was used as early as 1643, countless alternate phonetic spellings were also used by early European settlers well into the late 19th century. Each linguistic group tended to transliterate Native American names according to their own languages. Among these spellings and terms are: Anthropologist Ives Goddard suggests
2849-401: The Wappinger who resided around Fort Amsterdam: "The Indians about here are tolerably stout, have black hair with a long, lock which they let hang on one side of the head. Their hair is shorn on the top of the head like a cock's comb. Their clothing is a coat of beaver skins over the body, with the fur inside in winter and outside in summer; they have, also, sometimes a bear's hide, or a coat of
2926-639: The Wappinger, was part of a delegation that traveled to London to petition the British Crown for land rights and better treatment by the American colonists . Britain had controlled former "Dutch" lands in New York since 1664. Nimham was then living in Stockbridge, but he was originally from the Wappinger settlement of Wiccopee, New York , near the Dutch-founded settlement of Fishkill on
3003-707: The Wappingers' earliest recorded European contact, their settlements included camps along the major rivers between the Hudson and Housatonic , with larger villages located at the river mouths. Settlements near fresh water and arable land could remain in one location for about 20 years, until the people moved to another place some miles away. Despite many references to their villages and other site types by early European explorers and settlers, few contact-period sites have been identified in southeastern New York. The Wappinger first came into contact with Europeans in 1609, when Henry Hudson's expedition reached this territory on
3080-511: The actual municipal location in which a property resides. For instance, the ZIP Codes for Bronxville , Larchmont , Rye , and Scarsdale contain large areas that lie outside of those municipalities. All of the towns have justice courts , and some of the villages do as well. The towns are listed as follows: Due to its proximity to New York City, many Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Westchester county, including: Tech Valley
3157-526: The age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. Of all households 25.7% were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.21. Age distribution was 25% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 14% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
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3234-465: The best in New York State and the United States. Public schools in the county are largely funded by local property taxes, and the median annual property tax bill for Westchester County residents was $ 13,842 in 2013, the highest in the United States. According to the 2018 rankings provided by the education website Niche , taking into account public comments, 28 of the top 100 school districts in
3311-404: The bioscience center, a public-private partnership, is anticipated to create 12,000 new jobs and include over 2.25 million square feet of biotechnology research space. Westchester County contains 48 public school districts , nearly 120 private college-preparatory and parochial schools, and 14 colleges and universities. Many public and private high schools are continuously ranked among
3388-435: The border between Ossining town and Mount Pleasant, and Mamaroneck village straddles the boundary between Mamaroneck town and Rye town. With the exception of the towns of Rye, Pelham, Harrison, Mount Kisco, and Scarsdale, all the towns contain area and residents which do not belong to any village. These areas may contain communities referred to as hamlets , or "unincorporated areas". Hamlets have no legal status and depend upon
3465-399: The central part of the county include Byram River , Kisco River, Mianus River , Mill River, Pocantico River and Silvermine River. The principal streams draining the northern part of the county include Dickey Brook, Furnace Brook, Hallocks Mill Brook, Hunter Brook, Muscoot River, Peekskill Hollow Brook, and Titicus River . The county contains several major reservoirs; The Croton system and
3542-450: The cities is in a town. A town may have from zero to multiple villages. The largest city in the county by population is Yonkers with over 211,000 residents. The city with the highest population density is Mount Vernon with a density of 15,564 individuals per square mile. The towns of Harrison, Mount Kisco, and Scarsdale are coterminous with the village of the same name. Two villages are split between two towns: Briarcliff Manor crosses
3619-562: The coast. As of 2010, there were 949,113 residents at an average density of 807 per square mile (312/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 57.4% non-Hispanic White, 15.6% African American, 0.4% Native American, 5.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 7.6% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.8% of the population. 71.7% spoke only English at home, while 14.4% spoke Spanish , 3.5% Italian , 1.1% Portuguese and 1.1% French at home. There were 337,142 households, of which 34% had children under
3696-700: The county are: The former Edwin H. Armstrong House is the only delisted National Historic Landmark in Westchester. Westchester County is served by the Westchester Library System, established in 1958. The system comprises 38 public libraries and 25 college and special libraries in the county. The Westchester Library Association is an organization which advocates on behalf of libraries and their personnel and support systems within Westchester County. There are 14 sites on Westchester County's African American Heritage Trail . The Trail
3773-548: The county lived below the poverty line from 2014 to 2018. According to the 2020 American Community Survey , the county's Latino population was: 5.12% Puerto Rican , 4.46% Dominican , 4.14% Mexican , 2.73% Ecuadorian , 1.73% Guatemalan , 1.26% Colombian . As of 2000, several different expatriate populations lived in Westchester County. Notable French communities are located in Larchmont , Mamaroneck , and New Rochelle ; while Scarsdale , Tarrytown and Bronxville are
3850-510: The early 19th century, the Stockbridge-Munsee in New York were forced to remove to Wisconsin . Today, members of the federally recognized Stockbridge-Munsee Nation reside mostly there on a reservation, where they operate a casino. In 2010 the tribe was awarded two tiny parcels suitable for casinos in New York State in return for dropping larger land claims there. While Edward Manning Ruttenber suggested in 1872 that there had been
3927-496: The east. Like the Lenape, the Wappinger were highly decentralized as a people. They formed approximately 18 loosely associated bands that had established geographic territories. The Wappinger had summer and winter camps. As agriculturists, they cultivated maize, beans, and various species of squash. They also hunted game, fished the rivers and streams, collected shellfish, and gathered fruits, flowers, seeds, roots, and nuts. By 1609,
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#17327647812614004-530: The exception of the southeast of the county where snowfall is often between 20 and 25 inches. In January, inland areas have a low of 21–26 °F and a high of 34–37 °F while coastal areas have a low of 27–30 °F and a high of 38–41 °F. In the summer, this effect is much milder. Coastal areas, including Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, Rye, and Port Chester have highs of 81–83 °F and lows of 68–73 °F, while inland highs will be 84–87 °F and lows will be 65–70 °F. Winds can be heavy, especially by
4081-406: The fifth-highest in New York (after Nassau , Putnam , Suffolk , and Rockland counties) and the 47th highest in the United States. By 2021, the county's median household income had risen to $ 105,387. Westchester County ranks second in the state after New York County for median income per person, with a higher concentration of incomes in smaller households. Simultaneously, Westchester County had
4158-633: The growth of Westchester. The Croton Dam and Aqueduct was begun in 1837 and completed in 1842; now a National Historic Landmark , the Croton Aqueduct is considered one of the great engineering achievements of the 19th century. In the 1840s, the first railroads were built in Westchester, and included the New York and Harlem Railroad , the Hudson River Railroad, and the New York and New Haven Railroad . The railroads often determined
4235-538: The growth of a town, and the population shifted from Northern to Southern Westchester . By 1860, the total county population was 99,000, with the most populated city being Yonkers. The period following the American Civil War enabled entrepreneurs in the New York area to create fortunes, and many built large estates , such as Lyndhurst , in Westchester. During the latter half of the 19th century, Westchester's transportation system and labor force attracted
4312-520: The highest property taxes of any county in the United States in 2013. Westchester County is one of the centrally located counties within the New York metropolitan area . The county is positioned with New York City, plus Nassau and Suffolk counties (on Long Island , across the Long Island Sound), to its south; Putnam County to its north; Fairfield County, Connecticut , to its east; and Rockland County and Bergen County, New Jersey , across
4389-452: The lieutenant-governor and the council...does carry with it the colour of great prejudice and partiality, and of an intention to intimidate these Indians from prosecuting their claims." Upon a second hearing before New York Provincial Governor Sir Henry Moore and the council, John Morin Scott argued that legal title to the land was only a secondary concern. He said that returning the land to
4466-479: The municipal boundaries. Many of these are similar to hamlets and date back to as early as the late 1600s such as Cooper's Corners in New Rochelle. These areas also include some of the first planned communities in the country such as New Rochelle's Residence Park , Rochelle Park and Heights and Sutton Manor . The six cities in the county are: Any land area in the county that is not contained in one of
4543-525: The north the Roeliff Jansen Kill in southernmost Columbia County, New York , marked the end of their territory. Their nearest allies were the Mohican to the north, the Montaukett to the southeast on Long Island, and the remaining New England tribes to the east. Like the Lenape, the Wappinger were highly decentralized as a people. They formed numerous loosely associated bands that had established geographic territories. The Wequaesgeek ,
4620-526: The north. Westchester County has also developed a burgeoning biotechnology sector in the 21st century, with over $ 1 billion in planned private investment as of 2016, spurring Westchester Magazine to nickname the county Biochester . In April 2017, county officials unveiled plans for an 80-acre, 3 million square-foot biotechnology hub to be built with US$ 1.2 billion in private investment on vacant land adjacent to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla ;
4697-564: The population were below the poverty line , including 26.53% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over. At the American Community Survey 's 2018 estimates 967,612 people inhabited the county, up 18,499 from 2010's census. 53.1% of the county was non-Hispanic white , 16.6% Black or African American , 1.0% American Indian or Alaska Native , 6.4% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 2.5% from two or more races , and 25.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race. 25.6% of
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#17327647812614774-429: The population were foreign-born. 4.2% of the population was West Indian . From 2014 to 2018 there were 375,852 housing units and 347,332 households. The owner-occupied housing rate was 61.3% and the median monthly owner costs of a house were $ 3,398 with a mortgage and $ 1,426 without. The median gross rent in 2018 was $ 1,493, up $ 517 from the monthly owner cost without a mortgage. The average persons per household in 2018
4851-513: The preferred locations for Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans . In March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States , the state government ordered a one square mile "containment zone" in the northern part of the city of New Rochelle . Part of New Rochelle is adjacent to the Bronx , where the majority of New York State's COVID-19 positive cases were (as of May 8, 350,000 out of 20 million residents). As of April 22 there were
4928-552: The remnants of the Munsee , forming the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe. From that time the Wappinger ceased to have an independent name in history, and their people intermarried with others. A few scattered remnants still remained. As late as 1811, a small band was recorded as having a settlement on a low tract of land by the side of a brook, under a high hill in the northern part of the Town of Kent in Putnam County . Later in
5005-440: The shore including Milton Harbor in Rye , Mamaroneck Harbor , Larchmont Harbor , and Echo Bay , and the upper and lower harbors in southern New Rochelle . A number of islands can be found off the Long Island Sound shore, most of which are located in New Rochelle. Davids Island , the former location of the U.S. Army's Fort Slocum , is currently unoccupied but is slated for use as passive parkland; Glen Island , currently
5082-494: The skins of wild cats, or hefspanen [probably raccoon], which is an animal most as hairy as a wild cat, and is also very good to eat. They also wear coats of turkey feathers, which they know how to put together. Their pride is to paint their faces strangely with red or black lead, so that they look like fiends. Some of the women are very well featured, having long countenances. Their hair hangs loose from their head; they are very foul and dirty; they sometimes paint their faces, and draw
5159-487: The state of New York were located in Westchester County. The Timothy Knapp House , built around 1670, is the oldest standing building in Westchester. Philipse Manor Hall and the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow are also among the oldest, built around 1682 and 1685 respectively. Philipse Manor Hall is located in Getty Square , Yonkers, and is operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . Current National Historic Landmarks in
5236-438: The suburban county known today. The Bronx River Parkway , completed in 1925, was the first modern, multi-lane limited-access roadway in North America. The development of Westchester's parks and parkway systems supported existing communities and encouraged the establishment of new ones, transforming the development pattern for Westchester. With the need for homes expanding after World War II , multistory apartment houses appeared in
5313-413: The town for all municipal government and services. There are also areas called census-designated places (CDPs), which are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. A CDP may or may not correspond to a hamlet. Because some municipalities have the same name, it is often necessary to indicate whether one is referring to the city, town, village, or hamlet. For example, the town of Rye
5390-448: The two years of the war. This was a devastating toll for the Wappinger. The Wappinger faced the Dutch again in the 1655 Peach War , a three-day engagement that left an estimated 100 settlers and 60 Wappinger dead, and strained relations further between the two groups. After the war, the confederation broke apart, and many of the surviving Wappinger left their native lands for the protection of neighboring tribes, settling in particular in
5467-615: The urbanized areas of the county, while the market for single-family houses continued to expand. By 1950, the total county population was 625,816. Major interstate highways were constructed in Westchester during the 1950s and 1960s. The establishment of these roadways, along with the construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge , led to further growth in the county. Westchester County is located in the New York metropolitan area and Downstate New York , north of New York City and south of Upstate New York . It shares its southern boundary with New York City and its northern border with Putnam County . It
5544-462: The warring relationship between the Dutch and the Wappinger. Such reference would correspond to a first appearance in 1643. This was thirty-four years after the Dutch aboard Hudson's Half Moon may have learned the name the people called themselves. The 1643 date reflects a period of great conflict with the natives, including the preemptive Pavonia massacre by the Dutch, which precipitated Kieft's War . The Wappinger were most closely related to
5621-406: Was 2.71 and 33.3% of residents spoke a language other than English at home. 21.9% of Westchester was under 18 and 17.1% were aged 65 and older. Westchester County's median income was $ 92,758 and the per capita income was $ 54,572. The Census Bureau reported 65.4% of the county's residents aged 16 and older were employed in the civilian labor force, and 59.5% of women worked in the labor force. 8.3% of
5698-420: Was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.30 males. According to census data, the per capita income for the county in 1999 was $ 36,726. The American Community Survey lists Westchester in 2011 with the median household income of $ 77,006, the 47th highest in the country. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 6.4% of families and 8.7% (2003) of
5775-892: Was called the Tappan Zee or Sea. The Hudson River is tidal and brackish through Westchester and contains a small number of estuarine marshes. Two bridges span the Hudson in Westchester: the Bear Mountain Bridge crosses at Cortlandt and the Tappan Zee Bridge at Tarrytown . Municipal, county and state-owned parks provide access to waterfront landmarks and sites, including Croton Point in Croton, Kingsland Point in Sleepy Hollow and JFK Memorial Marina in Yonkers. The Hudson River waterfront in Westchester
5852-484: Was created in 2004. Wappinger At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutchess County, New York , but their territory included the east bank of the Hudson in what became both Putnam and Westchester counties south to the western Bronx and northern Manhattan Island . To the east they reached to the Connecticut River Valley , and to
5929-463: 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 census. The county is part of the Hudson Valley region of the state. The annual per capita income for Westchester was $ 67,813 in 2011. The 2011 median household income of $ 77,006 was
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