Historic Places In Westchester County

Hello everyone!

As all of you reading are aware, I live in Westchester County, and like every other place in the state of New York, it has many places that have been registered as historic places by the state of New York, and today, I am going to talk about them! 

If you’re wondering how this will work, I will be going over each place, and giving a quick synopsis of each of them, and hopefully by the end of this blog post, all of you reading will be intrigued to check any or all of them out.

The first place on the registry is the Armour-Stiner House in Irvington, which is an octagon shaped Victorian style house that is open for guided tours by appointment.

The next place on the registry is the Bear Mountain Bridge, which is a toll suspension bridge that goes across the Hudson River and connects Bear Mountain State Park in Orange County and Cortlandt in Westchester County. At the time that this bridge was completed in 1924, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, a title that it held for 19 months, when it was surpassed by the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and it also has two undivided vehicle lanes flanked by sidewalks, and cyclists may ride with motor vehicle traffic or walk their bikes on the sidewalks.

The next place on the registry is Boston Post Road Historic District in Rye, which is 286 acre district that features many places, one of which I will talk about later. One of the places that is part of the district is Rye Golf Club, which features an 1854 Gothic Revival stone home known as Whitby Castle. Another place that is part of the district is Marshlands Conservancy, which is a 147 acre wildlife sanctuary with numerous wildlife habitats that include ponds, creeks, a large meadow area, succession forest, freshwater wetlands, and the only extensive salt marsh in Westchester.

The next place on the registry is Bridge L-158 in Goldens Bridge, which is a disused railroad bridge that goes over the Muscoot Reservoir and was built in 1883 to carry New York Central Railroad traffic over Rondout Creek near Kingston in Ulster County, and was moved to its current location in 1904, and was taken out of service in 1960, and it’s also the only bridge entirely in Westchester County to be listed in its own right.

The next place on the registry is Bronxville Women’s Club, which is a historic women’s club located in Bronxville in a building that was constructed in the Colonial Revival style.

The next place on the registry is the former home of composer Aaron Copland in Cortlandt Manor.

The next place on the registry is one that I have been to several times, the Croton Aqueduct, which is a water distribution system that was constructed as part of the New York City water supply system between 1837 and 1842, and where I have been is part of the Old Croton Trail at Croton Gorge Park.

The next place on the registry is the Davenport House in New Rochelle, which is a house that was built in 1859 by architect Alexander Jackson Davis in the Gothic Revival style.

The next place on the registry is the Henry Draper Observatory, also known as Draper Cottage, in Hastings-on-Hudson, which is a historic house and local history museum that was an astronomical observatory for Henry Draper, where he made astrophotography history by taking some of the earliest photographs of the moon to include identifiable features through a telescope.

The next place on the registry is a place that I have driven past many times, Elephant Hotel in Somers, which is a historic former hotel that currently serves as the Somers Town Hall.

The next place on the registry is the First Presbyterian Church and Lewis Pintard House, which are two adjacent historic buildings in downtown New Rochelle.

The next place on the registry is Good Counsel Complex, also known as the Convent of the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, which is located in White Plains.

The next place on the registry is the John A Hartford House, which is now known as Hartford Hall, and is a historic house located on the campus of Westchester Community College in Valhalla, which is where I used to go to school. This house was built from 1930-1932 by John A Hartford, who was the company president of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, which you might know better as that old supermarket chain A&P. The building now houses the office of the college president.

The next place on the registry is the Jay Estate in Rye, which is a 23 acre park and historic site with the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House at its center.

The next place on the registry is another place that I have been to several times, John Jay Homestead State Historic Site in Katonah, which also has a farmers market in the summer.

The next place on the registry is Knickerbocker Building, which is a Dutch Colonial Revival industrial building in New Rochelle.

The next place on the registry is Kykuit, which is the John D Rockefeller Estate in Pocantico Hills.

The next place on the registry is Lawrence Park Historic District in Bronxville, which contains 94 contributing buildings, the majority of which are architecturally or historically significant.

The next place on the registry is Leland Castle in New Rochelle, which was constructed during the years 1855-1859 in the Gothic Revival style, and was also the country residence of Simeon Leland, a wealthy New York City hotel proprietor.

The next place on the registry is Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, which is also known as the Jay Gould Estate, and is a Gothic Revival country house that sits in its own 67 acre park beside the Hudson River, and for some additional fun facts, an episode of Project Runway was filmed here in 2017, and the 2021 and 2022 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held outdoors here due to concerns about the Covid pandemic.

The next place on the registry is Marble Schoolhouse in Eastchester, which is a Greek Revival style schoolhouse that features exhibits of local history and is open by appointment with the Eastchester Historical Society.

The next place on the registry is the Masterton-Dusenberry House in Bronxville, which is a Greek Revival style house that was built as a summer home for locally prominent stonemason Alexander Masterton.

The next place on the registry is the New Rochelle Train Station.

The next place on the registry is the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, which is currently only used for special occasions.

The next place on the registry is Thomas Paine Cottage in New Rochelle, which was the home of Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, U.S. Founding Father, and Revolutionary War hero, from 1802 to 1806.

The next place on the registry is the Peoples National Bank and Trust Company Building in White Plains, which now appears to be a Buffalo Wild Wings.

The next place on the registry is Philipsburg Manor House in Sleepy Hollow, which is currently operated as a non-profit museum.

The next place on the registry is Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site in Yonkers, which is also the second oldest standing building in Westchester County. 

The next place on the registry is Picture House Regional Film Center in Pelham, which is a historic movie theater that still shows movies and hosts birthday parties.

The next place on the registry is the Pioneer Building in New Rochelle, which is a commercial/office structure that was originally built in 1892, and has stayed there even after other historic buildings that surrounded it have been demolished.

The next place on the registry is one that I have been to many times, and it’s also one that I’m sure all of you reading are familiar with: Playland Park in Rye.

The next place on the registry is Quaker Ridge Golf Club, which is a private golf club in Scarsdale.

The next place on the registry is Rochelle Park-Rochelle Heights Historic District, which is a historic residential district in New Rochelle.

The next place on the registry is Rye Town Park-Bathing Complex and Oakland Beach, which is next to Playland Park.

The next place on the registry is Saint Paul’s Church National Historic Site in Mount Vernon, which 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 next place on the registry is the entire village of Sleepy Hollow.

The next place on the registry is another one that I think I have been to before, Stepping Stones in Katonah, which is the historic home of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson.

The next place on the registry is Sunnyside in Tarrytown, which was the home of author Washington Irving.

The next place on the registry is the Tuckahoe High School.

The next two places on the registry are the post offices in Bronxville and New Rochelle.

The next place on the registry is another one that I have been to many times: Untermyer Park and Gardens in Yonkers.

The next place on the registry is Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, which is a 17th century house and property built by the Van Cortlandt family.

The next place on the registry is Villa Lewaro in Irvington, which is a mansion that is also known as the Madam CJ Walker Estate.

The next place on the registry is Walter’s Hot Dog Stand in Mamaroneck.

The next place on the registry is the White Plains Armory in White Plains, which is currently a senior housing complex with a senior center on the first floor.

The next place on the registry is Wildcliff in New Rochelle, which was a mansion that was also referred to as the Cyrus Lawton House, but it was destroyed by a suspicious fire in November 2018.

The last place on the registry is Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck.

Overall, there are many cool and historic places in Westchester County, so go ahead and check them out!