# Van Cortlandt Manor Van Cortlandt Manor House stands as a 17th-century property built by the Van Cortlandt family near where the Croton and Hudson Rivers converge in Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York. Currently operating as a museum and designated a National Historic Landmark, the structure exemplifies Dutch colonial architecture. ## Original Land Grant and Indigenous Peoples Ste…

# Kitchawank: The Croton-on-Hudson Wappinger Band The Kitchawank were a band of the Wappinger Confederation, an Eastern Algonquian people who inhabited what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. They were inhabitants of northern Westchester County, New York, specifically in the Croton-on-Hudson area. ## Territory and Settlement The Kitchawank established their primary settlement at …

Detail from Thomas Jeffreys' map, The Provinces of New York, and New Jersey, "Drawn by Major Holland, Corrected and Improved by Governr. Pownall, Member of Parliament 1776."

CROTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2.0 CROTON-ON-HUDSON HISTORY AND PREVIOUS PLANNING EFFORTS 2.1 Croton-on-Hudson History Croton-on-Hudson was formally incorporated as a village in the Town of Cortlandt in 1898, but its history begins much earlier than that. Croton-on-Hudson’s colonial-era history dates back to the 17th century, and archaeological evidence indicates that it was populated by Native America…

Detail from "An Improved Map of the Hudson River, with the Post Roads between N. York & Albany," published by S. Mahon & Co. in 1830.

Map details from the 1908 Atlas of the rural country district north of New York City, compiled by E. Belcher Hyde and published from offices at No. 5 Beekman Street in Manhattan.

named for the Indian chief of the Kitchawanc tribe, Kenoten, which means "wild wind." A plaque on a rock at Croton Point Park marks the spot where a peace treaty was signed in 1645 between the Dutch and the Kitchawanc, under an old oak tree. More Dutch arrived in the following decades, at first to trade and then, by the 1660s, to settle in the area. In 1677, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who later beca…

Detail from the Travellers' Guide of the Hudson River, "Published by H.B. Kirkham, 1848."

In Search of Teatown In the 1970s, historian Lincoln Diamant investigated the origins of Teatown's distinctive name. Local tradition suggested it derived from an English village, since English tenant farmers originally settled the area. However, Diamant's research contradicted this theory when he obtained a letter from the British Museum. The librarian responded to a 1931 query from the New-York …

New York Walk Book, 1923 A map from the "pocket edition" of the New York Walk Book, released in 1923 by the American Geographical Society. The publication featured three primary walking routes in the Croton area: - Salt Hill Route—Croton to Croton Lake Station - Croton Lake Region—Harmon to Millwood - Montrose to Harmon via Spitzenberg and Keg Mountains The guidebook included detailed pen-and-i…

Census Map of Croton, 1935 This post presents three detailed sections from a 1935 census map of the Town of Cortlandt, which accompanied the 1940 census. The map details focus on three areas: Croton, Harmon, and Croton Point. The map was created in January 1935 "in the office of the County Engineer, with workers supplied by the Westchester County Emergency Work Bureau." This indicates the map wa…

Hudson Valley Echoes, Issue #2 This post presents the second issue of Theodore J. Cornu's hand-drawn and hand-lettered self-published journal, Hudson Valley Echoes. The publication is described as "extraordinary" and represents Cornu's artistic contribution to regional history documentation. The journal focuses on regional Indigenous history and local heritage, covering topics including Croton P…

# Cortlandt, New York Cortlandt is a town in Westchester County, New York, positioned at the northwestern edge of the county. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,545. The town is located at the eastern terminus of the Bear Mountain Bridge. ## History The Cortlandt area holds significant Revolutionary War importance. It was home to King's Ferry, a strategic crossing point between Stony …

# Croton-on-Hudson, New York Croton-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2020 census. Located in the town of Cortlandt, it forms part of New York City's northern suburbs and was incorporated in 1898. ## History Human settlement in this area dates back millennia. The Kitchawanc tribe, part of the Wappinger Confederacy, signed a peace…

Camping at Croton Point, 1905 An 1905 article in Country Life in America magazine featured Croton Point as an ideal camping destination. Located "about thirty miles from the city" on the Hudson's New York side, the area offered a retreat that felt remote while remaining accessible to urban centers. The article described "Horseshoe Beach of fine sand" as an excellent bathing location and praised …