|
Greenburgh is solely the name of a township with governmental functions; it has no actual geographic area, downtown, railroad station or post office. the Town of Greenburgh includes the villages of Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Hastings -on- Hudson, Irvington and Tarrytown as well as the unincorporated areas of East Irvington, Edgemont, Fairview, Glenville, Greenville and Hartsdale. Greenburgh post office addresses can also be Scarsdale and White Plains
Greenburgh became on of the 20 townships of Westchester in 1788; its 1,100% lived mostly in 'small clusters of settlements which later became Greenburghs many villages. During the first half of the 1800's Greenburgh developed a lively steamboat trade, abolished slavery and got its first railroad and croton Aqueduct. In the early 1800's, Ardsley was know as Saw Mill Corners and then Ashford by 1850. When residents wanted a post office in 1883, they had to change Ashford's name, as another town by that name already existed in New York State. Ardsley was adopted in honor of a prominent resident's ancestral home in England. Elmsford was called Storm's Bridge in the early 1800's then Hall's Corner in 1840 and Finally Elmsford in 1886 with the creation of the post office. Hartsdale was first know as Barnes Corner, then Harts Corner and even Morningville.
After the Civil War, Many rich and famous people discovered Greenburgh's beauty and settle along the Hudson River from Hastings to Tarrytown. Immigrant workers who were building the Croton Dam also established home here. In the late 1860's, NYC's corrupt mayor, Boss Tweed, Claimed he wanted to extend Central Park to White Plains; through many secret deals he managed to get Central Avenue Built, But turned into a commercial thoroughfare. In 1869, a canine cemetery was opened in Hartsdale by Dr. S.C. Johnson who set aside 10 acres of orchard land for dogs, cats and birds! By 1880 a third railroad line through Greenburgh was built-thistime in Elmsford. By the late 1890's lavish estates line the Hudson River villages. In 1886, the Ardsley Casino Club had such distinguished members as the Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Depews, Villards and Tiffanys.
Today Greenburgh ranks as the largest township in Westchester with it 31 square miles; it is the second largest municipality, after Yonkers.
|
