Westchester County was established in 1683 and named for Chester, England. It covers 500 square miles, of which 430 are land and 69 are water. It’s divided into five sections: Hudson River Towns (bordered to the west by the Hudson River), the Sound Shore (bordered to the east by the Long Island Sound), Southern Westchester (bordered to the south by New York City), Northern Westchester (bordered by Putnam County and Connecticut), and Mid County. The highest point is Bailey Mountain in Mountain Lakes Park in North Salem, at 982 ft; the county seat is White Plains; the oldest town is Pelham, founded in 1654; and the smallest city is Rye.
It has an enormous range of habitat and is as rich in history and culture as an alluvial plain. The county is merely the “doughnut hole” of discovery, surrounded by a ring of further possibility, including the birthplace of the Appalachian Trail, battlefields of the American Revolution, Harriman State Park, the Hudson Highlands, the Hudson River Valley and the biggest city in the US. It’s only a fifteen-mile strip from the river to the sea, so you can handily check out every inch of it. Knowing the history of Westchester and its surroundings means understanding the history of America itself: its birth, battles, industry, growth and incredible wealth of resources….
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