A Brief History of Bronxville

Early 1700s

  • The Dutch and English settled the area in the early 1700’s; it was originally called Underhill’s Crossing.

1820s

  •  Fine marble was discovered in the quarries in nearby Tuckahoe. Quarry owner Alexander Masterton moved out of New York City and built his home at 90 White Plains Road to be near his developing business.

1840s

  • The arrival of the railroad dramatically changed the area’s landscape. A trip that once was arduous and took many hours was now achieved in a little over an hour.

1852

  • Bronxville established its own post office; Lancaster Underhill was appointed postmaster.

1859

  • Alexander Masterton built a gothic revival mansion, Crows Nest, for his friend Francis Edmonds.
  • The Dutch Reformed Church was founded. The church’s first building occupies the same site as the current church does today. The Bolton Family donated the land.

1870

  • The first public school was built.

1890

  • William Van Duzer Lawrence, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, arrived in Bronxville and bought the Prescott Manor House and farm. He transformed Bronxville by subdividing land and building roads. He commissioned William Bates to design a community of homes in what is now Lawrence Park. Lawrence Park, known for its beautiful architecture, quickly became an artists’ colony.

1897

  • William Van Duzer Lawrence commissioned the building of the Hotel Gramatan. The hotel became quite famous and was the center of social activity in the Village until it was razed in 1972.

1898

  • Bronxville became an incorporated village of one square mile within the town of Eastchester.

Early 1900s

  • The first Village Hall was erected in 1906; Christ Church was built in 1902; Lawrence Hospital was built in 1909; and Concordia College was built in 1910.
  • At the end of World War I, there was a population explosion and building boom that transformed Bronxville and the surrounding areas and made them the thriving suburbs they are today. Luckily, the building and expansion was accomplished with great planning and thought, thereby creating a commercial core surrounded by large public use areas and residential neighborhoods. The most established architects of the day, including Lewis Bowman, William Bates, Penrose Stout, Robert Scannell, Harry Leslie Walker, George Root and Randolf Evans designed many of Bronxville’s residential and public buildings.

1914

  • Bronxville gave women the right to vote.

1920s

  • Harry Leslie Walker constructed the Bronxville School.
  • The current structures for the Reformed Church, St. Joseph’s, and the First Church of Christ Scientist were completed.
  • Sarah Lawrence College was founded in memory of William Lawrence’s wife.

1940s

  • In 1942, the present Village Hall and Library were completed.

1980s

  • The Lawrence Park neighborhood and the Masterton-Dusenberry House at 90 White Plains Road were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1995

  • Underhill’s Crossing opens. The restaurant on Pondfield Road pays tribute to the Village’s founders.

1998

  • The Bronxville Historical Conservancy was established.

1999

  • The Brendan Gill Lecture Series is established in honor of the late Brendan Gill, former New Yorker luminary and longtime Village resident. Paul Goldberger, renowned architecture critic, former New Yorker colleague of Mr. Gill’s, and a New York Times Pulitzer Prize winner himself, delivers the first annual Brendan Gill Lecture Series address.

2000s

  • Bronxville has become one of the most sought after places to live in the lower Westchester area due to its proximity to New York City, its outstanding school and vibrant village atmosphere.
 

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