| Scarsdale, New York | |
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| — Village & Town — | |
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Scarsdale, New York
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Westchester |
| Settled | March 21, 1701 |
| Incorporated (town) | March 7, 1788 |
| Incorporated (village) | May 24, 1915 |
| Government | |
| • Village Manager | Alfred A. Gatta |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6.6 sq mi (17.2 km2) |
| • Land | 6.6 sq mi (17.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 217 ft (66 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 17,166 |
| • Density | 2,584.9/sq mi (998/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 10583-4409 |
| Area code(s) | 914 |
| FIPS code | 36-65431 |
| GNIS feature | 0977410 |
Scarsdale is a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the northern suburbs of New York City. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several villages in the state that have a similar governmental situation.[1] As of the 2010 census, Scarsdale's population was 17,166.[2]
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Caleb Heathcote purchased the land that would become Scarsdale at the end of the 17th century and, on March 21, 1701, had them elevated to a royal manor. He named the lands after his ancestral home in Derbyshire, England. The first local census of 1712 counted twelve inhabitants, including seven African-American slaves. When Caleb died in 1721, his daughters inherited the property. The estate was broken up in 1774, and the town was officially founded on March 7, 1788.
The town saw fighting during the American Revolution when the Continental and British armies clashed briefly at what is now the junction of Garden Road and Mamaroneck Road. The British commander, Sir William Howe, lodged at a farmhouse on Garden Road that remains standing. Scarsdale's wartime history formed the basis for James Fenimore Cooper's novel, The Spy, written while the author lived at the Angevine Farm in the present-day Heathcote section of town.
According to the first federal census in 1790, the town's population was 281. By 1840, that number had declined to 255—the vast majority farmers and farm workers. In 1846, the New York and Harlem Railroad connected Scarsdale to New York City, leading to an influx of commuters.
The Arthur Suburban Home Company purchased a 150-acre (0.61 km2) farm in 1891 and converted it into a subdevelopment of one-family dwellings, starting a transformation of the community from rural to suburban. Civil institutions soon appeared: the Heathcote Association (1904), the Town Club (1904), the Scarsdale Women's Club (1918) and the Scarsdale League of Women Voters (1921). Scarsdale High School and Greenacres Elementary School were built in 1917, and the Edgewood Elementary School opened in 1918. The first store in Scarsdale opened on the corner of Popham Road and Garth Road in 1912. By 1915, the population approached 3000. By 1930, that number approached 10,000.
In 1940, German agent Gerhardt Alois Westrick secretly met with American business leaders at his Scarsdale home until public pressure drove his family from the community.[3][4]
Scarsdale became the subject of national controversy in the 1950s when a "Committee of Ten" led by Otto Dohrenwend alleged "Communist infiltration" in the public schools.[5] A thorough investigation by the town rejected these claims. This same group, known at the Scarsdale Citizens Committee, sued to prevent a benefit for the Freedom Riders from taking place at the public high school in 1963 because some of the performers (Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Pete Seeger) were allegedly "communist sympathizers and subversives."[6]
Another controversy enveloped the town in 1961, when the Scarsdale Country Club, headed by Charles S. McCallister, refused to allow a young man who had converted from Judaism into the Episcopal Church to escort a young woman to her debut at the club. It was the club's policy, at the time, to prohibit Jews from the premises.[7] In response, Rev. George French Kempsell of the Church of Saint James the Less announced that he would ban any supporters of the club's decision from receiving holy communion.[7] The event marked a turning point toward the decline of anti-Semitism in the town.[7]
Scarsdale's public library, which had been housed in historic Wayside Cottage since 1928, moved to its present structure on the White Plains Post Road in 1951.[8] The driving force behind the library was New York City publisher S. Spencer Scott, who raised $100,000 for the project after the village rejected a bond issue to fund the building in 1938. The new library opened with 27,000 books and Sylvia C. Hilton serving as the first librarian.[8]
The last of the town's five elementary schools, Heathcote School, opened in September 1953. The $1,000,000 architectural landmark was designed by Perkins & Will of Chicago. Walter B. Cocking, the president of the New York State Committee for the Public Schools, delivered the dedication address.[9]
In 1967, U.S. Secretary of State and former longtime resident Dean Rusk returned to Scarsdale at the height of the Vietnam War to receive the town's Man of the Year Award and was greeted with a silent protest.[10]
Scarsdale was the subject of a landmark United States Supreme Court decision, ACLU v. Scarsdale (1985), that established the so-called "reindeer rule" regarding public nativity scenes and upheld the right of local religious groups to place crèches on public property.
The first official historian of the Village of Scarsdale was Richard Lederer. He was succeeded by Irving J. Sloan. Upon the death of Sloan in 2009, Eric Rothschild assumed the position of village historian.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.6 square miles (17 km2), of which 0.15% is water.
Scarsdale has a Hot Summer Continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa).
| Climate data for Scarsdale, NY | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 73 (23) |
75 (24) |
86 (30) |
96 (36) |
97 (36) |
99 (37) |
104 (40) |
102 (39) |
101 (38) |
89 (32) |
82 (28) |
77 (25) |
104 (40) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 39.2 (4.0) |
42.9 (6.1) |
51.4 (10.8) |
62.6 (17.0) |
73.8 (23.2) |
81.6 (27.6) |
86.0 (30.0) |
83.9 (28.8) |
76.1 (24.5) |
65.4 (18.6) |
55.1 (12.8) |
43.8 (6.6) |
63.48 (17.49) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 20.1 (−6.6) |
22.3 (−5.4) |
29.1 (−1.6) |
38.4 (3.6) |
47.2 (8.4) |
56.8 (13.8) |
62.3 (16.8) |
60.8 (16.0) |
53.0 (11.7) |
41.2 (5.1) |
34.6 (1.4) |
25.6 (−3.6) |
40.95 (4.97) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −10 (−23) |
−5 (−21) |
2 (−17) |
17 (−8) |
29 (−2) |
38 (3) |
49 (9) |
44 (7) |
34 (1) |
27 (−3) |
12 (−11) |
−4 (−20) |
−10 (−23) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 3.56 (90.4) |
2.84 (72.1) |
4.07 (103.4) |
4.16 (105.7) |
4.33 (110) |
3.44 (87.4) |
4.20 (106.7) |
3.93 (99.8) |
4.37 (111) |
3.67 (93.2) |
4.09 (103.9) |
3.80 (96.5) |
46.46 (1,180.1) |
| Snowfall inches (cm) | 9.8 (24.9) |
10.9 (27.7) |
6.8 (17.3) |
1.4 (3.6) |
.2 (0.5) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
.1 (0.3) |
.8 (2) |
8.6 (21.8) |
38.6 (98) |
| Avg. rainy days (≥ 0.01 in) | 8.5 | 8.1 | 9.3 | 9.8 | 10.9 | 9.3 | 9.0 | 8.7 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 113.4 |
| Source no. 1: Weatherbase [11] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: Homefacts (precipitation only) [12] The Weather Channel (extremes) [13] | |||||||||||||
As of the census[14] of 2000, there were 17,823 people, 5,662 households, and 4,993 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,685.7 people per square mile (1,036.4/km²). There were 5,795 housing units at an average density of 873.2 per square mile (337.0/km²).
According to the 2000 Census, the race distribution of Scarsdale was: White (non Hispanic) 84.1%, Asian 12.6%, African-American 1.5%, Hispanic or Latino 2.6%.
There were 5,662 households out of which 51.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 81.8% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.8% were non-families. 10.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.14 and the average family size was 3.35.
In the village the population was spread out with 32.8% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 28.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $182,792, and the median income for a family was $200,001. Males had a median income of $100,000+ versus $62,319 for females. The per capita income for the village was $89,907. That ranks 59th highest income in the country and 2nd most for towns with a population with over 10,000. About 1.7% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 2.3% of those age 65 or over.
The neighborhoods within the village of Scarsdale are:
The Scarsdale Union Free School District operates five elementary schools in the elementary school districts Edgewood, Fox Meadow, Greenacres, Heathcote and Quaker Ridge made up of parts of the neighborhood associations above, as well as Scarsdale Middle School and Scarsdale High School.
The Village of Scarsdale is the site of a post office, assigned ZIP code 10583. The post office building on Chase Road is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[15]
The population of the 10583 ZIP code is more than twice that of the Village of Scarsdale proper and is served by two additional post offices. Sections of the following neighboring communities are also covered by the Scarsdale zip code:
Edgemont (Town of Greenburgh)
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The Scarsdale Town Pool was the swimming venue for the 2007 Empire State Games. Scarsdale is home to the Scarsdale Concours d'Elegance, an annual auto show for charity.
The Scarsdale Inquirer, a weekly newspaper, reports on local issues. The newspaper began publishing in 1901.[16]
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