Mamaroneck, New York

Mamaroneck
Town
Seal
Nickname(s): Larchmont
Motto: Tigers <7*
Location of Mamaroneck, New York
Coordinates: 40°56′57″N 73°44′01″W / 40.94917°N 73.73361°W / 40.94917; -73.73361Coordinates: 40°56′57″N 73°44′01″W / 40.94917°N 73.73361°W / 40.94917; -73.73361
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Westchester
Government
• Supervisor	Nancy Seligson (D)[1][2]
Area[3]
• Total	14.06 sq mi (36.43 km2)
• Land	6.65 sq mi (17.23 km2)
• Water	7.41 sq mi (19.19 km2)
Elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	29,156
• Estimate (2016)[4]	29,878
• Density	4,490.23/sq mi (1,733.67/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
ZIP Codes	10538, 10543, 10583
Area code(s)	914
FIPS code	36-119-44842
Website	www.TownOfMamaroneck.org

Mamaroneck (/məˈmærənɛk/, mə-MAR-ə-nek) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States.

The population was 29,156 at the 2010 census.^[5] There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of Mamaroneck (part of which is located in the adjacent town of Rye). The majority of the town's land area is not within either village, constituting an unincorporated area, although a majority of the population lives within the villages. Legally, the unincorporated section and the villages constitute the town as a political and governmental subdivision of New York State. The town is led by a town board, composed of five town board members, which includes the Town Supervisor, Nancy Seligson.

Much of the unincorporated section of the town receives its mail via the Larchmont Post Office and thereby has a Larchmont address.

The Town of Mamaroneck was ranked first in the list of the top 10 places to live in New York State for 2014 according to the national online real estate brokerage Movoto.^[6]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 14.0 square miles (36 km²), of which 6.6 square miles (17 km²) is land and 7.4 square miles (19 km²), or 52.85%, is water. The unincorporated area of the town measures 5.17 square miles (13.4 km²).

History

The area that is now the town in Mamaroneck was purchased from Native American Chief Wappaquewam and his brother Manhatahan by an Englishman named John Richbell in 1661. During the American Revolutionary War in 1776, the British loyalist William Lounsbury was attacked and killed by a group of revolutionaries led by John Flood. Several other skirmishes occurred that year between loyalists and revolutionaries.

The New York Legislature created Mamaroneck as a town on March 7, 1788. The Town of Mamaroneck is divided into three parts: the Village of Larchmont, an unincorporated area, and the Village of Mamaroneck, the rest of that village being in the town of Rye. This three-part division occurred in the 1890s to meet the growing demand for municipal services that the town could not provide. By definition at the time, a town could only provide basic government functions such as organizing and supervising elections, administering judicial functions, and constructing and maintaining highways.

During the 1890s, parts of the town of Mamaroneck that were situated closest to the water thrived. Larchmont Manor, with its beaches along Long Island Sound, had become well known as a summer resort for families from New York City, and people were beginning to live there year-round. A large part of the town's population lived northeast of the Manor near Mamaroneck Harbor, the commercial center of town, where fishing, shipping, and manufacturing could be found. As the population of these two areas expanded, the residents soon found the need for adequate water supply, sewage disposal, garbage collection, sidewalks, and improved street lighting, police and fire protection.

Mamaroneck Skinny House

In 1891, residents of Larchmont Manor obtained a charter from the Legislature under which they incorporated their section of town into a village. Four years later, residents of the most developed and populated sections of the towns of Mamaroneck and Rye voted to incorporate as the Village of Mamaroneck. The Mamaroneck River serves as the boundary separating the towns of Mamaroneck and Rye. While residents of the two villages were now able to receive municipal services, not enough people resided in the unincorporated remainder of the town of Mamaroneck to be included in either village. After World War I, the unincorporated section of the town grew sufficiently that the State Legislature granted the town government the local powers to provide local services it had previously granted to the villages by charter.

In 1921, the course at Winged Foot Golf Club was constructed and opened in June 1923. The golf club has been host to a number of professional tournaments, including the 1997 PGA Championship and the 1929, 1959, 1974, 1984 and 2006 U.S. Open.

The Town of Mamaroneck introduced New York's first vegetable-oil-powered garbage truck in 2008.^[7]

Demographics

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 28,967 people, 10,929 households, and 7,748 families residing in the town. The population density was 4,377.5 people per square mile (1,689.5/km²). There were 11,255 housing units at an average density of 1,700.8 per square mile (656.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 88.93% White, 2.80% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 3.12% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.91% from other races, and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic of any race were 10.92% of the population.

There were 10,929 households out of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the town, the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 87.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $84,213, and the median income for a family was $118,774 (these figures had risen to $108,702 and $144,834 respectively as of a 2007 estimate^[10]). Males had a median income of $81,249 versus $42,703 for females. The per capita income for the town was $57,822. About 2.9% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The publication division of Archie Comics is headquartered in Mamaroneck.^[11]

The town is home to Walter's Hot Dog Stand, a Westchester County landmark. In 2010, Walter's was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Education

Mamaroneck Union Free School District operates public schools, including Mamaroneck High School.

Private schools:

• French-American School of New York
• Westchester Hebrew High School

Notable people

• Edward Franklin Albee II, Vaudeville impresario
• Edward Franklin Albee III, playwright, grew up in Larchmont
• Gerald B. Appel, celebrity physician, grew up in Mamaroneck^[12]
• James Bassett, journalist and author, In Harm's Way, grew up in Mamaroneck
• Richard K. Bernstein, renowned figure in diabetes treatment ^[13]
• Elizabeth Berridge, award-winning theater actress
• Coca Crystal, counterculture personality^[14]
• James Fenimore Cooper, novelist^[15]
• Kevin Dillon, actor^[16]
• Matt Dillon, actor^[17]
• Morgan Farley, actor
• Jonathan Fielding, renowned public health expert, philanthropist
• Henry Flagler, oil, hotels and railroad baron, circa 1877
• L. Fry (Leslie Fry) (pen name of Paquita de Shishmareff) (18821–970), an anti-Semitic, pro-Christian activist
• Lou Gehrig, Hall of Fame baseball player, resided in a North Chatsworth Avenue apartment while playing for the Yankees
• Timothy Geithner, Former United States Secretary of the Treasury^[18]
• D. W. Griffith, silent film director, lived in Mamaroneck for a few years in the 1920s
• William Kunstler, civil rights lawyer, lived at 210 West Street
• Robert Ripley, of Ripley's Believe It or Not! had a home on BION (Believe It Or Not) Island, just off Taylor Lane in the Village of Mamaroneck^[19]
• Norman Rockwell, painter
• Albert Shanker, president of United Federation of Teachers
• Carly Rose Sonenclar, singer
• Gary Young, first drummer of the alternative rock band Pavement
• Emily Wickersham, actress ^[20]

In popular culture

• Although set in the suburbs of New Jersey, the 2011 romantic comedy The Oranges, starring Hugh Laurie and Allison Janney, was shot primarily in the southern Westchester communities of New Rochelle, Bronxville and Mamaroneck.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mamaroneck, New York.

• Town of Mamaroneck official website
• Mamaroneck School District
• "You Know You're From Mamaroneck" Facebook Group