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Harrison, New York

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Harrison
—  Coterminus town/village  —
Location within Westchester County
Location within the state of New York
Coordinates: 41°0′25″N 73°43′5″W / 41.00694°N 73.71806°W / 41.00694; -73.71806Coordinates: 41°0′25″N 73°43′5″W / 41.00694°N 73.71806°W / 41.00694; -73.71806
Country United States
State New York
County Westchester
Area
 - Total 17.4 sq mi (45.0 km2)
 - Land 16.8 sq mi (43.6 km2)
 - Water 0.6 sq mi (1.5 km2)
Elevation 69 ft (21 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 24,154 (26,665 estimate)
 - Density 1,435.2/sq mi (554.1/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 10528
Area code(s) 914
FIPS code 36-32402
GNIS feature ID 0977345
Website http://www.harrison-ny.gov

Harrison is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately 22 miles northeast of Manhattan. The population was 24,154 at the 2000 census. The municipality has a borders of both a town/village village and a town, as one of few in New York State which does, and has a consolidated town/village government.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Establishment

Harrison was established in 1696 by John Harrison, who was given 24 hours to ride his horse around an area which would become his, to fill an owe the King had to him. The town gets its name from him. It became named a town on March 7, 1788, by an act of the New York State legislature.

[edit] Revolutionary War

Merritt's Hill in West Harrison, was the site of a American Revolutionary War battle. The battle is commonly known as the Battle of White Plains. Regiment 182 of the continental army, of the only 367 regiments there were, was composed solely of people living in Harrison, and was called the Harrison Regiment.

[edit] Old Businesses

During the 1830s, David Haviland settled in Harrison producing the Haviland China which he sold in his store in New York City, before returning to France Today there exists a Haviland Street in a neighborhood of Harrison known as The Trails, whose only street marker looks rather quite older than the rest in the town, composed of wrought iron in scrolled shapes.

In 1867 Benjamin Holladay purchased the land that is now Manhattanville College in Purchase. On the property is a Norman style Roman Catholic chapel built for his wife. There is also Reid castle, once called the Ophir House, before renamed for a later purchaser. The castle would host the King and Queen of Siam in the early 1930s.[citation needed]

[edit] Railroads, and the Industrial Revolution

The Metro-North line of the railroad, running from Manhattan, New York City to Greenwich, Connecticut, first came to Harrison in 1848, however the first station was built in 1870. Harrisonites had to flag down the train to get a ride. Harrison remained generally free of industrious factories through the Industrial Revolution, because the neighboring and nearby towns of White Plains, Port Chester and Mamaroneck, New York[disambiguation needed] had large factory districts grow.

In 1929, the Hutchinson River Parkway was extended to Harrison.

[edit] Local Culture

[edit] Areas within Harrison

The boundaries of the town of Harrison are the approximate shape of a figure-eight.[disambiguation needed] The southern half is known as simply Harrison, or downtown, while Purchase is located in the northern portion of the town. West Harrison is a neighborhood south of Purchase, further west, bounded by Silver Lake, the Brae Burn Golf Course, and I-287. The 'downtown' southern half of Harrison is divided into four general areas. These areas are The Brentwood, Sunnyridge, Sterling Ridge & The Trails, and south downtown

[edit] Elementary Schools

Harrison has four elementary schools. Purchse School, seves Purchase, Preston School serves West Harrison, and Parsons School serves South Downtown. The fourth school, serves the remaining area of 'Downtown', Sunnyridge, Sterling Ridge/the trails, and The Brentwood.

[edit] Characteristics of the four areas

West Harrison is an isolated community, lodged between a tall hill bordered by a lake, Interstate 287, a tall relatively steep hill, and a cliff at the northern edge. Because of this, there is a general lack of street entrances. there is really only one road into it, although there are a few other 'back' ways into it. The road is called Lake street, flanked on one side by a huge park called Silver Lake Park, bordering the lake, and on the other side of the street, a small business district. West Harrison contains the Passidomo Veterans Memorial Park and Pool and the Leo Mintzer Center. West Harrison also contains the battle ground from Battle of White Plains from the Revolutionary War.[1] Silver Lake is also the home of the notorious haunted road Buckout Road, where it is said to have been a home of witches, albinos, and slaughters.[2]

Purchase is a more secluded area of Harrison, with winding roads, and deep woods. The houses are larger, in often cases whole swatches of land developed in the late twentieth century, and early 2000s, comparing to the age of the rest of the town.[citation needed]

Downtown is split into the four sections mentioned above, and is flanked by Interstate 95, the Hutchinson River Parkway, and the Metro-North Railroad. The manmade lines create isolation to areas, with few areas to cross each. Harrison's only Middle School and only High School, Harrison High School are located in the 'downtown' area. As remarked by one realtor, "It seems as though, between the roads, and other stuff, every house in Harrison is noisy from a road, or noisy from a train." The impression by the statement, however, is incorrect. The four areas of downtown, as separated by the boundaries of Interstate 95 and the railroad tracks as well as separated by wealth gaps, are very diverse. Despite its name, 'Downtown' is not in any sense a business district, it is much rather a residential enclave, featuring houses of every wealth level.

[edit] Landmarks in Harrison

[edit] Colleges in Town

Both the State University of New York at Purchase and Manhattanville College are located in Purchase. In 2008, Fordham University opened its "Westchester" campus in West Harrison on 32 landscaped acres with a stream and pond.[3]

[edit] Country clubs

The Westchester Country Club and two public park golf course, operated by Westchester County, are located in Harrison. All three of them are next to each other in the southern half ('downtown') portion of the town.

[edit] Cemeteries

There are several cemeteries in the downtown, including many small family plots dating back to the 19th century and before. Greenwood Union Cemetery is a cemetery shared by the City of Rye.

[edit] Places of Worship

Places of Worship in Harrison are:

Roman Catholic -

Orthodox Christians -

Episcopalian -

Presbyterian -

Jewish -

[edit] Unique residents and places

[edit] Notable natives and residents

[edit] Corporate headquarters

These include the MasterCard headquarters, MasterCard International Global Headquarters,[5][6][7] and Pepsico.[8] Atlas Air and subsidiary Polar Air Cargo have their headquarters in Purchase.[9][10] Texaco's headquarters, a 750,000-square-foot (70,000 m2) building, was in Harrison.[11][12][13] In 2002, after Chevron and Texaco merged, Chevron sold the former Texaco headquarters to Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley bought the building and the surrounding 107 acres (0.43 km2) for $42 million.[11]

[edit] Local Histories of Political Unrest

[edit] The Attempt to Incorporate Purchase's as a Town

In 1967 200 residents stated support for a plan to incorporate Purchase, a community in Harrison, so corporations could not build in the community.[14] In response, officials from the Town of Harrison put forward plans to try to become a city in an attempt to stop Purchase from seceding from Harrison.[15]

[edit] Passidomo as Mayor and Town Supervisor

John A. Passidomo (August 17, 1921 – March 2, 2005) was first elected Mayor in 1965 by only 67 votes. Re-elected eight times, he served until 1983 when he resigned to become Commissioner of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.[16] (In his two and a half years at that job, he helped pass one of the nation's first seat-belt laws despite the law's unpopularity.[17])

Harrison's Platinum Mile, that is, a string of corporate office parks along I-287 in the Purchase section of Harrison developed under Passidomo. The mayor played an instrumental role in attracting large corporations such as PepsiCo, MasterCard and Texaco.

[edit] Purchase's attempt to secede from Harrison

In the early 1970s under Passidomo's supervisorship, a group in the Purchase section of town, concerned about the town's over-development, attempted to incorporate as a village and thereby separate from the town of Harrison. Creatively, to avoid being served papers that would have begun the legal proceedings for Purchase to incorporate as a village, Passidomo entered his office through the fire escape. Passidomo then immediately saw to it that the town Harrison became a village while still remaining as a town, putting an end to the possibility of Purchase's secession since a village cannot legally be formed in another village.[citation needed]

[edit] List of Supervisors/Mayors

The list begins at 1965, however there were mayors before that.

[edit] Geography and Demographics

[edit] Geography

Harrison is a town in Westchester County, New York, approximately 22 miles northeast of the island of Manhattan, New York City. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 17.4 square miles (45.0 km2), (of which 16.8 square miles (43.6 km2) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.5 km2) (3.22%) is water.) The population is approximately 27,000. Harrison is the only locality in New York, which has the same town and village border.

The distance from Harrison Station to Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan is about 27 miles (43 km).

Harrison is bordered by White Plains, Rye town, Rye city and Mamaroneck. The New England Thruway (I-95) runs through the town (without any interchanges) as well as the Cross Westchester Expressway and the Hutchinson River Parkway. I-684 passes through Harrison and ends at the Cross Westchester Expressway and the Hutchinson Parkway.

[edit] Demographics

At the 2000 census[18], there were 24,154 people, 8,394 households and 6,186 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,435.2 per square mile (554.1/km2). There were 8,680 housing units at an average density of 515.8 per square mile (199.1/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 89.78% White, 1.43% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 5.44% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.59% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.70% of the population.

Harrison is also known for its large Italian American population.[citation needed]

There were 8,394 households of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.4% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.3% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.20.

24.5% of residents were under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.

According to a 2009 estimate,[19] the median household income was $104,640, and the median family income was $130,224. The per capita income for the village was $63,742. About 4.2% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.3% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

St Gregory the Great Church

[edit] Fire Department

Harrison is protected by two all-volunteer and one combination fire districts : The Harrison Fire Department being the combination department, the West Harrison Fire Department, and the Purchase Fire Department being all volunteer. The total fire apparatus amount in the town/village is; three trucks, ten engines, three rescues, and many other special units.

[edit] References

  1. ^ History
  2. ^ BUCKOUT ROAD - history, urban legends, hauntings, ghosts - Westchester County alleged haunted road
  3. ^ Westchester Campus and Facilities, Fordham University. Accessed 19 March 2009
  4. ^ Mallozzii, Vincent M. "Lou Bender, Columbia Star Who Helped Popularize Basketball in New York, Dies at 99", The New York Times, September 12, 2009. Accessed September 13, 2009.
  5. ^ "Contact Us." MasterCard. Retrieved on February 2, 2011. "MasterCard Advisors 2000 Purchase Street Purchase, NY 10577."
  6. ^ "Harrison town, New York." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 18, 2010.
  7. ^ "10577 5-Digit ZCTA, 105 3-Digit ZCTA." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 8, 2010.
  8. ^ "Our 10 Most Beautiful Buildings." Westchester Magazine. November 17, 2010. Retrieved on February 1, 2011.
  9. ^ "Investor Information." Atlas Air. Retrieved on August 6, 2011. "AAWW Investor Relations 2000 Westchester Avenue Purchase, NY 10577-2543"
  10. ^ "Contact Us." Polar Air Cargo. Retrieved on February 13, 2011. "Atlas Air / Polar Air Cargo - Headquarters 2000 Westchester Avenue Purchase, NY 10577 USA"
  11. ^ a b Brenner, Elsa. "IN BUSINESS; Morgan Stanley Seals Deal on Texaco Headquarters." The New York Times. Sunday March 31, 2002. Retrieved on October 3, 2009.
  12. ^ "Harrison village, New York." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on October 3, 2009.
  13. ^ "Contact Us." Texaco. December 5, 1998. Retrieved on October 3, 2009. TexaTexaco Inc. 2000 Westchester Ave White Plains, New York 10650."
  14. ^ "200 Residents Back Plan to Incorporate Village of Purchase." The New York Times. April 4, 1967. Retrieved on February 2, 2011.
  15. ^ Folsom, Merrill. "HARRISON MOVING TO BECOME A CITY; Town Acts to Thwart Effort by Purchase to Secede and Form Own Village." The New York Times. May 20, 1967. Page 37. Retrieved on February 2, 2011.
  16. ^ Feron, James (1983-03-06), PASIDOMO DISCUSSES NEW ALBANY POST, The New York Times, pp. 11–6, ISSN 0362-4331, http://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/06/nyregion/pasidomo-discusses-new-albany-post.html, retrieved 2009-06-06 
  17. ^ Madden, Richard L. (1985-02-01), A REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: GOVERNORS AND SEAT BELTS, The New York Times, p. B2, ISSN 0362-4331, http://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/01/nyregion/a-reporter-s-notebook-governors-and-seat-belts.html, retrieved 2009-06-06 
  18. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  19. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=06000US3611932413&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US36%7C16000US3632732&_street=&_county=harrison&_cityTown=harrison&_state=04000US36&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=

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