Elmsford is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

, United States. It is part of the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. Roughly one square mile, the village is fully contained within the borders of the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Greenburgh. As of the 2010 census, the population of Elmsford was 4,664.

History

Elmsford was largely farmland throughout its early history. The construction of railroads in the late 19th century brought new prominence to the area, and in 1910 it was incorporated as a village. The area was known from colonial times as "Storm's Bridge" and later, "Hall's Corners", names derived from the principal landowners of the times. In 1870, the growing village was officially renamed "Elmsford" in honor of a local landmark, a giant

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...

tree (since deceased). The names Elmsford and Storm's Bridge are reminders of the nearby

Saw Mill River The Saw Mill River is a tributary of the Hudson River in Westchester County, New York, United States. It flows from an unnamed pond north of Chappaqua, New York, Chappaqua to Getty Square in Yonkers, where it empties into the Hudson as that r ...

, which once had significant tributaries flowing through the village. A longstanding legend holds that Elmsford is the birthplace of the term "

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

". According to the tale, a local colonial tavern (sometimes said to be established by town father Isaac Storm) had run out of wooden stirrers during the war and started using the quills of

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

s' tailfeathers to stir their drinks; a more embellished version holds that the roosters were plundered from nearby

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

farmers. Much of Elmsford developed around the

New York and Putnam Railroad The New York and Putnam Railroad, nicknamed the Old Put, was a railroad line that opened in 1881 between the Bronx and Brewster in New York State. In 1894, it was acquired by the New York Central system along with the nearby Hudson River Ra ...

station, with train service beginning in the 1870s. Commuter rail service ended in 1958, and freight service ended in 1975. The railroad bed is now the

South County Trailway The South County Trailway is a long rail trail stretching from the Putnam Trail in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx to the North County Trailway in East View, New York. Westchester County Parks constructed the trailway in segments beginning in ...

and

North County Trailway The North County Trailway is a long paved rail trail stretching from Eastview to Baldwin Place in Westchester County, New York. It is also part of the statewide Empire State Trail. History and route The North County Trailway was construct ...

. The train station building is now a restaurant. The

Elmsford Reformed Church and Cemetery Elmsford Reformed Church and Cemetery is a historic Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed Church (building), church/meeting house and cemetery at 30 S. Central Avenue in Elmsford, New York, Elmsford, Westchester County, New York, United States. ...

was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983.

Geography

Elmsford is located at (41.053963, -73.815711) in Westchester County, NY. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , all land.

Government

Elmsford's government comprises a mayor and four trustees. The board and mayor also employ a professional village manager. Current Mayor: Robert Williams

Fire Department

The Village of Elmsford is protected by the all-volunteer Elmsford Fire Department, which consists of two fire companies each occupying their own firehouses, Live Oak Engine Company, operating two fire engines, and Elmsford Fire Company #1, operating a quint and a tower ladder. Emergency Medical Services are provided by the village-operated Elmsford EMS, which provides BLS services, and the

Town of Greenburgh EMS A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

which provides ALS-paramedic service when requested.

Fire station locations and apparatus

Police Department

The Elmsford Police Department, created with the incorporation of the village in 1910, is currently located in the same building as Village Hall, and provides round the clock police protection to the village. It currently employs 22 sworn personnel.

Transportation

The village was once served by the

. Passenger service ceased in 1958. The Elmsford train station, located on Saw Mill River Road (near the intersection with Route 119) is still standing and now houses a restaurant. The closest

Metro-North Railroad The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company , also branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State publ ...

stations are

Tarrytown Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on th ...

(on the Hudson Line) to the west and White Plains (on the

Harlem Line The Harlem Line is an commuter rail line owned and operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. state of New York. It runs north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...

) to the east. Several

routes Route or routes may refer to: * Air route, route structure or airway * GPS route, a series of one or more GPS waypoints * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * Route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * ...

of the

Bee-Line Bus System The Westchester County Bee-Line System, branded on the buses in lowercase as ''the bee-line system'', is a bus system serving Westchester County, New York. The system is owned by the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation. Histor ...

pass through the village.

Features

Elmsford's road system connects to numerous major highways and thoroughfares, including

Interstate 287 Interstate 287 (I-287) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving northern New Jersey and the counties of Rockland County, New York ...

, the

Saw Mill River Parkway The Saw Mill River Parkway (also known as the Saw Mill Parkway or the Saw Mill) is a limited-access road, limited-access Parkways in New York, parkway that extends for through Westchester County, New York, in the United States. It begins at the ...

, the

Sprain Brook Parkway The Sprain Brook Parkway (also known as the Sprain Parkway or The Sprain) is a controlled-access parkway in Westchester County, New York, United States. It begins at an interchange with the Bronx River Parkway in the city of Yonkers, and ends ...

and Route 9A; the

and

bicycle paths terminate there. Convenient to White Plains,

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, the village is a significant center of commercial traffic and distribution. It is home to the large Local 456 of the

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a trade union, labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a di ...

union. The village's public schools are run by the Elmsford Board of Education and include Dixson Primary, Alice E. Grady Elementary and Alexander Hamilton Junior/Senior High School. The village is also home to the private

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

elementary school Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which is affiliated with the Catholic parish of the same name and which was established in 1929. Dedicated in 1996, Carol Nichols Park has facilities for softball, basketball, tennis as well as a gated "kiddie park" and Sprinkler Park (attendant) for small children. The town has had an animal shelter since the 1930s. In 1995 the shelter, Central Westchester Humane Society, moved to a location on Warehouse Lane South. The shelter was replaced by Pets Alive Westchester, and later Paws Crossed Animal Rescue, the current owner. The Westchester Broadway Theater was a professional

dinner theater Dinner theater (sometimes called dinner and a show) is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. In the case of a theatrical performance, sometimes the play is incidental entertainment, secondary to th ...

venue established in Elmsford in 1974. The theater closed permanently in October 2020 due to financial hardships caused by the ongoing

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Education

Most of Elmsford is in Elmsford Union Free School District while a portion is in Greenburgh Central School District.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 4,664 people, 1,618 households, and 1,101 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,618 housing units at an average density of . There were 1,618 households, out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.39. The village population was spread out, with 22.1% under the age of 18, 12.8% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.1 years. Males make up 50.9% of the population while women make up 49.1% of the population The racial makeup of the village was 46.4%%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 20.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.6% Native American, 10.5% Asian, 0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 18.0% from other races, and 4.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 38.0% of the population. The median income for a household in the village was $74,069, and the median income for a family was $84,698. Males had a median income of $43,649 versus $41,356 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $32,448. About 8.58% of families and 10.86% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

.http://www.usa.com/elmsford-ny-income-and-careers.htm

Notable people

Isaac Van Wart Isaac Van Wart (October 25, 1762May 23, 1828) was a militiaman from the state of New York during the American Revolution. In 1780, he was one of three men who captured British Major John André, who was convicted and executed as a spy for conspir ...

(1762–1828), Revolutionary War hero * The Turnesa brothers: Joe (1901-1991),

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

(1907-2000), Doug (1909-1972), Jim (1912-1971), and Willie Turnesa (1914-2001), professional and amateur golfers *

Giancarlo Esposito Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito (; born April 26, 1958) is an American actor and director. He rose to prominence by portraying Gus Fring in the AMC (TV channel), AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2009–2011), a role he reprised in ...

(b. 1958), actor *

Donovan Mitchell Donovan Vernell Mitchell Jr. (born September 7, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Spida", he was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NBA ...

(b. 1996), professional basketball player

Popular culture

* A scene in the movie ''Freedomland'' (2006) was shot at the Red Fox Diner on Rte. 9A in Elmsford. * A scene in the movie ''8mm'' (1999) was shot outside the Elmsford Motel on Rte. 119. * A scene in the movie ''Disconnect'' (2012) was shot at the Saw Mill River Motel next to the

References

External links

History of Elmsford
{{Coord, 41, 03, 18, N, 73, 49, 12, W, type:city_region:US-NY, display=title Greenburgh, New York Villages in Westchester County, New York 1910 establishments in New York (state) Populated places established in 1910