Hawthorne is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) located in 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 Mount Pleasant in

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 ...

. Its population was 4,586 at the 2010 census.

History

The village was originally known as Hammond's Mills, and was part of

Frederick Philipse Frederick Philipse (born Frederick Flypsen;Appleton, W.S. ''The Heraldic Journal, Recording the Amorial Bearings and Genealogies of American Families'', Wiggen & Lunt, Boston, 1867 1626 in Bolsward, Netherlands – December 23, 1702), first Lord ...

's estate Philipsburgh. On September 23, 1780, Major

John André Major John André (May 2, 1750 – October 2, 1780) was a British Army officer who served as the head of Britain's intelligence operations during the American War for Independence. In September 1780, he negotiated with Continental Army offic ...

stopped here on his way to New York to ask directions after meeting with

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold (#Brandt, Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of ...

. After the Revolutionary War, the name of the village changed to Unionville. The hamlet's population consisted mostly of farmers. The Reformed Church of Unionville (Hawthorne Reformed Church) was built here in 1818. In 1832, a one-room school house was built. In 1847, a

railroad station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

was established on

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

's Harlem Division, with the name Unionville. A post office was established on February 10, 1851, and was designated Neperan after the Indian name for the

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 ...

. In the early 1890s, real-estate developer Louis Smadbeck began buying up the area farms to subdivide into parcels, which were sold to working- and middle-class people looking to live outside the city. In 1901, Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, also known as Mother Mary Alphonsa, O.P., a convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and daughter of

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...

, founded Rosary Hill Home in Sherman Park (now Thornwood) for those suffering from incurable

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. Mother Mary Alphonsa also founded a

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

now known as the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne. Shortly after the opening of the cancer home, the hamlet was renamed Hawthorne in Mother Mary Alphonsa's honor. Rosary Hill Home is still operated by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne and is located on a hilltop on Linda Avenue. Hawthorne is the final resting place of

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...

, Billy Martin,

Malachi Martin Malachi Brendan Martin (23 July 1921 – 27 July 1999), also known under the pseudonym of Michael Serafian, was an Irish-born American Traditionalist Catholic priest, biblical archaeologist, exorcist, palaeographer, professor, and writer on ...

, Dorothy Kilgallen, Ernesto Lecuona and many other notables interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. The Hammond House 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 1980. On July 12, 2006, an F2 tornado struck the hamlet, causing major damage to the California Closets Warehouse and minor injuries to three people. It was the strongest tornado to strike in Westchester County.

Geography

Hawthorne is located at (41.103664, -73.795807). 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 CDP has a total area of , all land. Bounded by Route 9A to the west, the Taconic State Parkway to the east, and split in the middle by the Sprain Brook Parkway, Hawthorne lies near the geographic center of

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

. Corporate parks and nurseries line Hawthorne's Route 9A corridor. Commerce Street (Route 141), the main commercial thoroughfare serving both Hawthorne and Thornwood, runs north to south, parallel to Metro-North's

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 ...

tracks. It is a 40-minute train ride from the Hawthorne station to

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...

Education

Hawthorne's residents are served by the Mount Pleasant Central School District, which includes the Hawthorne Elementary School, Columbus Elementary School, Westlake Middle School and Westlake High School (the latter three actually located in Thornwood). The Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services (formerly "Jewish Board of Guardians") runs two residential schools in Hawthorne, the Hawthorne Cedar Knolls School and the Linden Hill High School; both of these schools are on Linda Avenue. Hawthorne Country Day School is located near the Valhalla border. Hawthorne Cedar Knolls School with less than thirty students eligible to play varsity sports (football, basketball and baseball) boasted numerous championship teams in the varsity sports during the sixties and seventies (playing in a small school league named the Tri-State league, NY, NJ, and Conn.). HCKS went undefeated in all three varsity sports and winning the championships in 1972–1973 and again in 1974–1975).

Emergency services

Hawthorne's residents are served by the Mount Pleasant Police Department, the Hawthorne Volunteer Fire Department, and the Mount Pleasant 37 Medic. File:HawthorneFD2.jpg, Fire Department Engine 155, a 1997 Pierce Lance 1500/750 File:HawthorneFD3.jpg, Fire Department Tower Ladder 12, a 1983 Pierce Arrow/LTI 1500/150/85 ft. File:HawthorneFD4.jpg, Fire Department Ladder 56, a 2008 KME Predator 2000/5000/75 ft. File:HawthorneFD5.jpg, Fire Department Ambulance 63-B-1, a 2004 Ford/Brawn

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 2000, there were 5,083 people, 1,581 households, and 1,258 families residing in the hamlet. The population density was . There were 1,590 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the hamlet was 87.13%

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 ...

, 4.34%

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 ...

, 0.02% Native American, 1.48% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 1.16% from other races, and 0.83% 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 11.02% of the population. There were 1,581 households, out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.1% 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, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.4% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.36. In the hamlet the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males. The median income for a household in the hamlet was $71,370, and the median income for a family was $82,042. Males had a median income of $52,477 versus $39,142 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 hamlet was $28,664. About 1.4% of families and 3.3% 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 ...

, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Mount Pleasant Central School District is the area school district.
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References

Sources

* * {{authority control Hamlets in New York (state) Census-designated places in New York (state) Census-designated places in Westchester County, New York Mount Pleasant, New York Hamlets in Westchester County, New York