Irvington, New York
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Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson, is a suburban
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 ...
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 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's a suburb of
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 ...
, north of midtown
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
in
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 is served by a station stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line. To the north of Irvington is the village of
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 ...
, to the south the village of Dobbs Ferry, and to the east unincorporated parts of Greenburgh, including East Irvington. Irvington includes within its boundaries the community of Ardsley-on-Hudson, which has its own ZIP code and Metro-North station, but which should not be confused with the nearby village of Ardsley. The population of Irvington at the 2020 census was 6,652. Because many of Irvington's residents – especially those in the upper income brackets – live in Irvington and work in New York City, the village has a reputation as a "
commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
" or a "bedroom community". The village's half-mile-long (0.8 kilometers) Main Street area has been designated as a
historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...
by New York State and on January 15, 2014, was added to 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 2010, ''
Westchester Magazine ''Westchester Magazine'', launched in 2001'','' is a magazine and website that covers news, culture, lifestyle, nightlife, shopping, and other local information within Westchester County, New York. It is published monthly by Today Media, LLC, a ...
'' ranked Irvington as the "Best Place to Live in Westchester".


History

Before the area where Irvington is now located was settled by Europeans, it was inhabited by the Wickquasgeck, a band of the
Wappinger The Wappinger ( ) were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutc ...
s, related to the
Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...
(Delaware) tribes which dominated lower New York state and
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
.The name of the Indian band has variously been spelled Wiechquaeskeck, Wechquaesqueck, Weckquaesqueek, Wecquaesgeek, Weekquaesguk, Wickquasgeck, Wickquasgek, Wiequaeskeek, Wiequashook, and Wiquaeskec. The spelling given here is one widely used for the original name of Broadway in
lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...
: "The Wickquasgeck Trail". The meaning of the name, however spelled, has been given as "the end of the marsh, swamp or wet meadow", "place of the bark kettle", and "birch bark country". See Trumbull, James Hammond (1881)
''Indian Names of Places, Etc., in and on the Borders of Connecticut, With Interpretations of Some of Them''
Hartford: Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. p.81
The Wickquasgeck still lived in the area as late as 1775. After the Dutch came to the area in the 1600s, the land was part of the Bisightick tract of the Adrian Van der Donck grant. Early settlers in the Irvington area were Stephen Ecker, Jan Harmes, Captain John Buckhout, and Barent Dutcher. The Van der Donck grant was purchased by
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 ...
in 1682, after the British had taken over the area in 1664. At first it was settled by tenant farmers,Greenburgh Bicentennial Commission (1988) ''Greenburgh: A Glimpse of Our Past: Town of Greenburgh: 1788-1988'' Greenburgh Bicentennial Book Committee, pp.171-176 but by the 1700s, most of the settlers were artisans. The King's Highway – later the
Albany Post Road The Albany Post Road was a post road – a road used for mail delivery – in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It connected New York City and Albany (NY), Albany along the east side of the Hudson River, a service now performed by U.S ...
, and now Broadway – which connected New York City with Albany, was built through the settlement by the 1720s, which created a need for inns and taverns to supplement Odell's Tavern, which was built in 1690. In 1785, the state of New York confiscated the Phillipse's land from his grandson, Frederick Philipse III, after he sided with the British in the American Revolution, and sold it to local patriot farmers who had been tenants of the Phillipse family. This is presumably how part of it came to be the farm of William Dutcher. Dutcher sold half of his farm to Justus Dearman in 1817, who then sold it to Gustavo F. Sacchi in 1848 for $26,000. Sacchi sold the parcel to John Jay – the grandson of the American
Founding Father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...
by the same name – that same year, and Jay laid it out as a village which he called "Dearman", after Justus Dearman, and sold lots at auction in New York City starting on April 25, 1850. The organization of the streets into a right-angled grid pattern was criticized by
Andrew Jackson Downing Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815 – July 28, 1852) was an American landscape designer, horticulturist, writer, prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival in the United States, and editor of ''The Horticulturist'' magazine (1846–1852). ...
, who was at the time the foremost expert on
landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...
. Downing condemned the use of the street grid outside of cities and saw the hilly and heavily wooded site of Dearman as particularly suited to his own theories, which called for curvilinear roads and irregular lots which followed the contours of the land. With the frequent steamboat, stagecoach, and train transportation available, he felt that Dearman could have been an ideal suburb, instead of "mere rows of houses upon streets crossing each other at right angles and bordered with shade trees". The side streets off the village's Main Street – or "Main Avenue", as an 1868 map has it – were originally designated "A", "B", "C", and so forth, but are today named after many of the area's early settlers,In order, from the river going up the hill along Main Street, the streets are Astor, Buckhout, Cottenet, Dutcher, Ecker, Ferris and Grinnell, until the pattern is broken by Croton Place and Aqueduct Lane, followed by Dearman Street, the last side street before Broadway. such as Barent and William Dutcher, Captain John Buckhout (who lived to 103) and Wolfert Ecker (or "Acker").


American Revolution

Wolfert Ecker's house, then owned by Jacob van Tassel, was burned by the British in the Revolutionary War because it had become a notorious hang-out for American patriots.
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
later wrote about it under the name of " Wolfert's Roost" ("roost" meaning "rest"), and purchased and re-modeled another house on the land to become " Sunnyside". Another early settler was Capt. Jan Harnse, and the Harnse-Conklin-Odell Tavern on Broadway was built in 1693 and became an inn in 1743. (See
below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...
) It was at Odell's Tavern that the Committee of Safety, the executive committee of the legislature of the new State of New York, officially received the news that
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
had lost the
Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn ...
, and, later, British troops camped nearby, putting Jonathan Odell into custody in the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow. No major battles of the Revolutionary War were fought in the area, only minor skirmishes between residents and soldiers.Dodsworth (1995) With the capture of New York City by the British, Irvington and the rest of southern Westchester County became the "Neutral ground", an unofficial wide zone separating British-occupied territory from that held by the Americans, and the people of the area who remained – many of the Patriot population had fled – traded with both sides to great profit. However, there was also a great deal of pillaging and plundering, even of Tory households, both by the regular British army and loyalist militias and irregulars, all in the name of hunting down rebels. pp. 246-247, 254 By the time the war was over, the countryside had been ravaged:
The country is rich and fertile, and the farms appear to have been advantageously cultivated, but it now has the marks of a country in ruins, a large portion of the proprietors having abandoned their homes. On the high road where heretofore was a continuous stream of travelers and vehicles, not a single traveler was seen from week to week, month to month. The countryside was silent. The very tracks of the carriages were grown over with grass or weeds. Travelers walked along bypaths. The villages are abandoned, the residents having fled to the north, leaving their homes, where possible, in charge of elder persons and servants.
Eventually, the area recovered and continued to develop. The Hudson River Railroad reached the settlement on September 29, 1849; the first passengers on a regularly scheduled run through the village paid fifty cents to travel from Peekskill to Chambers Street in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
on September 29, 1849. By 1853, a ferry ran across the Hudson from Dearman to Piermont on the west bank, the village had a population of around 600, a hotel, six stores, a lumber yard and around 50 houses, and the hamlet of "Abbotsford" – which would later become Ardsley-on-Hudson – was forming along Clinton Avenue.


A change of name

In 1854, Dearman and Abbotsford combined, and by popular vote adopted the name "Irvington", to honor the American author
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
, who was still alive at that time and living in nearby " Sunnyside" – which is today preserved as a museum.Although Sunnyside was considered to be part of Irvington (or "Dearman") at the time, the neighboring village of
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 ...
incorporated first in 1870, two years before Irvington, and when the official boundaries were drawn, the estate ended up in Tarrytown rather than Irvington, as did Lyndhurst, the estate of robber baron
Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould family, Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the Robber baron (industrialist), robber bar ...
.
Just how the change in our northern boundary occurred I could never find out to my satisfaction. Some say this calamity happened over night, so to speak, when our officials were napping or away on vacation. But this I know, that fully a dozen of our most prominent citizens and their magnificent estates were suddenly taken from Irvington territory and the village boundary was moved to the center of Sunnyside Lane. ... The part that most saddened our hearts was the fact that Irving's home, "Sunnyside", for whom Irvington was named, no longer rests in the town in which he originally thought he lived." Jennie Black (quoted in Graff & Graff, pp.54-56)
Influential residents of the village prevailed upon the Hudson River Railroad, which had reached the village by 1849, to change the name of the train station to "Irvington", and also convinced the Postmaster to change the name of the local post office as well. It was thus under the name of "Irvington" that the village incorporated on April 16, 1872. By the census of 1860, the population of the village was 599. A few years later, in 1863, Irvington was touched by the New York Draft Riots. Fearing that the violence in the city, which had to be put down by Federal troops, would spread to Westchester, special police were brought in and quartered in a schoolhouse on Sunnyside Lane. They were commanded by
James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...
– the third son of
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...
– whose estate, Nevis, was on South Broadway. The presence of this special force deterred any violence a group of draft protestors which passed through Greenburgh on their way to
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 ...
may have intended. This was the only instance in which
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
-related activity directly affected Irvington. With convenient rail transportation now available, the village's cool summer breezes off the Hudson and the rural riparian setting began to attract wealthy residents of New York City – businessmen, politicians and professionals – to the area to buy up farms and build large summer residences on their new estates, setting a pattern which would hold until the early 20th century. Still, the village continued to expand, with various commercial enterprises opening along the waterfront. Pateman & Lockwood, a lumber, coal and building supply company, opened in the village in 1853, and Lord & Burnham, which built boilers and greenhouses, in 1856. Both expanded to newly created land across the railroad tracks, in 1889 and 1912 respectively, and the Cypress Lumber Company opened on a nearby site in 1909. Notwithstanding this commercial activity, for many years, through the 19th and early 20th centuries, Irvington was a relatively small community surrounded by numerous large estates and mansions where millionaires, aristocrats and captains of industry lived – the population was reported as 2,299 in 1890 and 2,013 in 1898. After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, some of the bigger estates in the area were broken up into smaller lots, and were developed into communities inside the village, such as Jaffray Park, Matthiessen Park and Spiro Park. Many of the estates and mansions are now gone, but a small number still exist. After World War II, cooperative apartment complexes were built in the village, but despite these changes, Irvington still has many large houses, and is still an overwhelmingly well-heeled community.


Recent events

In June 2016, Irvington Fire Chief Christopher D. DePaoli was one of 23 recipients of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission medal for heroism. In April 2015, DePaoli stepped in when he saw a woman being attacked by a man with a knife at the Irvington Metro-North Station. DePaoli was able get between the man and the woman, the man's girlfriend, who was on the ground being stabbed, and distract him with a baseball bat until the police arrived. The man was arrested and the woman survived the attack. Since 2014, Irvington has held a "Celebrate Irvington" festival on the village's Main Street in the early summer. Irvington's first murder since 1974 took place on April 25, 2018, when a recently hired dishwasher stabbed Bonifacio Rodriguez, a prep cook, in the kitchen of the River City Grille at 6 South Broadway. The accused woman, New York City resident Rosa Ramirez, told police when she was arrested shortly after the incident. that she had suffered a " psychotic break". Ramirez pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...
, a Class A felony, on February 21, 2020, in return for an expected sentence of 17 years to life, which was made official in September 2020. In May 2020, a lawsuit was filed against an 18 year old Irvington High School senior, Ellis Pinsky, who was accused with co-conspirators from the US and Europe of swindling
digital currency Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...
investor Michael Terpin – the founder and chief executive officer of Transform Group – of $23.8 million in 2018, when the accused was 15 years old, through the use of data stolen from smartphones by "SIM swaps". The complaint alleges that Pinsky had a personal worth of $70 million as of December 2017. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in
White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...
and asked for triple damages. An investigation by the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' revealed that Pinsky lived a lavish lifestyle, driving an Audi R8, maintaining an account with a private air service, purchasing prime tickets to
New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...
hockey games, and wearing expensive clothing. Pinsky had previously been recognized by the
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as being an "AP Scholar".


Geography

The village has a total area of , of which or about Graff and Graff, inside front wing of dust jacket is land and , or 30.94%, is water. The village's main thoroughfare is Broadway ( Route 9) originally an Indian footpath which gradually became a horse track and then a dirt road. It came to be called the "King's Highway" around the time that it reached Albany. Later, it was called the "Queen's Highway", after Queen Anne, the "Highland Turnpike" after 1800 – a name still preserved in the nearby town of Ossining – the "
Albany Post Road The Albany Post Road was a post road – a road used for mail delivery – in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It connected New York City and Albany (NY), Albany along the east side of the Hudson River, a service now performed by U.S ...
" and, after 1850, "Broadway". The stretch that runs through Irvington was completed by 1723. During his tenure as Postmaster General,
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
had sandstone milestone markers placed along the Broadway, inscribed with the distance from
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 ...
. Milestone #27 is still in place in Irvington, near the driveway to 30 South Broadway. Broadway runs north-south parallel to the river, and connects Irvington to Dobbs Ferry in the south and
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 ...
in the north. All of the village's major streets, including Main Street, extend east and west from Broadway, and are designated as such. Broadway is designated "North Broadway" above Main Street, and "South Broadway" below it. Main Street begins at the Metro-North train station, just off the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
, and travels uphill to Broadway. Side streets off of Main, which were originally designated A Street, B Street, C Street, etc. when the village grid was laid out, now have names, most of which come from local history: Astor, Buckhout, Cottenet, Dutcher, Ecker, Ferris and Grinnell. The southbound
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 ...
can be reached via Harriman Road/Cyrus Field Road, past the village reservoir, or East Sunnyside Lane/Mountain Road through East Irvington. The northbound Saw Mill and the New York State Thruway are accessible via Ardsley, and the Mario Cuomo Bridge is nearby in Tarrytown. Commuter train service to
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 ...
is available at the Irvington and Ardsley-on-Hudson train stations, served by the
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 ...
of the MTA. Bus service is provided on Broadway by the Westchester County Beeline Bus System via route #1T (The Bronx-Yonkers-Tarrytown) and #1W (The Bronx-Yonkers-White Plains). As with all river communities in Westchester, Irvington is traversed by a stretch of the old
Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water supply network, water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueduct (water supply), aqueducts, which were among the first in t ...
, about long, which is now part of the Old Croton Trailway State Park. The Aqueduct is a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
.


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 2020, there were 6,652 people and 2,141 households in the village. The population density was . There were 2,141 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 82.3%
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 ...
, 1.6%
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 ...
, 0.0% Native American, 7.4% Asian, 4.3% from other races, and 1.67% 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 8.6% of the population. There were 2,141 households, out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.2% 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, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.0% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.13. In the village, the population was spread out, with 31.2% under the age of 18, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. 54.9 percent of the population is female. The median income for a household in the village was $145,313. Males had a median income of $85,708 versus $50,714 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 $74,319. About 7.1% 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 ...
. The average cost for a one-family house in 2010 was $585,780, below the Westchester County average of $725,000, although in 2009 the ''median'' home price was reported to be $790,000.
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...
ranked Irvington 54th in its March 2017 profile of "America's 100 Richest Places". In the 2018 survey, it ranked 67th of the over 6,200 places covered.


Housing

As of 2018, there were approximately 1,180 single-family homes in the village, as well as 100 multi-family homes. Although Irvington primarily consists of single family homes, there are eight condominium complexes, 13 cooperative ones and 17 apartment buildings, totally almost 1,100 units altogether. Cooperative or condominium apartment complexes in the village include in the Fieldpoint development, Woodbrook Gardens located at 140 North Broadway, and Irvington Gardens at 120 North Broadway, as well as in the Half Moon development on South Buckhout Street. In 1999, the village began a program to make affordable housing available to the public. Two buildings, The Burnham Building at 2 Main Street, and Hudson Views at Irvington at 1 South Astor Street, provide such units. As of February 2012, the village had passed a local ordinance requiring new developments to provide affordable housing. The cost of housing in Irvington was pushed upwards by Greenburgh's town-wide re-evaluation of property values, which was initiated in 2016.


Economy

Although Irvington is still an affluent suburban "bedroom community", with a large number of people commuting into New York City to work, there are also several notable businesses and institutions located in the village, such as: * BrightFarms, a company that grows salad greens, is headquartered in Irvington. * Verve Medical Cosmetics – In January 2021 this company announced that it will open Verve Loft Westchester in a left space on Bridge Street. It is expected to open on February 4. * CastleGreen Finance, a private capital source focused on commercial PACE ( Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing, is headquartered in Irvington. *
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
's Nevis Laboratories is a research center specializing in the preparation, design, and construction of high-energy particle and nuclear experiments and equipment which are transported to accelerators such as
Fermilab Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located in Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle phys ...
,
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and
Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratories, United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, New York, a hamlet of the Brookhaven, New York, Town of Brookhaven. It w ...
. The resulting data is analyzed at Nevis using their extensive computer systems. Twelve faculty members, fourteen postdoctoral research scientists and twenty graduate students work at the lab, along with an engineering and technical staff of twenty. The grounds also accommodate an agricultural research center. "Nevis" was the estate of Alexander Hamilton's son, and was named after Hamilton's birthplace, the Caribbean island of
Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...
. * Eileen Fisher, a clothing design company, has corporate offices and of a retail shop at Bridge Street Properties by the Hudson. In addition, in 2017, it opened in Irvington its first company-owned factory. * The investment company Elm Ridge Management is based in Irvington. * Flat World Knowledge is an online publisher of college-level
open textbook An open textbook is a textbook licensed under an open license, and made available online to be freely used by students, teachers and members of the public. Many open textbooks are distributed in either print, e-book, or audio formats that may be d ...
s. * House Party, Inc., an experimental marketing firm which specializes in arranging parties to promote their clients' products, has its offices at 50 South Buckhout Street. * Hudson Loft – In August 2016 it was announced that a event space on the top floor of a three=story warehouse at 2 Astor Place in Irvington would be available beginning at the end of September for weddings, parties and other events. The space features panoramic views of the Hudson River and a 6,000-square-foot main space. * The direct marketing agency Lockard & Wechsler is located in Bridge Street Properties. * Monte Nido Treatment Center, a residential treatment center for eating disorders, was announced in May 2014 to be planned for Irvington. It would be located in a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room mansion at 100 South Broadway near Clinton Avenue. The organization has residential facilities in Malibu and
Agoura Hills Agoura Hills () is a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 20,330 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. Agoura H ...
in California and in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, as well as a day-clinic in
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 ...
. * Natural Market Food Group, the parent company of the "Mrs. Green's Natural Market" supermarket chain, which operates primarily in the Hudson Valley area, has its offices in Irvington. * PECO Pallet, a pooled pallet provider headquartered in Irvington * STRATA Skin Sciences, formerly MELA Sciences, is a medical device company that focuses on the design and development of a non-invasive, point-of-care instruments to assist in the early diagnosis of melanoma. In 2015, the company acquired XTRAC and PhotoMedex. * The Student Center, a community website for teenagers and college students, has offices on Main Street. * X-Caliber Capital, a national, direct commercial real estate lender.


Government and politics

Irvington is one of six incorporated villages that lie within the town of Greenburgh.Hodara, Susan (August 1, 2018
"Living in: Irvington, N.Y.: A Walkable Village With Striking Manhattan Views"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
The village is governed by a mayor, who is elected every two years in odd-numbered years, and four trustees, who also serve two-year terms. Two of the trustees are elected in odd-numbered years, with the mayor and the other two in even-numbered years. Each year, the mayor appoints one of the trustees to be deputy mayor. A paid village administrator is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the village, assisted by a clerk-treasurer. The administration is divided into eleven departments: *Administrator *Building *Clerk-Treasurer *Fire *Justice Court *Library *Parks and Recreation *Police *Public Works *Town Hall Theater *Water and Sewer In addition, the mayor and board of trustees are assisted in the governance of the village by a number of voluntary boards and committees: *Architectural Review Board *Beautification Committee *Cable Advisory Board *Citizens' Budget Committee *Climate Protection Task Force *Community Advisory Board *Environmental Conservation Board *Ethics Board *Library Board *Main Street Zoning Committee *Open Space Advisory Committee *Parks and Recreation Master Plan Committee *Planning Board *Recreation Advisory Committee *Theater Commission *Trailways Committee *Transportation Committee *Tree Preservation Commission *War Monument Committee *Zoning Board of Appeals Irvington is protected by its own 22-person police department, along with a volunteer fire department and volunteer ambulance corps, all of which are located on Main Street. Irvington's government communicates with the village's citizens through a newsletter, e-mail notifications and the village website.


2005 mayoral election

The controversial 2005 Irvington mayoral election was held on March 15, 2005, but was not decided until October 27, 2005. The race between Republican
incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...
Dennis P. Flood and Democratic challenger Erin Malloy ended up being decided "by lots", as required by New York state law when a village election is tied (847 votes for each candidate). The count that took place on election night gave Flood a one-vote lead. On March 18, the Westchester County Board of Elections recounted the votes, giving Malloy a one-vote lead. Turning to two unopened
absentee ballot Absentee or The Absentee may refer to: * Absentee (band), a British band * The Absentee, a novel by Maria Edgeworth, published in 1812 in ''Tales of Fashionable Life'' * ''The Absentee'' (1915 film), a 1915 American silent film directed by Christy ...
s, the board found that one was for Flood, resulting in a tie. The other absentee ballot was not opened as the name on the envelope did not match any names on the voter-registration list. Susan B. Morton, who had registered to vote as Susan Brenner Morton, stepped forward three days later and demanded that her vote for Malloy be counted. For several months afterward, various suits, motions, and appeals were filed in state courts. On October 20, the
Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...
, New York State's highest court, denied requests by Malloy and Morton, leaving the election in a tie. To comply with state law, the village had to use random lots to decide the winner. State law does not specify the method of drawing lots, so the village opted to draw quarters from a bag. Eight quarters were used. Four had a bald eagle on the back and represented Malloy. Flood was represented by four quarters with the
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...
on the back. Village Trustee/
Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...
Richard Livingston, a Republican, drew a quarter from the bag. It was handed to Village Clerk Lawrence Schopfer, who declared Flood to be the winner. Flood was then sworn in for his sixth two-year term as mayor of Irvington. Months later, to complicate the situation even more, it was learned that an Irvington resident who has two houses and was registered to vote in both Irvington and a Long Island suburb, inadvertently broke the law by voting in both elections, although his intent was to cancel his Irvington voter registration. He was an adamant supporter of Flood. Erin Malloy was elected mayor in the election of 2007, but resigned in 2008 to spend more time with her injured daughter.


Infrastructure

Irvington is one of 83 communities in New York State which are being considered by the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (ERDA) for the installation of a microgrid system, which would run under Main Street. The village's power lines would be moved underground and solar and natural gas generators would be utilized to make it 80% power self-sufficient. In the initial phase, the board of trustees is in discussion with a possible technology provider. There are no current community microgrids in New York. On March 4, 2021, Irvington received from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) bronze-level certification as being a "Climate Smart Community", one of 65 such in the state. The certification was based on 17 actions taken by the village, including its Comprehensive Plan, last updated in 2018, an energy audit for the Town Hall, the village's flood mitigation program, the conversion of 81.5 percent of the villages streetlight to LEDs, and the establishment of a drop-off food waste program. The Climate Smart program, which began in 2009, is designed to provide technical support and guidance to the efforts of communities to deal with the effects of climate change, by, for instance, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving their response to extreme weather. The village also participates in the ERDA's "Clean Energy Communities" program, and has previously received grants from the DEC for flood mitigation and as part of its Municipal Zero-Emission Vehicle program.


Education


Primary and secondary schools

Irvington Union Free School District
The majority of Irvington is part of the Irvington Union Free School District, which also includes East Irvington, an unincorporated area of the Town of Greenburgh, and the Pennybridge section of
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 ...
, Irvington's northern neighbor. The schools are Dows Lane School (K-3), Main Street School (4&5), Irvington Middle School (6–8), and Irvington High School (9–12). The Middle School and High School are sited together on a combined campus on Heritage Hill Road off of North Broadway, on the site where the Stern castle, "Greystone", once stood. Stern purchased the property from Augustus C. Richards in the late nineteenth century. Small portions of Irvington extend into the Dobbs Ferry Union Free School District, the Ardsley Union Free School District, and the Elmsford Union Free School District.
See text list
/ref> Abbott School
Located in Irvington, but not part of the regular public school district, was the Abbott School, which served homeless, neglected, abused, or developmentally disabled boys in grades 2 through 9. The students came both from the residential Abbott House, where the school was located, and as day students from community schools in Westchester County, Rockland County, and New York City. The school graduated its last class in 2011. Currently, Abbott House operates a number of programs to support children and families with challenging circumstances. Abbot House's administrative offices remain in the former school building in Irvington. Immaculate Conception School
The Immaculate Conception School, a Catholic elementary school located in Irvington, was closed by the
Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York ...
in June 2008, after 100 years of existence. In the 2009–2010 school year, John Cardinal O'Connor School, a Catholic non-denominational school for students in grades 2 through 8 with learning disabilities, which had formerly been St. Ursula's Learning Center in Mount Kisco, moved into the vacant building.


Colleges

There are no colleges totally within Irvington, although part of the campus of
Mercy University Mercy University (Mercy NY), previously known as Mercy College, is a private research university with a main campus in Dobbs Ferry, New York, and additional locations in Manhattan and the The Bronx, Bronx. It is a federally designated minority- ...
, founded in 1950, is located there, while the majority is just over the southern border in Dobbs Ferry, very close to Irvington's Ardsley-on-Hudson train station, which is sub-labelled "Mercy College". In 1890, schoolteacher Mary F. Bennett founded the Bennett School for Girls in the village. The school offered a six-year course of study: four years of high school and two of higher study. In 1907 it moved to Millbrook in Dutchess County, and dropped the high school grades, becoming a
junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...
; the school was renamed to Bennett College. In that same year, Marymount College was founded in
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 ...
, north of the village. It later became a campus of
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
, but closed in 2007.
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
maintains in Irvington its Nevis Laboratories – which specializes in the preparation, design, and construction of high-energy particle and nuclear experiments and equipment, which are transported to major laboratories worldwide, and also houses the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility which specializes in microbeam technology. The grounds also hold an agricultural research center and the offices of
Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in 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 la ...
.


Culture

In 2018 Brooke Lea Foster of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' stated that Irvington was one of several "Rivertowns" in Westchester County, which she described as among the "least suburban of suburbs, each one celebrated by buyers there for its culture and hip factor, as much as the housing stock and sophisticated post-city life." Of those, Foster stated that Irvington was the "toniest". The Town Hall Theater, opened in 1902 and restored in 1979-80, is located in the village's "Town Hall". It was designed to be a replica of
Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1863. The theater is best known for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box where ...
in Washington, and was widely thought to be one of the best "opera houses" in the Hudson Valley. It was used for public events such as school
graduation A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called Commencement speech, commencement, Congregation (university), congregation, Convocat ...
ceremonies, police and fire balls, plays and other cultural events. Today, the Town Hall Theater presents a wide variety of events, including concerts, plays, musicals and film series. (For more, see
below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...
.) In 2021, a lifelong resident of Irvington, Kamran Saliani, founded the Irvington Shakespeare Company and signed into an Arts Partnership with the Irvington Theater. In 2023, the organization evolved into Rivertowns Playhouse, establishing itself as the permanent secular resident theater company at the Irvington Presbyterian Church.


Religion

Irvington has four Christian churches. Three of them, the Irvington Presbyterian Church (
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
), the Immaculate Conception Church (
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 ...
) and The Church of St. Barnabas ( Episcopal), are clustered together on Broadway, just north of Main Street. Th
Calvary Chapel of Westchester
(
Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
) is located in the Trent Building on South Buckhout Street. The Jewish community of Irvington is served by three nearby
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
s: the traditional/non-denominational Chabad of the Rivertowns, the conservative Greenburgh Hebrew Center in Dobbs Ferry and the dual reform/conservative synagogue Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown. Irvington itself features a "chavurah", or member-led Jewish congregation that follows in the conservative tradition, known as Rosh Pinah Chavurah of the Rivertowns. Irvington is also the location of the Westchester Buddhist Center, whose executive director is interior designer Stacy T. Curchak. Irvington is home to a number of members of the
Unification Church The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...
, including several high-ranking families. There are several Church-owned estates and buildings located in Irvington and in the neighboring village of
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 ...
. Reverend
Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Moon Yong-myeong; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the ...
, the founder and, until his death in 2010, the spiritual leader of the church, had a large private estate of , the former Frederic Clark Sayles estate, on East Sunnyside Lane. As of 2012, the estate was still owned by the church, under its legal name "Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity".


Local media

From 1912 to 1998, Irvington's daily newspaper was the ''Tarrytown Daily News''. In 1998, the
Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as severa ...
, the last owner of the newspaper, combined all their area local papers, including the ''Daily News'', into ''
The Journal News ''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Journal News'' was created through a ...
'', which serves Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, an area also referred to as the
Lower Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yonkers in Westc ...
. From 1907 to 1969, the village was also served by ''The Irvington Gazette'', a weekly newspaper which was published on Aqueduct Street "in the interest of the village of Irvington and vicinity". From 1975 to the present, the ''Rivertowns Enterprise'', a weekly newspaper, has reported on local government, schools, sports, arts and business in Irvington as well as Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, and
Hastings-on-Hudson Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately north of midtown Manhattan, and i ...
. Additionally, the ''Hudson Independent'', a monthly free newspaper begun in 2006, serves Irvington, Sleepy Hollow, and
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 ...
, an area also covered by the ''River Journal'', an online news site, and '' Rivertowns Patch''.


Historic Irvington


Landmark protection

Irvington is home to a number of historic landmarks and an historic district. In 2018, the village board of trustees passed local legislation which sought "the protection and enhancement" of landmarks and historic sites. The law will be enforced by an architectural review board which will designate "sites, structures, buildings, markers and objects" that "cannot be duplicated or otherwise replaced" and that are "illustrative of the growth and development of our nation, our state and our Village and that are of particular historic or aesthetic value to Irvington." A village master plan promulgated in 2003 recognized around 200 hones dating from 1859 to 1930 which were worthy of consideration.


Points of interest

* Ardsley-on-Hudson Station House – The station house on the northbound side, which houses the waiting room and the Ardsley-on-Hudson post office, is all that is left of the
McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...
-designed Tudor style buildings associated with the Ardsley Casino which was located there. The casino, established with the support of
Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould family, Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the Robber baron (industrialist), robber bar ...
,
Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
, J. Pierpont Morgan, William Rockefeller, and Amzi Lorenzo Barber, had a golf course, tennis courts, stables, a private dock of the
New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...
, and daily stagecoach service to the Hotel Brunswick on
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. The casino was torn down in 1936 and was replaced by the Hudson House apartment building, designed by
Shreve, Lamb and Harmon Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, founded as Shreve & Lamb, was an architectural firm best known for designing the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion in 1931. The firm was prominent in the proliferatio ...
, which still stands. The station was used as a location for the 2016 film '' The Girl on the Train'', with the addition of a portico to recreate the feel of the station as it existed in 1890. (110 West Ardsley Avenue) * Armour-Stiner House (also known as the Carmer Octagon House) ''(1860)'' – Built by financier Paul J. Armour according to the ideas of Orson Fowler, the house originally had only two stories and a flat roof. Expanded – adding the dome and the veranda, as well as elaborate deocartions and embellishments – and refurbished by Joseph Stiner in 1872, the Armour-Stiner House is said to be one of the most lavish
octagon house Octagon houses are eight-sided houses that were popular in the United States and Canada mostly in the 1850s. They are characterized by an octagonal (eight-sided) Floor plan, plan and often feature a flat roof and a veranda that circles the hous ...
s built in the period, and is now one of only perhaps a hundred still extant. The house was later occupied by historian Carl Carmer, who maintained that it was haunted. In 1976, the house was briefly owned by the
National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...
to prevent it from being demolished. The trust was unable to fund the amount of renovation the property required, and sold it to a preservationist architect,
Joseph Pell Lombardi Joseph Pell Lombardi is a New York City-based architect and real estate investor. Born in New York City where he spent his childhood, Lombardi moved to Irvington, New York for his high-school years. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree ...
, who has conserved the house, interiors, grounds and outbuildings. The house is a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
. ''(West Clinton Avenue, west of the Old Croton Trail)'' * Churches: ** Church of St. Barnabas ''(1853)'' – A stone Gothic building 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 ...
(2000), the cornerstone of St. Barnabas was laid on May 29, 1853. It was originally intended as a chapel and school, and was designed by the Reverend Dr. John McVickar, a professor at Columbia College and the
General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating ...
and friend of
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
– his son, William McVickar, was the church's first rector. The building was constructed from stone quarried on the former Rutter estate across Broadway, where the "Fieldpoint" development is now located. In the early 1860s the building was enlarged to become a parish church, to plans produced by the firm of Renwick and Sands. (
James Renwick Jr. James Renwick Jr. (November 11, 1818 – June 23, 1895) was an American architect known for designing churches and museums. He designed the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C., and St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan), St. Patric ...
was the architect who would design the Irvington Presbyterian Church which stands next to St. Barnabas.) The "Lich Gate" entryway dates from circa 1896, and was designed by A. J. Manning, who later designed the Irvington Town Hall. The gate is made of solid oak on a stone foundation, and was a memorial to Mrs. H. B. Worthington. ''(North Broadway, north of Main Street)'' ** Irvington Presbyterian Church ''(1869)'' – A Romanesque church designed by
James Renwick Jr. James Renwick Jr. (November 11, 1818 – June 23, 1895) was an American architect known for designing churches and museums. He designed the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C., and St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan), St. Patric ...
, who also designed
St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York St. Patrick's Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is the seat of the Archbishop of New York as well as a parish church. The cathedral occupies a city block bounded by Fifth Avenue, M ...
; the
stained-glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
windows were designed by
Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is associated with the art nouveauLander, David"The Buyable ...
, who had once been an Irvington resident. The cost of construction was $53,0000. ''(North Broadway, north of Main Street)'' * Cosmopolitan Building ''(1895)'' – This three-story stone neo-Classical revival building topped by three small domes was designed by
Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect and a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms at the turn of the 20th century. White designed many houses ...
as the headquarters for ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'' when the magazine moved from New York to Irvington.
John Brisben Walker John Brisben Walker (September 10, 1847 – July 7, 1931) was a magazine publisher and automobile entrepreneur in the United States. In his later years, he was a resident of Jefferson County, Colorado. Biography Walker was born on September ...
, who had bought the general interest magazine in 1889, had a mansion in Irvington only a short walk away. In 1897 Walker started a free correspondence school, the Cosmopolitan Educational University Extension. When 20,000 people enrolled, Walker was unable to keep to its offer of a no-cost education for all, and had to ask the students to pay $20 per year. Nevertheless, the venture attracted well-known academics to its staff, and public lectures and other events associated with the school were held in the headquarters building. The magazine also sponsored several automobile races from New York to Irvington to promote the automobile. ''Cosmopolitan'' left Irvington shortly after
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...
bought the magazine in 1905 and moved it back to New York. Afterwards, the building was used as a silent movie studio for some period of time, but for most of its subsequent history has primarily housed manufacturing concerns of various types, including one that made radio
oscillator Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...
s used by the U.S. Army in World War II, and a company that made looseleaf binders and other paper products.The Cosmopolitan Building still stands, although it is known as the "Trent Building" after the family that owns it, but it is quite run down, and its visage has suffered from the pedestrian brick industrial building which was stuck onto its rear, obscuring the eastern facade. The building houses manufacturers, offices, a video production facility, a publisher of art books, interior design firms, a yoga studio, a chapel, photographers, a spa, a florist and event space and at least one restaurant. ''(50 South Buckhout Street)'' * East Irvington Public School ''(1898, 1925)'' – Built in 1891 as a one-story schoolhouse for the community of East Irvington, the building was expanded to two stories in 1925, and accommodated all elementary school children in the area. In 1954, because of overcrowding, the village built the Dows Lane Elementary School, although the East Irvington School continued to be used for some grades until 1970, when it was closed. East Irvington, an unincorporated area of the town of Greenburgh which is part of the Irvington School District, but not of the Village of Irvington, had been known as "
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
" due to the number of Irish immigrant workers living there, many of whom worked at the nearby quarry. The school building was converted to condominiums in 1983, when it was also placed 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 ...
. A similar school is located in the section of
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 ...
known as "Pennybridge", which is also part of the Irvington School District. * Halsey Teahouse ''(1905)'' – A. J. Manning was commissioned by oil and cotton magnate Melchior Beltzhoover to build an exact replica of a
Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...
castle. The 44-room mansion, called "Rochroane", was sold to Benjamin Halsey in 1927 and renamed "Grey Towers". The estate was given by Halsey's widow to the Irvington Catholic Church in 1976, and the castle burned down the next year (the exterior was stone, but the interior was wood). The estate was sold to a developer, who gave the pond to the village in exchange for the right to build residence on the property. The "Halsey Playhouse" or "Teahouse", which was restored in 1997, is the last remnant of the estate, except for a Tiffany landscape window now in the
Corning Museum of Glass The Corning Museum of Glass is a museum in Corning (city), New York, Corning, New York, United States, dedicated to the art, history, and science of glass. It was founded in 1951 by Corning Incorporated, Corning Glass Works and currently has a ...
. The Teahouse has two floors, and an open hexagonal tower with Gothic-arched windows, and there is a walkway and stone bridge around Halsey Pond, which the structure overlooks. Vestiges of a fountain, dam, and other structures can be seen in the nearby woods and backyards. File:Armour-Stiner House.jpg, Armour-Stiner Octagon House, a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
File:Irvington Cosmopolitan Building.jpg, The Cosmopolitan Building, from an advertisement for ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'' magazine, c.1900 File:East Irvington School.JPG, East Irvington Public School building, now condominiums File:Lord and Burnham Building.jpg, Lord & Burnham Building
* Hermit's Grave ''(1888)'' – Johann W. Stolting was a native of
Heligoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...
who lived deep in the woods of Irvington as a hermit in the 19th century. He slept in his coffin, made of local chestnut wood, in a cabin overlooking the Saw Mill River valley. Stolting made his own clothes, wore sandals for shoes, but never wore a hat. He survived by selling wooden buttons made on a homemade foot-powered lathe. He died in 1888 at the age of 78, and his grave is only a few hundred feet west of the Saw Mill Parkway – the only marked grave in Irvington. The grave is reachable by a marked trail (the blue and white blazed "HG" trail) that begins at the north end of the village reservoir. ''(trail head at Fieldpoint Road)'' * Hillside ''(1889)'' – Built in 1889 for medical doctor Carroll Dunham, the
Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...
mansion house was designed for 34 rooms with 16 fireplaces, gables and bay windows, a large staircase, walls of mahogany paneling, and glass designed by Irvington resident
Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is associated with the art nouveauLander, David"The Buyable ...
. The grounds were designed by Charles Eliot, who also planned the Boston park system with later alterations by
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...
, the co-creator of New York City's
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
. The estate was sold shortly after Dunham's death in 1923 to Gordon Harris, the son of American Tobacco Company founderSpikes and Leone (2009) William R. Harris. Gordon Harris, then Vice President of the
United States Lines United States Lines was an organization of the United States Shipping Board's (USSB) Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC), created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and all finances of t ...
shipping company, and his family lived on the estate until 1946 * Irvington Historic District ''(2013-14)''. In December 2002, a committee prepared for the trustees of the village of Irvington a comprehensive request for the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation of Historic Preservation to create a State and Federal historic district to include the heart of the village:
that area of Irvington bounded by the Hudson River to the West, and Broadway to the East (to include Saint Barnabas and the Presbyterian Churches), by the gates of Barney Park to the South, and by the gates of Matthiessen Park to the North. This boundary being consistent with the original 1850s layout of Dearman, later renamed Irvington-on-Hudson.Buford, Kate; Ferguson, Earl; and Mason, Evan; et al. (December 2002
"Irvingon-on-Hudson, New York: Historic District Application"
Village of Irvington
This proposal did not result in an historic district being created."2003 Comprehensive Plan Discussion of Historic District"
Village of Irvington
In 2011, a second attempt was made, with a Historic District Committee being created and another application being made, this time covering
Portions of Main St., W. Main St., River St., Bridge St., N. and S. Astor St., N. and S. Buckhout St., N. and S. Cottenet St., N. and S. Dutcher St., N. and S. Eckar St., N. and S. Ferris St., E. and W. Home Pl., Grinnel St., Aqueduct Ln., N. and S. Dearman St., and Broadway"National Register of Historic Places: Application Form: Irvington Historic District"
/ref>"Irvington Historic District" (map)
Village of Irvington
In September 2013, the proposal was accepted by the state,"Historic District Sub-Committee"
Village of Irvington
and in January 2014 by the National Register for Historic Places. The district includes 212 contributing and 43 non-contributing buildings, and 1 contributing site. * Lord & Burnham Building ''(1881)'' – Lord & Burnham manufactured
greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...
s – an excellent example of which can be seen at Lyndhurst, the estate of
Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould family, Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the Robber baron (industrialist), robber bar ...
, in neighboring Tarrytown – and boilers. The Burnham factory building, built in 1881 to replace a factory that burned down on the same site that year, is 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 ...
since 1999. It has been renovated and repurposed into residences and the new home of the expanded Irvington Public Library. Across the railroad tracks, the buildings of Lord & Burnham's expansion factory have been renovated and transformed into upscale commercial real estate buildings known as Bridge Street Properties, which houses around 60 different companies, retail stores, and restaurants. ''(Foot of Main Street at the train station).'' Additionally, residential row houses originally constructed for Lord & Burnham's factory workers can be found at #10-#16A North Buckhout Street, north of Main Street. * McVickar House ''(1853)'' – The McVickar House was built by Reverend John McVickar for his son, the Reverend William McVickar, the first rector of St. Barnabas Church. John McVickar's own house was on Fargo Lane, not far from Sunnyside, and it is said that Washington Irving enjoyed the view from John McVickar's house better than the one from his own. The backyard of the William McVickar house became the site of a
Con Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 ...
substation in 1957, and served as a doctor's office until 1984. The Village of Irvington acquired it in 2002, and it was restored and renovated to be the headquarters of the Irvington Historical Society, opening in November 2005 as the Irvington History Center. The building is 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 ...
(2003). ''(131 Main Street, between North Dearman and Broadway)'' * Nevis ''(1836)'' –
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
's Nevis Laboratories is located on a property originally owned by James Alexander Hamilton, the third son of
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...
. He called the estate, which was originally , "Nevis" after the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
which was the birthplace of the elder Hamilton. The
Greek revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...
mansion James Hamilton built in 1836 is still standing on the grounds. Over the years, the estate was reduced to . It was purchased by Mrs. T. Coleman DuPont of
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
in 1920, and was given to Columbia by her in 1934, "to make more satisfactory provision for its increasingly important work in
landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
and general
horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
." One early pamphlet remarked, "Nevis is one of the superb examples of historic and landscape architecture in America. No other country place north of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
so perfectly exemplifies the taste of the Early Republican Period in our history." The property contains an inventory of 2,640 trees and 1,928 ornamental shrubs. Columbia began the construction of a physics laboratory with a
cyclotron A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Januar ...
– at the time the world's most powerful – in 1947, which was dedicated by Columbia's president,
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
, in 1950. It was decommissioned in 1978. The laboratory continues to be used to study high-energy physics and astrophysics. ''(South Broadway)'' * Nuits ''(1853)'' – This
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
was built as a summer home by the textile importer Francis Cottenet (who came from Nuits-St.-George in France, and whose name adorns "Cottenet Street" in Irvington) out of brick faced with
Caen stone Caen stone () is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ...
– a light creamy-yellow
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
quarried in northwestern France near the city of
Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
, and brought to America as ballast in Cottenet's ships – to a design by the noted German architect Detlef Lienau. The house was built in two stages, the south entrance area first in 1853, and the north extension, which features a Lord and Burnham conservatory, in 1860. The house passed through numerous owners, including Cyrus Field, John Jacob Astor III and Amzi Lorenzo Barber. Nuits remains a private residence, albeit on rather than the original estate. Nuits, which is also known as the Cottenet-Brown House, was added to 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 1977, and the house was restored between 1980 and 2000. ''(2 Clifton Place at Hudson Road, Ardsley-on-Hudson)'' File:Irvington Nuits crop.jpg, " Nuits", the residence of Francis Cottenet, c.1860 File:Odell Inn, South Broadway, Irvington, Westchester County, NY HABS NY,60-IRV,1-1 crop.jpg, Odell's Tavern, the oldest house in Irvington File:Irvington Town Hall full.jpg, Irvington Town Hall File:Villa-lewaro crop.jpg,
Villa Lewaro Villa Lewaro, also known as the Madam C.J. Walker estate, is a 34-room mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway ( US 9) in Irvington, New York, 30 miles north of New York City. Entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker commissioned architect V ...
, built by Madam C. J. Walker, an African American woman who was America's first female millionaire File:Washington Irving Memorial Irvington.jpg, Washington Irving Memorial, by
Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...
, the most prominent sculptor in the U.S. at the time
* Odell's Tavern ''(1693)'' – The main part of the Odell-Conklin-Harmse Tavern, the oldest house extant in Irvington, is constructed of
fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...
, with walls that are four feet thick. It was built by Jan Harmse after he moved to the area from
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, and was converted to a tavern in 1742 Mathius and Sophia Conklin, a function it served until sometime in the 19th century. The "Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York" stopped there in April 1776, when Jonathan Odell was the proprietor, on their way out of New York City when the British occupied it, and discussed General Washington's defeat at the
Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn ...
. In 1989, the Village of Irvington had the opportunity to purchase for $5.5 million the Murray-Griffin property that includes the Tavern, as well as 19th century barn and carriage house and a 23-room four-story Bedford stone house built in 1938, but did not. The Tavern, which in 2006 was reported as having undergone a recent restoration using artisans from Lyndhurst, is now part of a private residence and is not open to the public. ''(South Broadway at West Clinton Avenue)'' * Shadowbrook ''(1895)'', is a 9-acre estate built for banker Henry Graves, located at the corner of West Sunnyside Lane and Broadway just over the border in Tarrytown. It has been the home of
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...
, the noted American songwriter, and jazz musician
Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...
. It was designed by noted architect R. H. Robertson in the Tudor Revival style. Robertson also designed Richmond Hill, an estate located at the corner of Broadway and Harriman Road in Irvington, which was later utilized as a laboratory for the North American Philips Company and then the Yeshiva Ohel Shmuel, a boarding school for high school and college students, before being torn down in 1979–80 to be replaced by condominiums. Shadowbrook has been converted into multiple private residences, and is not open to the public, although the mansion is sometimes used for weddings and other events.Rachleff, Allison S. (February 2010, revised 2011
"South End Historic District"
Division for Historic Preservation, New York State Parks and Recreation
''(821 South Broadway, Tarrytown)'' * Station Road Tunnel ''(1837–1842)'' – At Station Road, west of Broadway, the Old Croton Aqueduct passes overhead inside a large stone and earthwork
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
which spans what was the culvert formed by Jewel's Brook. Through the viaduct passes a single-lane tunnel to allow the road to pass through, and another smaller tunnel to the north to allow Jewel's Brook – now known as Barney Brook – through as well. The tunnel plays a major part in the 2016 film '' The Girl on the Train''. ''(Station Road west of South Broadway)'' * Strawberry Hill ''(1855, expanded c.1870s)'' – This stone mansion in Norman Victorian Gothic style was built by John Thomas and expanded by Edward Delano Lindsay for John Williams. Still a private residence as of 1995, it has pointed gables, turrets and large shuttered windows. ''(North Broadway)'' * Sunnyside ''(1656/1835)'' – In 1835
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
bought for $1,800 a two-room pitched-roofed Dutch farm house built in 1656 from the property that was William Ecker's, and spent 15 years expanding and redesigning the house with the help of his friend and neighbor George Harvey, a landscape painter. Ten years later Irving continued, adding a tower his friends called "The Pagoda". Today, the house is owned and operated as a museum by Historic Hudson Valley. ''(West Sunnyside Lane at the river)'' :* Washington Irving Memorial ''(1927)'' - Designed by
Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...
, America's leading sculptor at the time and the designer of the
Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...
in Washington, D.C., the Irving memorial, which is 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 ...
(2000), shows a bust of Irving flanked by two of his characters, Boabdil from '' The Alhambra'' and
Rip van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" () is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in Colonial history of the United States, colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Du ...
, all set against polished pink Vermont granite. ''(North Broadway at West Sunnyside Lane)'' *
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
''(1902)'' – The Irvington Town Hall, which 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 1984, is built on land deeded to the village before the turn of the 20th century by the Mental and Moral Improvement Society of Irvington, of which Charles Lewis Tiffany – founder of Tiffany & Co. and the father of
Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is associated with the art nouveauLander, David"The Buyable ...
– was the president. The society required that the building must have in perpetuity a reading room, and also specified that it have a public hall. The brick, stone and terra cotta building, which is called a "Town Hall" despite Irvington being only a village, was designed by Alfred J. Manning and cost $150,000 to build. The library was to replace the short-lived Irvington Free Library (later the "Atheneum") which began in the local "little red schoolhouse". The new library, which opened in 1902, was designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, with Tiffany-glass lighting fixtures. The furnishings were donated by Helen Gould, the daughter of
Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould family, Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the Robber baron (industrialist), robber bar ...
, and Frederick W. Guiteau – uncle of Charles J. Guiteau, who assassinated President
James Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until Assassination of James A. Garfield, his death in September that year after being shot two months ea ...
– paid for the books with a $10,000 endowment which he originally intended to bequeath to it in his will. Although in 2000 the library moved into the Burnham Building, a reading room, the "Tiffany Room", remains in the Town Hall, to fulfill the requirements of the deed. The reading room was restored in 2004.In front of the Town Hall is a stone fountain memorial to Dr. Isaiah Ashton, the village physician who died in 1889. It was originally located on Broadway, where it was intended to be used to water horses. A recently installed statue of Rip Van Winkle stands next to the Town Hall, on the grounds of the Main Street School. Beginning on August 1, 2016, restoration of the exterior began. Although the project was held up by a work stoppage and contractual disputes with the contractor. The work, which will provide new windows, masonry and terra-cotta tiles specifically produced for the building, is projected to be completed by April 2017. ''(Main Street at North Ferris Street)'' :* Town Hall Theater ''(1902, restored 1979-80)'' - The theater was designed to be a replica of
Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1863. The theater is best known for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box where ...
in Washington, where
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
was
assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
, and when completed in 1902 it was widely thought to be one of the best "opera houses" in the Hudson Valley. For decades the social life of Irvington revolved around the theater, which hosted concerts, recitals, balls, cotillions, graduations,
minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...
s, auditions, political rallies and public meetings.
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
spoke at a Democratic
rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...
just before her husband was elected President in 1932.
Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
singer Lillian Nordica performed there, and Ted Mack auditioned talent for his ''
Original Amateur Hour ''The Original Amateur Hour'' is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of '' Major Bowes Amateur Hour'', which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes, the originator of the program and its ...
'' there as well. However, it gradually fell into disuse and disrepair by the 1960s, being used only for occasional exhibitions and overnight "camping" by the local
Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...
troops. In 1978 concerted citizen action started the ball rolling to completely renovate and revitalize the theater, and it re-opened in 1980, run by Irvington Town Hall Theater, Inc., a non-profit corporation under the auspices of the Town Hall Theater Commission, whose members are appointed by the mayor. Today, the Town Hall Theater presents a wide variety of events, including concerts, plays and musicals – as well as the "Best of Film" series begun in 2007, an "All Shorts" film festival started in 2015, and a Playwright Festival inaugurated in 2017, – in its 432-seat facility. In 2016, the village received community revitalization funding as part of New NY Bridge, which it will use to create a street-level plaza for the theater. As of 2019, the theater's website was using the name "Irvington Theater". In April 2021, the Irvington Shakespeare Company was founded to perform at the theater. ''(Main Street at North Ferris Street)'' *
Villa Lewaro Villa Lewaro, also known as the Madam C.J. Walker estate, is a 34-room mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway ( US 9) in Irvington, New York, 30 miles north of New York City. Entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker commissioned architect V ...
''(1917)'' – Among Irvington's famous residents was Madam C. J. Walker, America's first female millionaire. An
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 ...
woman, she made her fortune by developing a line of hair care products, creating a company with 20,000 sales agents, and by investing in real estate. In 1917, Madam Walker had a $250,000 country home built on Broadway in Irvington, designed by Vertner Woodson Tandy, the first registered African-American architect in New York State. She wanted the home to be an example for her people, "to see what could be accomplished, no matter what their background." The name Villa Lewaro was coined by
Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...
, from the first two letters of each word in Lelia Walker Robinson, the name of her daughter, who later went by the name of
A'Lelia Walker A'Lelia Walker (born Lelia McWilliams; June 6, 1885 – August 17, 1931) was an American businesswoman and patron of the arts. She was the only surviving child of Madam C. J. Walker, who was popularly credited as being the first self-made fem ...
. :Walker inherited the house, and occupied it until her death in 1931, when it was bequeathed to the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
which opted to take the proceeds from the sale of the house rather than assume the cost of taxes and upkeep during the Great Depression. The house became the Annie E. Poth Home, a retirement home for seniors operated by the Companions of the Forest, until the 1970s. The
neo-Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Republic of Venice, Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetr ...
-style
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
still stands today, and is again a private residence. ''Villa Lewaro'' is a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
. ''(North Broadway at Fargo Lane)'' * Wisteria Cottage - This private residence located at 359 Mountain RoadNot #379 as reported in the news.com.au article. There is no house at #379, and the house pictured in the article is #359. in the East Irvington neighborhood, was the place where
Albert Fish Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish (May 19, 1870 – January 16, 1936) was an American serial killer, rapist, child molester and cannibal who committed at least three child murders between July 1924 and June 1928. He was also known as the Gra ...
– who would later serve as the inspiration for the character Hannibal Lecter – murdered and ate 10-year old Grace Budd in 1928. The house was abandoned at the time that Fish brought the child there on the premise that she would be attending his niece's birthday party, but both the niece and the party were inventions. Fish already had a history of molesting and torturing disabled children, and had specifically picked out the house to murder his next victim. The house sold c.2016 for over a million dollars.


Quality of life

In an October 2010 ranking of the "Best Places to Live", ''Westchester Magazine'' listed Irvington as #1 and called it "charming, quiet, green, with a darling Main Street, stunning river views, nda burgeoning dining scene... a great mix." Factors in which Irvington was not highly ranked included "Diversity" and "Property tax", both with a score of four out of ten, and "Housing cost", with a five. In May 2015, the village released a report which indicated that its water supply exceeded the requirements laid down by the State of New York. In November 2016, ''Rivertowns Patch'' rated Irvington 17th among the "30 Safest Places To Live In New York – 2016". Its violent crime rate per 1000 was 0.2, and its property crime rate, also per 1000, was 2.7. Niche.com, a rating and ranking website, listed Irvington as #16 of all New York locations on its list of "Best Suburbs to Live in New York State", one of 28 choices in the Hudson River Valley, although Irvington was not listed among the top 100 in the U.S. Factors considered for the April 2017 list included the quality of the schools, the crime rate, employment, amenities, using data from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the government of the United States, U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics, labor economics and ...
. the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, and the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
. In May 2017, Niche rated Irvington as "A+" in their list of the best and worst places to live in New York. On the other hand, in February 2016 the website ''RoadSnacks'', in an article which made clear that it was "opinion based on fact" and intended as "infotainment", not as serious science, listed Irvington as the third most boring place in New York State, after Briarcliff Manor and Rye Brook in Westchester, and just above Croton-on-Hudson, also in Westchester, and Chestnut Ridge in Rockland. In 2020, during the
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 ...
, when many wealthy New York City residents abandoned the city to move to places which were considered to be safer and less affected by the virus, Irvington was one of the places in Westchester County which showed "a significant increase in sales by New York City residents".


Parks and recreation

As of 2018 about 35% of Irvington's land is undeveloped public land, and, as of 2010, 23 percent of the land in Irvington is set aside for parks and recreation. Three of Irvington's parks, Memorial Park ''(Dows Lane or Station Road)'', Matthiessen Park ''(Bridge Street off Astor Street)'', and Halsey Pond Park, are open only to village residents with a permit, but others are accessible by the general public. The Irvington Parks and Recreation Department is located in the Isabel K. Benjamin Community Center on Main Street. *There are no public golf courses located in Irvington, but the Ardsley Country Club, a private club founded in 1895, is located in Ardsley-on-Hudson, which is part of Irvington. The Ardsley
Curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...
Club is located on the grounds of the country club. *
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 ...
's V. Everit Macy Park is partly located in Irvington, along 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 ...
at the eastern side of the village boundaries. Created in 1926 and originally called "Woodlands Park", it was renamed for the scion of the Macy family, who was Westchester's first commissioner of public welfare and later became a local newspaper baron. The park has three distinct areas with slightly different atmospheres. One part, with an entrance in Ardsley (not Ardsley-on-Hudson) on Saw Mill Road, functions as a local park with ballfields, a playground, public toilets and picnic pavilion. Another, accessible by car only by the northbound lanes of the Saw Mill River Parkway, features the Great Hunger Memorial commemorating the Irish famine of 1845–1852 which drove many Irish immigrants to settle in Westchester. The area also includes Woodlands Lake, with fishing, ice skating, a recently closed restaurant, access to the South County Trailway, and of the former Putnam Division Railroad. The final area is largely undeveloped. A county park permit may be required for some uses of the park. *Irvington Woods Hiking Trails – an extensive network of hiking trails, most of them fairly non-strenuous, criss-crosses the woods between Broadway and the Saw Mill River Parkway. Highlights of the area include the Irvington Reservoir and its associated watershed as well as the Hermit's Grave, the grave of a 19th century immigrant who called the woods his home. ''(trailheads on Cyrus Field Road, Mountain Road, Fieldpoint Road, and East Field near Irvington High School)'' *The Old Croton Trailway State Historic Park and Trail, which runs along the
Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water supply network, water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueduct (water supply), aqueducts, which were among the first in t ...
, traverses the village between Broadway and the Hudson River, and is a popular biking and jogging path. In 2016 the village received funding from the New York State Department of Transportation to improve the trail's crossing of Main Street with input from the New York State Parks Department.Bonvento, Robert. (September 16, 2016
"Irvington at Work"
''River Journal''
''(west of Broadway)'' *Scenic Hudson Park, which is co-owned by the village and the Scenic Hudson Land Trust, is located on the river side of the railroad tracks, not far from the foot of Main Street. Pedestrians can use the underpass at the train station while cars cross the tracks via Bridge Street. The park has ballfields, children's playgrounds, about a mile of flat walking paths, a boat launch and of lawn. In 2016, ''
The Journal News ''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Journal News'' was created through a ...
'' called the park "one of Westchester County's most popular public spaces." ''(Bridge Street at the river)'' *Just south of the village's Matthiessen Park lies the Irvington Boat and Beach Club, a private club founded in the 1950s which is supported by member dues. The club is located off Bridge Street, and lies on land owned by Bridge Street Properties. The club has a pier connected to a floating dock from which members can swim, sunbathe or launch boats and kayaks. In 2017, the club spent $9,000 to shore up six of the pier's pilings. On Friday March 2, 2018, one of 6 runaway construction barges connected to the building of the nearby Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which broke away during a
nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...
with over winds, crashed into the pier, destroying it. The club's Vice Commodore speculated that the barge went upriver during high tide, and came back down during low tide. One of the other barges capsized off of
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 ...
, south of Irvington, while two others ran aground near
Alpine, New Jersey Alpine is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is the List of extreme points of U.S. states, easternmost town in New Jersey. ...
, across the river. The
Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
, assisted by Westchester County Police Marine Unit, intercepted the remaining two barges.


Restaurants

One of the first of the notable restaurants to be founded in Irvington was "Mima Vinoteca" on Main Street, begun by Dana Santucci in 2007. In 2009, ''Westchester Magazine'' named Irvington as the best place for "foodies" to live on the west side of Westchester County, although the article named only two restaurants in the village itself – "Red Hat" and "Chutney Masala" – as well as others in nearby Dobbs Ferry,
Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
and
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 ...
. In May 2012, chef Michael Psilakis opened "MP Taverna" in a space in the former Lord & Burnham warehouses near the river. In 2013, the "Sixty One Bistro" opened at 61 Main Street, and in November 2014, "Wolfert's Roost" – named after the original name of Washington Irving's Sunnyside estate – opened at 100 Main Street with an "exuberant" menu, which includes a 38-ounce steak for $129 that "looks like something
Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintst ...
might have slapped on the grill"; in October 2016 it was announced that it would be closing as a full-time restaurant in favor of catering and occasional "pop up" restaurants. The owner, Eric Korn, was also opening a traditional pizza shop on the same block. Also on Main Street is "La Chinita Poblana", which also opened in 2014, a strong, un-"kitschy" Mexican restaurant decorated with paintings by
Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...
, and "Chutney Masala", a Tandoori restaurant, which moved in 2016 from the Irvington waterfront to 76 Main Street. In October 2016, the owner of "Chutney Masala" opened "Sambal Thai and Malaysian" on Main Street. In addition, Irvington's former New York Central Railroad station house, which was a ticket office from 1889 to 1957, is now, in 2016, with the addition of an outdoor garden, "Brrzaar", a 20-seat café.Turiano, John Bruno (August 2016
"Froyo to Melt For"
''
Westchester Magazine ''Westchester Magazine'', launched in 2001'','' is a magazine and website that covers news, culture, lifestyle, nightlife, shopping, and other local information within Westchester County, New York. It is published monthly by Today Media, LLC, a ...
''
In December 2020, ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'' magazine highlighted the "Irvington Delight Market", a bodega on the corner of South Broadway and Main Street, which specializes in homemade Middle Eastern food, as one of "100 Restaurants America Can't Afford to Lose".


Notable people


Notable past residents

Notable past residents of Irvington include: John Jacob Astor III, the wealthiest man in America at the time; Amzi Lorenzo Barber, the asphalt king;
Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was no ...
, a noted landscape painter; Samuel Colman, a landscape painter of the Hudson River School, lived in Irvington in the 1860s and made a number of paintings featuring the countryside around the village. While there, he had
Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is associated with the art nouveauLander, David"The Buyable ...
as one of his students; Chauncey M. Depew, president of the
New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...
and a
United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
; Composer George Drumm lived in Irvington's Half Moon apartment complex in his later life; Cyrus W. Field, who laid the first
transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is a largely obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and dat ...
, who once owned in the area– now known as Ardsley Park – and whose house "Inanda" – meaning "pleasant place" in Zulu – he built in 1875 for one of his daughter and her husband went on the market in 2016 for $2.95 million., later reduced to $2.85 million; Frank Jay Gould, the philanthropist son of
Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould family, Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the Robber baron (industrialist), robber bar ...
; and Frederick W. Guiteau and David Dows, who made their millions in grain commissions and railroads. James Alexander Hamilton, the son of
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...
and onetime acting secretary of State of New York, had his estate "Nevis" in Irvington. He died there on September 24, 1878. The Reverend
Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Moon Yong-myeong; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the ...
, head of the
Unification Church The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...
, had a residence in Irvington at the time of his death; Lillian Nordica, a noted opera singer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; Charles Lewis Tiffany the founder of Tiffany & Co., whose son,
Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is associated with the art nouveauLander, David"The Buyable ...
, designed the Tiffany glass which can be seen in the clock tower and lighting fixtures in the Town Hall and the
stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
windows in the Presbyterian Church; Madam C. J. Walker (see "Villa Lewaro" in Points of Interest above); and Justine Bayard Cutting Ward, who developed the Ward method of music education. Jazz saxophonist
Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...
lived in Irvington – his estate, "Shadowbrook", is less than a mile from Washington Irving's home, at the intersection of Broadway and West Sunnyside Lane; Getz' ex-wife, Monica still resides in the village (see
below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...
). Stan Getz's contemporary, jazz drummer and bandleader
Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...
(né Melvin Sokoloff) also lived in Irvington.
Silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
and
Broadway theater Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...
actor
William Black William Black may refer to: Politicians * William Black (Ontario politician) (1867–1944), speaker of the Legislature of Ontario and Conservative MLA * William Black (Canadian politician) (1869–1930), Progressive party member of the Canadian Hou ...
was born in Irvington, as was Julianna Rose Mauriello, the star of the children's television series ''
LazyTown ''LazyTown'' () is an Icelandic children's educational musical television series created by aerobics champion Magnús Scheving. Originally produced in English, it has been broadcast in dozens of languages globally. Designed to encourage health ...
''. Actress
Joan Blondell Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on a film career, estab ...
lived in Irvington for a time, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, with her husband – movie producer
Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1907 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, celebrated for his 1956 ''Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy ...
– and Blondell's children, including Norman S. Powell (the adopted son of Dick Powell), who went to Irvington's public schools. In the 1970s, actors Jack Cassidy and
Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...
, who were married, lived for a time in Irvington, along with their son
Shaun Cassidy Shaun Paul Cassidy (born September 27, 1958) is an American singer, actor, writer and producer. He has created and/or produced a number of television series including ''American Gothic (1995 TV series), American Gothic'', ''Roar (1997 TV series ...
– but not
David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical-sitcom ''The Partridge Family''. After completing high school, Cassidy purs ...
, who no longer lived with the family by then. Shaun attended the Irvington Public Schools for a short time. Actress and filmmaker Penny Peyser – whose father, Peter A. Peyser was the mayor of the village for eight years, and later a three-term Congressman – grew up in Irvington and attended the public schools there, graduating in 1969. Ted Mack, for many years the host of '' Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour'' on television, was also a resident, as was actress
Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal; January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. She is well known for, among other roles, playing World WarII widow Helen Benson in ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (195 ...
, who lived in Irvington for a while. Oscar-winning cinematographer
Wally Pfister Walter C. Pfister (born July 8, 1961) is an American director and former cinematographer. He's best known for his partnership with filmmaker Christopher Nolan, working as a cinematographer in all his films from 2000 to 2012, with his work in ...
, noted for his work on ''
Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action heist film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced it with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by inf ...
'' (2010) and
Christopher Nolan Sir Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British and American filmmaker. Known for his Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters with complex storytelling, he is considered a leading filmma ...
's ''
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'' films, was raised in Irvington in the 1960s and 70s, and attended the local schools. The acting couple Debra Winger and Arliss Howard also lived in Irvington. Singer Julius La Rosa lived in Irvington for over 40 years, until November 2015. Poet Lucia Perillo – who received a MacArthur "Genius" grant in 2000, and died of
multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
in 2016 – grew up in Irvington in the 1960s. Historical author Robert K. Massie lived in Irvington for over 50 years, and died there in his home in 2019.


Notable current residents

Irvington is currently home to a number of notable people, including:
Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...
and
Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Recognised for her versatility, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed Comm ...
, who bought a 12-acre estate with a 22-room 8-bedroom Georgian mansion on Fargo Lane in September 2019 for $4.5 million – the property has been described as "arguably the best large track of riverfront property available in Westchester"; professional
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
er Danny Balin, retired TV weatherman Storm Field; designer Eileen Fisher;
Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and Television station, television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's ...
co-founder Monica Getz; jazz musician Bob James; David A. Kaplan, Israeli-American pianist Elisha Abas, journalist and author of ''The Most Dangerous Branch: Inside the Supreme Court's Assault on the Constitution''; Formula 500 race car driver David Lapham, choreographer
Peter Martins Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish former ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and J ...
and former
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
dancer Darci Kistler;
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
newscaster Jon Scott; and television host
Meredith Vieira Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and Celebrity, television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show ''The View (talk show), The View'' (1997–2006), the ...
. As of February 2020, Dan Peres, a memoirist and former high-profile magazine editor, lived in Irvington.


In popular culture

Films and television *The following films include scenes shot in Irvington: *''Trial Run of the Fastest Boat in the World, "The Arrow"'' (1903) *''North by Northwest'' (1959) – passing scenery through window of train *''Shamus (film), Shamus'' (1973) *''The Nesting'' (1981) *''Falling in Love (1984 film), Falling In Love'' (1984) *''This Pretty Planet: Tom Chapin in Concert'' (1992) *''The Age of Innocence (1993 film), The Age of Innocence'' (1993) – Nuits solarium *''The Last Seduction'' (1994) *''The Juror'' (1996) *''The Devil's Own'' (1997) – The Church of St. Barnabas *''Unfaithful (2002 film), Unfaithful'' (2002) – Ardsley-on-Hudson train station *''Cruel to Be Kind'' (short, 2004) *''Peace of Mind'' (short, 2005) *''The Hoax'' (2006) *''Across the Universe (film), Across the Universe'' (2007) *''The Potion'' (short, 2013) *'' The Girl on the Train'' (2016) – Nuits, Station Road tunnel, Arsdley-on-Hudson train station *''Wilde Wedding'' (2017) – Ardsley-on-Hudson train station, Station Road tunnel, Town Hall, Irvington Public Library, and around the Reservoir on Harriman Road *Episodes of the TV programs ''America's Castles'' – "Empire Estates" (1997) – and ''Vetted'' were partly filmed in the village. *The village was also featured in a short comic film by Gary Weis broadcast on the January 17, 1976, episode of ''Saturday Night Live''; it showed Buck Henry looking for Irvington's funniest person. *Irvington was used as the location for a television commercial for the New York State Lottery (c.2009), featuring the character "Little Bit of Luck", and the Ardsley-on-Hudson train station was featured in a commercial for Dr. Pepper. Literature *Part of Clarence Day Jr.'s family memoir ''Life with Father'' (1935), takes place in Irvington when the family lived there.


References

Informational notes Citations Bibliography * * *


External links


Village of Irvington official websiteIrvington Police DepartmentIrvington Volunteer Fire DepartmentIrvington Chamber of CommerceIrvington Union Free School District
Maps and images
Municipal Tax Parcel Viewer (Westchester County)Irvington Woods Trail Map1868 Map of Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington
History
Irvington Historical Society
Media
''The Journal News''
– local daily newspaper
''The Rivertowns Enterprise''
– local weekly newspaper
''The River Journal''
– online newspaper
''The Hudson Independent''
– local monthly newspaper
''Westchester Magazine''
– magazine
''InTown Westchester''
– magazine {{authority control Irvington, New York, Villages in Westchester County, New York New York (state) populated places on the Hudson River Villages in New York (state) Washington Irving