This history of Westchester County, New York, from the time of European settlement to the present, examines four centuries of development in an iconic region that became the archetypal American suburb. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, the author uncovers a complex and often surprising narrative of slavery, anti–Semitism, immigration, Jim Crow, silent film stars, suffragettes, gangland violence, political riots, eccentric millionaires, industry and aviation, man-made disasters and assassinations.

Robert Marchant is a staff reporter at Hearst Media in southern Connecticut and the Greenwich Time daily newspaper. He lives in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.

Robert Marchant

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 255
Bibliographic Info: 59 photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7324-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3390-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction 1
1. Uneasy Neighbors: The Lenapes, the Dutch and the Fight for Survival 5
2. Slavery’s Legacy and Westchester at War 15
3. Old Weird America, the Suburban Ideal and the Civil War 29
4. Immigration, Industry and the Great War 57
5. From the Bronx River Parkway to a River of Beer: Car Culture, Ward’s Plan and Prohibition Crime 75
6. American Pursuits: Playland, the Movies and Civil Unrest 96
7. Highs and Lows: Fearless Flyers, the Depression, Career Criminals and Marijuana 118
8. The Segregated Suburbs: Racial Discrimination and the Threat from Political Extremes 142
9. World War II, Prosperity and Paranoia 151
10. Westchester in the Television Age: Bonnie Meadow Road to Desegregation 176
11. The Age of Dissent: The Environmental Movement, Radical Chic and the Moonies 191
12. Triumph and Transformation: Renewed Immigration, the Housing Boom and Deindustrialization 208
Chapter Notes 227
Bibliography 240
Index 245