CROTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2.0 CROTON-ON-HUDSON HISTORY AND PREVIOUS PLANNING EFFORTS 2.1 Croton-on-Hudson History Croton-on-Hudson was formally incorporated as a village in the Town of Cortlandt in 1898, but its history begins much earlier than that. Croton-on-Hudson’s colonial-era history dates back to the 17th century, and archaeological evidence indicates that it was populated by Native American Indians as early as 4950 BC. The Kitchawanc tribe, part of the Wappinger Confederacy of the Algonquin Nation, was native to the area and was responsible for several of the place names known in Croton-on-Hudson today. The Kitchawanc called the marsh separating Croton Point from Croton Neck "Senasqua," a name later used for the park further north. Croton itself is believed to be named for the Indian chief of the Kitchawanc tribe, Kenoten, which means "wild wind." A plaque on a rock at Croton Point Park marks the spot where a peace treaty was signed in 1645 between the Dutch and the Kitchawanc, under an old oak tree. More Dutch arrived in the following decades, at first to trade and then, by the 1660s, to settle in the area. In 1677, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who later became the first native-born mayor of New York City, began acquiring land to create a manor and in 1697, a Royal Patent was issued designating the estate as the Manor of Cortlandt. The Village of Croton-on-Hudson thus evolved as an enclave of the Van Cortlandt Manor. Originally known as Croton Landing, its early Dutch residents were involved with agriculture and trade. A 1718 census counted 91 inhabitants in the Manor, including the Dutch settlers and English Quakers, who settled around Mount Airy and the Croton Valley. Many of Croton-on-Hudson’s early settlers were farmers or worked on the mills that were developing along the Croton River. By the 19th century, farming, shipping, ship-building and flour and brick manufacturing had become the predominant industries, along with work on the railroad and construction of the Croton and New Croton Dams and the New Croton Aqueduct. Etching of Croton Bay and environs, circa 1760, by T. Cornu; Source: History of Croton-on-Hudson Van Cortlandt Manor Source: History of Croton-on-Hudson th These major public works projects in the 19 century – the railroad, the dams and the aqueduct - played a pivotal role in shaping Croton-on-Hudson’s demographic development and cemented its importance in the region. The construction of these projects brought an influx of German, Irish and Italian immigrants, who came to work and then settled with their families in the area. The influx of immigrants significantly increased the population of the Village and the surrounding areas so that by the time of its incorporation in 1898, the Village’s population had grown to 1,000 and to over 1,700 in the early 1900s. PAGE 6 CROTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN The advent of the railroad had a tremendous impact on the growth of Croton-on-Hudson and served as an economic engine for northern Westchester. Construction of a rail line to Poughkeepsie via Croton-on-Hudson began in 1846, when Poughkeepsie merchants advocated for an improved link to their city from New York City. In 1903, electric trains began operating out of the old Grand Central Terminal and construction began on a steam terminal at Croton Point where trains would switch over from electric to steam power to continue north past Croton-on-Hudson. Most of the land acquired for the engine terminal was purchased from Clifford Harmon, a real estate developer, who took title to the Van Cortlandt family farm when electrification plans were announced in 1903. He stipulated in the deed to the property to NY Central Railroad that the station on Croton Point must always bear his name, hence the Croton-Harmon Station. Croton Railroad Station, Riverside Avenue, 1849; Source: History of Croton-onHudson The terminal for steam locomotives was completed in 1913, heralding a new era for Croton-on-Hudson as a railroad town. Since the New York Central rail line stopped in Harmon to change engines, it became a destination point for metropolitan area travelers. A shopping district developed around the railroad, creating a railroad village that became a focal point and source of employment in northern Westchester. In addition, once the engine terminal and repair facilities were completed, Croton-on-Hudson became home to many employees of the New York Central railroad. It is unofficially estimated that after World War II, one-third of the paychecks in the Village came from New York Central Railroad. Like the railroad, the construction of the Croton and New Croton Dams and the New Croton Aqueduct played an important role in shaping Croton-on-Hudson’s development. Construction began on the Croton Dam in 1837 after several water crises in New York City made clear the need for a steady supply of potable water. The project provided many jobs for Irish immigrants who had emigrated to escape the potato famines and it