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Westchester County, New York

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Image:Map of New York highlighting Westchester County.png

Westchester County is a suburban county located in the U.S. State of New York. It was named to commemorate Chester, in England. The county seat is White Plains. Although many of its residents are quite wealthy and although Westchester is home to many extremely affluent suburbs of New York City, it also has a more diverse population, both racially and demographically, than its stereotypical image suggests.

Contents

History

Westchester County was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created in 1683. At the time, it also included the present Bronx County, which constituted the Town of Westchester and portions of three other towns: Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham. In 1846, a new town, West Farms, was created by secession from Westchester; in turn, in 1855, the Town of Morrisania seceded from West Farms. In 1873, the Town of Kingsbridge seceded from Yonkers.

In 1874, the western portion of the present Bronx County, consisting of the then towns of Kingsbridge, West Farms, and Morrisania, was transferred to New York County, and in 1895 the remainder of the present Bronx County, consisting of the Town of Westchester and portions of the towns of Eastchester and Pelham, was transferred to New York County. By that time, the portion of the town of Eastchester immediately north of the transferred portion had seceded from the town of Eastchester (1892) to become the City of Mount Vernon so that the Town of Eastchester had no border with New York City. In 1914, those parts of the then New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County were constituted the new Bronx County.

Geography

Westchester County Municipal Boundaries
Enlarge
Westchester County Municipal Boundaries

The county has a total area of 1,295 km² (500 mi²). 1,121 km² (433 mi²) of it is land and 174 km² (67 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 13.45% water.

Westchester County is in the southeastern part of New York State. It is border to the south by the borough of The Bronx in New York City, to the west by the Hudson River, to the east by Connecticut and the Long Island Sound and to the north by Putnam County. The county's terrain is largely composed of rolling hills. The three main river flowing within the county are the Bronx, the Croton and the Saw Mill.

Cities

There are six cities in Westchester County.

Towns and Villages

There are 19 towns in Westchester County. A town may contain zero, one or multiple villages. Three towns are coterminous with the village of the same name. Two villages are split between two towns.

Many towns contain area which does not belong to any village. This area may contain communities referred to as hamlets. Hamlets have no legal status and depend upon the town for government and services. There are also areas called census-designated places (CDPs), which are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. A CDP may or may not correspond to a hamlet.

(The list of towns, villages and CDPs is complete. The listing of additional communities should not be considered complete.)
  • Bedford, containing no villages
    • (contains the CDP of Bedford)
    • (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Bedford Village , Bedford Hills and Katonah)
  • Harrison, coterminous with the village of the same name
  • Lewisboro, containing no villages
    • (contains the CDP of Golden's Bridge)
    • (plus additional area belonging to no village, including the communities of Cross River , Lewisboro, South Salem , Vista and Waccabuc )
  • Mamaroneck, containing two villages:
    • Larchmont
    • Mamaroneck (This village is shared with the Town of Rye.)
    • (plus additional area belonging to no village)
  • New Castle, containing no villages
    • (contains the CDP of Chappaqua)
    • (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the community of Millwood )
  • North Castle, containing no villages
    • (contains the CDP of Armonk )
    • (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the community of Banksville )
  • North Salem, containing no villages
    • (contains the the portion of the CDP of Peach Lake that is not in Putnam County)
    • (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Croton Falls , Purdys and Salem Center )
  • Ossining, containing two villages:
    • Briarcliff Manor (This village is shared with the Town of Mount Pleasant.)
    • Ossining (The village of Ossining is contained within the Town of Ossining.)
    • (plus additional area belonging to no village)
  • Pelham, containing two villages:
    • Pelham (The Village of Pelham is contained within the Town of Pelham.)
    • Pelham Manor
    • (The villages cover the entire area of the town.)
    • (The village of North Pelham existed from 1896 to 1975, when it was merged into the village of Pelham.)
  • Rye (Rye is also the name of a city.), containing three villages:
    • Mamaroneck (This village is shared with the Town of Mamaroneck. The portion in Rye is unofficially also called "Rye Neck".)
    • Port Chester
    • Rye Brook (Prior to 1982, Rye Brook was the area of the town not belonging to any village.)
    • (The villages cover the entire area of the town.)
  • Scarsdale, coterminous with village of same name
  • Somers, containing no villages
    • (contains the CDPs of Heritage Hills, Lincolndale and Shenorock)
    • (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Amawalk , Baldwin Place , Granite Springs , and Somers)

Demographics

As of 2000, there are 923,459 people, 337,142 households, and 235,325 families residing in the county. The population density is 824/km² (2,134/mi²). There are 349,445 housing units at an average density of 312 persons/km² (807 persons/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 71.35% White, 14.20% African American, 0.25% Native American, 4.48% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 6.63% from other races, and 3.05% from two or more races. 15.61% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 337,142 households out of which 34.00% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% are married couples living together, 12.20% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 30.20% are non-families. 25.70% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.30% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.67 and the average family size is 3.21.

In the county the population is spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.00% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 91.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county is $63,582, and the median income for a family is $79,881. Males have a median income of $53,136 versus $39,966 for females. The per capita income for the county is $36,726. 8.80% of the population and 6.40% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 11.00% are under the age of 18 and 7.60% are 65 or older.

Attractions

  • Westchester County owns and operates the Playland amusement park in Rye, America's only government owned and operated amusement park.

See also

External links


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Last updated: 10-24-2004 05:10:45