Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is a city in Westchester County, New York. It is the fourth most populous city in the U. S. state of New York, behind New York City and Rochester. The population of Yonkers was 195,976 as enumerated in the 2010 United States Census and is estimated to have increased by 2.5% to 200,807 in 2016. It is an inner suburb of New York City, directly to the north of the Bronx and two miles north of the northernmost point in Manhattan. Yonkers' downtown is centered on a plaza known as Getty Square, where the municipal government is located; the downtown area houses significant local businesses and non-profits, serves as a major retail hub for Yonkers and the northwest Bronx. The city is home including Untermyer Park. Major shopping areas are located in Getty Square, on South Broadway, at the Cross County Shopping Center and Westchester's Ridge Hill, along Central Park Avenue, informally called "Central Ave" by area residents, a name it takes a few miles north in White Plains. Yonkers is known as the "City of Seven Hills" which includes Park Hill, Nodine Hill, Ridge Hill, Cross Hill, Locust Hill, Glen Hill, Church Hill.
The land on which the city is built was once part of a 24,000-acre land grant called Colen Donck that ran from the current Manhattan-Bronx border at Marble Hill northwards for 12 miles, from the Hudson River eastwards to the Bronx River. In July 1645, this area was granted to the patroon of Colendonck. Van der Donck was known locally as the Jonkheer or Jonker, a word from which the name "Yonkers" is directly derived. Van der Donck built a saw mill near. Van der Donck was killed in the Peach War, his wife, Mary Doughty, was taken ransomed later. Near the site of van der Donck's mill is Philipse Manor Hall, a Colonial-era manor house which today serves as a museum and archive, offering many glimpses into life before the American Revolution; the original structure was built around 1682 by Frederick Philipse and his wife Margaret Hardenbroeck. Frederick was a wealthy Dutchman who by the time of his death had amassed an enormous estate, which encompassed the entire modern City of Yonkers, as well as several other Hudson River towns.
Philipse's great-grandson, Frederick Philipse III, was a prominent Loyalist during the American Revolution, because of his political leanings, was forced to flee to England. All the lands that belonged to the Philipse family were sold. For its first two hundred years, Yonkers was a small farming town with an active industrial waterfront. Yonkers's growth rested on developing industry. In 1853, Elisha Otis invented the first safety elevator and the Otis Elevator Company, opened the first elevator factory in the world on the banks of the Hudson near what is now Vark Street, it relocated to larger quarters in the 1880s. Around the same time, the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company expanded to 45 buildings, 800 looms, over 4,000 workers and was known as one of the premier carpet producing centers in the world; the community was incorporated as a village in the northern part of the Town of Yonkers in 1854 and as a city in 1872. In 1874 the southern part of Yonkers, including Kingsbridge and Riverdale, was annexed by New York City as The Bronx.
In 1898, Yonkers voted on a referendum to determine. While the results were positive elsewhere, the returns were so negative in Yonkers and neighboring Mount Vernon that those two areas were not included in the consolidated city, remained independent. Still, some residents call the city "the Sixth Borough" referring to its location on the New York City border, its urban character, the failed merger vote. During the American Civil War, two hundred fifty-four Yonkers resident joined the Navy, they enlisted in four different regiments. These included the 6th New York Heavy Artillery, the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, the 17th New York Volunteers, the 15th NY National Guard. During the New York City Draft Riots, Yonkers formed the Home Guards; this force of constables was formed to protect Yonkers for rioting, feared to spread from New York City, which for Yonkers residents it never did. In total, seventeen Yonkers residents were killed during the Civil War; the New York City and Northern Railway Company connected Yonkers to Manhattan and points north from 1888.
A three-mile spur to Getty Square existed until 1943. Aside from being a manufacturing center, Yonkers played a key role in the development of entertainment in the United States. In 1888, Scottish-born John Reid founded the first golf course in the United States, St. Andrew's Golf Club, in Yonkers. Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic, was invented in Yonkers circa 1906 by Leo Baekeland, manufactured there until the late 1920s. Today, two of the former Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company loft buildings located at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue have been repurposed to house the YoHo Artist Community, a collective group of talented artists that works out of private studi
New York's 23rd congressional district
The 23rd Congressional District of New York extends along New York's border with Pennsylvania from the shores of Lake Erie in Chautauqua County to the suburbs of Binghamton in Tioga County. It includes three of the eleven Finger Lakes: Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake; the district comprises eleven counties: Allegany, Chautauqua, Schuyler, Steuben and Yates county along with parts of Ontario, Tioga counties. The largest cities in the predominantly rural district are Jamestown and Ithaca, its largest individual employers are Corning Incorporated in Corning and Cornell University in Ithaca. Democrat Tracy Mitrano challenged Republican incumbent Tom Reed in the Nov 2018 election. Congressman Tom Reed won reelection on Nov 2018, retaining his seat for a fourth term. Reed's 8.4% margin of victory was his smallest since his first election in 2012. 1913–1919 Parts of Manhattan 1919–1969 Parts of The Bronx 1969–1971 Parts of The Bronx, Manhattan 1971–1973 Parts of The Bronx 1973–1983 Parts of The Bronx, Westchester 1983–1993 All of Albany, Schenectady Parts of Montgomery, Rensselaer 1993–2003 All of Chenango, Oneida, Otsego Parts of Broome, Herkimer, Schoharie 2003–2013 All of Clinton, Hamilton, Lewis, Oswego, St. Lawrence Parts of Essex, Oneida 2013–present All of Allegany, Chautauqua, Schuyler, Steuben, Yates Parts of Ontario, TiogaVarious New York districts have been numbered "23" over the years, including areas in New York City and various parts of upstate New York.
From 1833 to 1843, two seats were elected on a general ticket. In New York, there are numerous minor parties at various points on the political spectrum. Certain parties endorse either the Republican or Democratic candidate for every office, hence the state electoral results contain both the party votes, the final candidate votes. Scozzafava endorsed Democrat Bill Owens; the results were not certified by the New York State Board of Elections until December 15, 2009. List of United States congressional districts New York's congressional districts United States congressional delegations from New York Martis, Kenneth C.. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Martis, Kenneth C.. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present Election results via Clerk.house.gov: 1996 House election data, via Clerk of the House of Representatives 1998 House election data 2000 House election data 2002 House election data 2004 House election data
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they compose the legislature of the United States; the composition of the House is established by Article One of the United States Constitution. The House is composed of Representatives who sit in congressional districts that are allocated to each of the 50 states on a basis of population as measured by the U. S. Census, with each district entitled to one representative. Since its inception in 1789, all Representatives have been directly elected; the total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435. As of the 2010 Census, the largest delegation is that of California, with fifty-three representatives. Seven states have only one representative: Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming; the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration.
In addition to this basic power, the House has certain exclusive powers, among them the power to initiate all bills related to revenue. The House meets in the south wing of the United States Capitol; the presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, elected by the members thereof. The Speaker and other floor leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conference, depending on whichever party has more voting members. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a unicameral body in which each state was represented, in which each state had a veto over most action. After eight years of a more limited confederal government under the Articles, numerous political leaders such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton initiated the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which received the Confederation Congress's sanction to "amend the Articles of Confederation". All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates; the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention.
Edmund Randolph's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral Congress: the lower house would be "of the people", elected directly by the people of the United States and representing public opinion, a more deliberative upper house, elected by the lower house, that would represent the individual states, would be less susceptible to variations of mass sentiment. The House is referred to as the lower house, with the Senate being the upper house, although the United States Constitution does not use that terminology. Both houses' approval is necessary for the passage of legislation; the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, favored the New Jersey Plan, which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states; the Convention reached the Connecticut Compromise or Great Compromise, under which one house of Congress would provide representation proportional to each state's population, whereas the other would provide equal representation amongst the states.
The Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4, 1789. The House began work on April 1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time. During the first half of the 19th century, the House was in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery; the North was much more populous than the South, therefore dominated the House of Representatives. However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery. One example of a provision supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, which began soon after several southern states attempted to secede from the Union; the war culminated in the abolition of slavery. All southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, therefore the Senate did not hold the balance of power between North and South during the war.
The years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Union's victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877; the Democratic Party and Republican Party each held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a dramatic increase in the power of the Speaker of the House; the rise of the Speaker's influence began in the 1890s, during the tenure of Republican Thomas Brackett Reed. "Czar Reed", as he was nicknamed, attempted to put into effect his view that "The best system is to have one party govern and the other party watch." The leadership structure of the House developed during the same period, with the positions of Majority Leader and Minority Leader being created in 1899. While the Minority Leader
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is the eighth-largest city in the U. S. state of Louisiana. It is the parish seat of Ouachita Parish. In the official 2010 census, Monroe had a population of 48,815; the municipal population declined by 8.1 percent over the past decade. After a recheck in 2012, the Census Bureau changed the 2010 population from 48,815 to 49,147. Mayor Jamie Mayo, maintains that the Monroe population is more than 50,000 and indicated that he will pursue a continued challenge to the count. Monroe is the principal city of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the parishes of Ouachita and Union; the two-parish area had a total population of 170,053 in 2000 and an estimated population of 172,275 as of July 1, 2007. The larger Monroe-Bastrop Combined Statistical Area is composed of both the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Bastrop Micropolitan Statistical Area; the CSA had a population of 201,074 in 2000. Monroe and the neighboring city of West Monroe, located just across the Ouachita River, are referred to as the Twin Cities of northeast Louisiana.
The settlement known as Fort Miro adopted the name Monroe, during the first half of the 19th century, in recognition of the steam-powered paddle-wheeler James Monroe. The arrival of the ship had a profound effect on the settlers; the ship is depicted in a mural at the main branch of the Monroe Library on North 18th Street. Therefore, credit is indirectly given to James Monroe of Virginia, the fifth President of the United States, for whom the ship was named. During the American Civil War and Opelousas, the seat of St. Landry Parish in south Louisiana, had Confederate training camps, they were established after the fall of New Orleans to the Union in 1862. Conscripts were soon sent to both camps. In 1862, Monroe and Delhi in Richland Parish became overcrowded with unwelcome refugees from rural areas to the east, they had fled the forces of Union General U. S. Grant, who moved into northeastern Louisiana and spent the winter of 1862–1863 at Winter Quarters south of Newellton in Tensas Parish, he was preparing for the siege of Vicksburg, not completed until July 4, 1863.
Historian John D. Winters reported "strong Union sympathy" in both Monroe; as the refugees moved farther west toward Minden in Webster Parish, many of the residents, themselves poor, refused to sell them food or shelter and treated them with contempt. Union boats came up the Ouachita River to Monroe to trade coffee, dry goods, money for cotton. "Confederate officers were accused by a citizen of encouraging the trade and of fraternizing with the enemy, eating their oysters, drinking their liquor." As the war continued and stragglers about Monroe became "so plentiful that the Union Army sent a special detachment" from Alexandria to apprehend them. In 1913, Joseph A. Biedenharn, the first bottler of Coca-Cola, moved to Monroe from Vicksburg, Mississippi; until Biedenharn's breakthrough, Coca-Cola had been available only when individually mixed at the soda fountain. Biedenharn and his son Malcolm were among the founders of Delta Air Lines Delta Dusters; that company was founded in Louisiana in Madison Parish.
It was based on products and processes developed by the Agriculture Experimental Station to dust crops from airplanes in order to combat the boll weevil, destroying cotton crops. Biedenharn's home and gardens at 2006 Riverside Drive in Monroe have been preserved and are now operated as the Biedenharn Museum and Gardens and are open to the public. Collett E. Woolman, the Ouachita Parish agent, was from Indiana, he pioneered crop dusting to eradicate the boll weevil, which destroyed cotton throughout the Mississippi River delta country in the early 20th century. Woolman originated the first crop-dusting service in the world; the collapse of cotton production meant a widespread loss of farm jobs. This contributed to the Great Migration of the early 20th century, when a total of 1.5 million African Americans left the rural South for jobs in northern and midwestern cities. They were escaping the oppressive racial conditions and violence under Jim Crow and the disenfranchisement that excluded most blacks from the political system.
Howard D. Griffin purchased a boat dealership in 1936 while he was a student at what became the University of Louisiana at Monroe. By the 1960s, Griffin's company had become the largest outboard motor dealership in the world, he sold motorcycles. From 1965 to 1985, Griffin and his wife, Birdie M. Griffin, operated their seasonal Land O' Toys store on South Grand Street in Monroe; the motto was "Land O' Toys. Once Christmas was over, the toy store was phased out, the outboard motors returned to the showroom. From her childhood memories, Sherry Lynn Mason recalls the Land O' Toys: "I loved that store; every time took me there, we were waiting for his outboard motor to be fixed across the street. It was a magical place to me!" Amy Berry Baker recalls, "It wasn't Christmas until we went to Howard Griffin... magical for kids," according to an article in The Monroe News-Star. Mrs. Griffin died December 15, 1985, the store close permanently a few days after Christmas of that year. In March 2011, the remaining abandoned building burned.
All that remains are the memories of the former customers, now all adults. Cheri Chadduck recalled, "Memories are magical, I am so grateful for my childhood recollections of time there." Monroe has an elevation of 72 feet. Ac
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st Vice President of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the 49th Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. He served as assistant secretary of State for American Republic Affairs for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman as well as under secretary of Health and Welfare under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1954. A member of the wealthy Rockefeller family, he was a noted art collector and served as administrator of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York. Rockefeller was a Republican, considered to be liberal, progressive, or moderate. In an agreement, termed the Treaty of Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller persuaded then-Vice President Richard Nixon to alter the Republican Party platform just before the 1960 Republican Convention. In his time, liberals in the Republican Party were called "Rockefeller Republicans"; as Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973, Rockefeller's achievements included the expansion of the State University of New York, efforts to protect the environment, the construction of the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany, increased facilities and personnel for medical care, the creation of the New York State Council on the Arts.
After unsuccessfully seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, 1968, Rockefeller served as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald R. Ford, who ascended to the presidency following the August 1974 resignation of Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal. Rockefeller was the second vice president appointed to the position under the 25th Amendment, following Ford himself. Rockefeller decided not to join the 1976 Republican ticket with Ford, which went to Bob Dole, he died two years later. As a businessman, Rockefeller was president and chair of Rockefeller Center, Inc. and he formed the International Basic Economy Corporation in 1947. Rockefeller promoted public access to the arts, he served as trustee and president of the Museum of Modern Art, founded the Museum of Primitive Art in 1954. In the area of philanthropy, he founded the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1940 with his four brothers and established the American International Association for Economic and Social Development in 1946.
Rockefeller was born on July 1908, in Bar Harbor, Maine. He was the second son of financier and philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and philanthropist and socialite Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich. He had two older siblings—Abby and John III—as well as three younger brothers: Laurance and David, their father, John Jr. was the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John Davison Rockefeller Sr. and schoolteacher Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman. Their mother, was a daughter of Senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich and Abigail Pearce Truman "Abby" Chapman. Rockefeller received his elementary and high school education at the Lincoln School in New York City, an experimental school administered by Teachers College of Columbia University. In 1930 he graduated cum laude with an A. B. degree in economics from Dartmouth College, where he was a member of Casque and Gauntlet, Phi Beta Kappa, the Zeta chapter of the Psi Upsilon. Following his graduation, he worked in a number of family-related businesses, including Chase National Bank.
From 1932 to 1979 he served as a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art, where he served as treasurer, 1935–39, president, 1939–41 and 1946–53. He and his four brothers established the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a philanthropy, in 1940, where he served as trustee, 1940–75 and 1977–79, as president in 1956. Rockefeller was a patient of famous psychic Edgar Cayce. Rockefeller served as a member of the Westchester County Board of Health, 1933–53, his service with Creole Petroleum led to his lifelong interest in Latin America. He became fluent in the Spanish language. In 1940, after he expressed his concern to President Franklin D. Roosevelt over Nazi influence in Latin America, the President appointed him to the new position of Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs in the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. Rockefeller was charged with overseeing a program of U. S. cooperation with the nations of Latin America to help raise the standard of living, to achieve better relations among the nations of the western hemisphere, to counter rising Nazi influence in the region.
He facilitated this form of cultural diplomacy by collaborating with the Director of Latin American Relations at the CBS radio network Edmund A. Chester; the Roosevelt administration encouraged Hollywood to produce films to encourage positive relations with Latin America. Rockefeller required changes in the movie Down Argentine Way because it was considered offensive to Argentines, it was much more popular in the United States than in Latin America. Charlie Chaplin's satirical The Great Dictator was banned in several countries. In the spring of 1943, Rockefeller supported extensive negotiations and mission of North American members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce to Latin America as Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs of the US' State Department, establishing the Junior Chamber International after its first Inter-American Congress in December 1944 at Mexico City. After coming back from the Inter-American Congress, Nelson Rockefeller convinced his father, John D. Rockefeller
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is the county seat and commercial hub of Westchester, a suburban county just north of New York City, home to one million people. White Plains is located in south-central Westchester, with its downtown 25 miles north of Midtown Manhattan; as of 2013, the city's total population was estimated to be 57,866, up from 53,077 at the 2010 census. According to the city government, the daytime weekday population is estimated at 250,000; the city was ranked third in the top 10 places to live in New York for 2014, according to national online real estate brokerage Movoto. At the time of the Dutch settlement of Manhattan in the early 17th century, the region had been used as farmland by the Weckquaeskeck tribe, a Wappinger people, was called "Quarropas". To early traders it was known as "the White Plains", either from the groves of white balsam which are said to have covered it, or from the heavy mist that local tradition suggests hovered over the swamplands near the Bronx River.
The first non-native settlement came in November 1683, when a party of Connecticut Puritans moved westward from an earlier settlement in Rye and bought about 4,400 acres from the Weckquaeskeck. However, John Richbell of Mamaroneck claimed to have earlier title to much of the territory through his purchase of a far larger plot extending 20 miles inland from a different tribe; the matter wasn't settled until 1721, when a Royal Patent for White Plains was granted by King George II. In 1758, White Plains became the seat of Westchester County when the colonial government for the county left West Chester, located in what is now the northern part of the borough of the Bronx, in New York City; the unincorporated village remained part of the Town of Rye until 1788 when the town of White Plains was created. On July 9, 1776, a copy of the Declaration of Independence was delivered to the New York Provincial Congress, meeting in the county courthouse; the delegates adopted a resolution approving the Declaration, thus declaring both the colony's independence and the formation of the State of New York.
The Declaration itself was first publicly read from the steps of the courthouse on July 11. During September and October 1776, troops led by George Washington took up positions in the hills of the village, hotly pursued by the British under General Sir William Howe, who attacked on October 28; the Battle of White Plains took place on Chatterton Hill, the Bronx River. Howe's force of 4,000–6,000 British and Hessian soldiers required three attacks before the Continentals, numbering about 1,600 under the command of Generals Alexander McDougall and Israel Putnam, joining Washington's main force, which did not take part in the battle. Howe's forces had suffered 250 casualties, a severe loss, he made no attempt to pursue the Continentals, whose casualties were about 125 dead and wounded. Three days after the battle Washington withdrew north of the village, this was occupied by Howe's forces, but after several inconclusive skirmishes over the next week Howe withdrew on November 5, leaving White Plains to the Continentals.
One of Washington's subordinates, Major John Austin, drunk after having celebrated the enemy's withdrawal, reentered the village with his detachment and proceeded to burn it down. Although he was court-martialed and convicted for this action, he escaped punishment; the first United States Census, conducted in 1790, listed the White Plains population at 505, of whom 46 were slaves. By 1800, the population stood at 575 and in 1830, 830. By 1870, 26 years after the arrival of the New York Central Railroad, it had swollen to 2,630 and by 1890 to 4,508. In the decades that followed the count grew to 7,899 and 26,425. White Plains was incorporated as a village in 1866 and as a city in 1916. Following World War II, White Plains' downtown area developed into what amounted to a "destination" shopping district featuring branch stores of many famous New York-based department and specialty stores; some of these retail locations were the first large-scale suburban stores built in the United States and ushered in the eventual post-war building boom.
Construction of nearby parkways and expressways in the 1940s through the 1970s only enhanced White Plains' role as a retail location. With a city opening ceremony, Macy's launched a grand White Plains store on Main Street across from City Hall in 1949; as the mayor said at the time, this was a significant event in the life of White Plains. Other prestigious stores followed, such as B. Altman & Co. Rogers Peet, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Alexander's, a short-lived branch of Bergdorf Goodman, converted to sister chain Neiman Marcus in 1981. White Plains is still a huge retail destination in the area with Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom Rack, Macy's, Burlington Coat Factory, over 1000 other small and mid-size stores in four malls. During the late 1960s, the city of White Plains developed an extensive urban renewal plan for residential and mixed-use redevelopment that called for the demolition of its entire central business district from the Bronx River Parkway east to Mamaroneck Avenue.
By 1978, the urban renewal program centered around the construction of the Westchester County Courthouse, the Westchester One office building, the Galleria at White Plains mall, a number of other office towers, retail centers and smaller commercial buildings. At the time of its construction, the West
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U. S. state of New York, part of the New York City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county's population, as of the 2010 census, was 311,687, increasing by 5.5% to a 2017 Census estimate of 328,868, making it the third-most densely populated county outside New York City within New York State. The county seat is New City. Rockland County is a suburb of New York City that borders the boroughs about 9 miles northwest of the city at their closest points, is accessible via the New York State Thruway, after 10 exits; the name derives from "rocky land". Rockland County is the smallest county by area in New York State outside New York City, it comprises five towns and nineteen incorporated villages, with numerous unincorporated villages and hamlets. Rockland County is designated as a Preserve America Community, one-third of the county is parkland; the county has the largest Jewish population per capita of any U. S. county, with 90,000 residents, being Jewish.
Rockland ranks 9th on the list of highest-income counties by median household income in the United States with $75,306 according to the 2000 census. In 2015, Suffern was named as the best place to start a business in New York by NerdWallet. NerdWallet included the villages of Haverstraw, West Haverstraw and Spring Valley in their report; the area that would become Rockland County was inhabited by Algonquian-speaking Aboriginals, including Munsees, or Lenni Lenape. In 1609, Henry Hudson, thinking he had found the legendary "Northwest Passage", sailed on the Half Moon up the river that would one day bear his name and anchored near the area, now Haverstraw before continuing to disillusionment north of Albany; the Dutch were the first Europeans to settle in the area, around 1675. These settlers, eager to escape "city life", moved from Manhattan to Rockland. A number of unique Dutch-style red sandstone houses still stand, many place names in the county reveal their Dutch origin; when the Duke of York established the first twelve counties of New York in 1683, present-day Rockland County was part of Orange County, known as "Orange County South of the Mountains".
Orangetown was created at the same time under a royal grant encompassing all of modern Rockland County. Around this time, as the English began to colonize Nyack and Tappan, the Native Americans began to leave Rockland in search of undisturbed land further north; the natural barrier of the Ramapo Mountains and the size of the county made it difficult to carry out governmental activities. At one point there were one on each side of the Ramapo Mountains. For this reason, Rockland split off from Orange in 1798 to form its own county; that same year the county seat was transferred from Tappan to New City, where a new courthouse was built. Haverstraw was separated from Orangetown in 1719 and became a town in 1788. Clarkstown and Ramapo became towns in 1791, followed by Stony Point in 1865. During the American Revolution, when control of the Hudson River was viewed by the British as strategic to dominating the American territories, Rockland saw skirmishes at Haverstraw and Piermont, significant military engagements at the Battle of Stony Point, where General "Mad" Anthony Wayne earned his nickname.
George Washington had headquarters for a time at John Suffern's tavern, the site of the village of Suffern. British Major John André met with American traitor Benedict Arnold near Stony Point to buy the plans for the fortifications at West Point. André was captured with the plans in Tarrytown on his way back to the British lines. Still another important chapter in the story of the Revolution was written on May 5, 1783, when General Washington received Sir Guy Carleton at the DeWint House, where they discussed the terms of the peace treaty. Two days Washington visited Sir Guy aboard a British war vessel. On this day the King's Navy fired its first salute to the flag of the United States of America. In the decades following the Revolution, Rockland became popular for its stone and bricks; these products, required quarrying in land that many believed should be set aside as a preserve. Many unsuccessful efforts were made to turn much of the Hudson Highlands on the northern tip of the county into a forest preserve.
However, Union Pacific Railroad president E. H. Harriman donated land as well as large sums of money for the purchase of properties in the area of Bear Mountain. Bear Mountain/Harriman State Park became a reality in 1910, by 1914 it was estimated that more than a million people a year were coming to the park. Rockland remained semi-rural until the 1950s when the Palisades Interstate Parkway, Tappan Zee Bridge, other major arteries were built; the idea of suburbia helped transform the county. The county's population flourished, from 89,276 in 1950 to 265,475 in 1990. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 199 square miles, of which 174 square miles is land and 26 square miles is water, it is the smallest county in the state outside New York City. Rockland County lies just north of the New Jersey-New York border, west of Westchester County across the Hudson River, south of Orange County; the county's elevations range from 1,283 feet atop Rockhouse Mountain to sea level along the Hudson River.
30% of Rockland County is devoted to parkland, belonging to e
