Pleasantville, New York

Coordinates: 41°8′11″N 73°47′15″W / 41.13639°N 73.78750°W / 41.13639; -73.78750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Pleasantville, New York
Village
Gazebo near train station
Gazebo near train station
UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
10570-10572
Area code914
FIPS code36-58728
GNIS ID96074
Websitewww.pleasantville-ny.gov

Pleasantville is a

village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located 30 miles north of Manhattan. The village population was 7,513 at the 2020 census.[2] Pleasantville is home to the secondary campus of Pace University and to the Jacob Burns Film Center. Most of Pleasantville is served by the Pleasantville Union Free School District, with small parts of northern Pleasantville served by the Chappaqua Central School District. The village is also home to the Bedford Road School, Pleasantville Middle School, and Pleasantville High School
. The region of Pleasantville commonly referred to as "The Flats" is mostly served by the Mount Pleasant Central School district.

History

The Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville

The settlement of Pleasantville dates back to the Rechgawawank and Sinsink tribes, belonging to the

Huguenot Isaac See[nb 1] settled here as an agent for Dutch landowner Frederick Philipse in 1695, beginning the modern settler-colonial history of Pleasantville.[6][7]

By the time of the

Fort Clinton (West Point) to the British in New York City. André lost his bearings near the present-day corner of Bedford Road and Choate Lane and was captured in Tarrytown, New York. The capture of André is often cited as a key factor in the ultimate victory of the American forces.[7][8][9]

As the area's population grew in the early 19th century, the settlement was called Clark's Corners, referring to property owned by Henry Clark at the intersection of Broadway and Bedford Road. This area was the village's original commercial center. In the 1820s, the newly appointed postmaster, Henry Romer, was directed by the Postmaster General's office in Washington, D.C., to give a name to the post office planned here. Romer's proposed name, Clarksville, was rejected because another New York post office already had the name. His second choice, Pleasantville, was accepted, and the Pleasantville Post Office opened on February 29, 1828.[10][11]

A significant change in the development of Pleasantville came with the arrival of the

Westchester County were forced to rely on rides from Marc Damon, now famous in Pleasantville for being "The Friendly Coachman".[8][12][13][14]

According to several sources,[15] Pleasantville was a stop on the Underground Railroad, a network of safe houses for escaped slaves from the South on their way to freedom in the north.[16]

The latter half of the 19th century was a time of rapid growth in Pleasantville. By the 1870s, there were four shoemaking businesses, a shirtmaking business, and a pickle factory. The first newspaper to serve the village, The Pleasantville Pioneer, was launched at about 1886. The village's numerous small farms and orchards began to be subdivided for a wave of solid foursquare and Victorian houses built for a growing middle class. The 1890s saw the establishment of a police department, volunteer fire department, and a library system. Pleasantville was incorporated as a village on March 16, 1897.[17][18]

In the following years, Pleasantville quickly developed into a modern suburb of New York, with a large number of workers commuting between the village and the metropolis on what is now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line. During the first two decades of the 20th century, roads were paved for the first time, water mains were installed, and electrical wires brought power to the village's houses. Other improvements during the first half of the 20th century include the construction of Soldiers and Sailors Field in 1909, the Saw Mill River Parkway in 1924, the Rome Theater in 1925, Memorial Plaza in 1930, Parkway Field in 1930, and Nannahagen Park in 1937 (the adjacent village pool was completed two years later). By the time of World War II, the village had taken on the appearance that it bears today.[19][20][21]

Pleasantville merits interest for its literary history. Playwright

Village Hall at Bedford Road and Wheeler Avenue and, diagonally opposite, the bank building currently occupied by Chase. Reader's Digest moved its headquarters to nearby Chappaqua in 1939, but retained its Pleasantville post office box, thus making the name of the village familiar to millions of Reader's Digest subscribers around the world. Pleasantville is also the home of Joseph Wallace, writer of the novel Diamond Ruby. Today Pleasantville is home to many novelists, editors, and writers, who find its easygoing charm and proximity to New York an attractive combination.[23][24][25]

Pleasantville Firefighters' Parade, 2014

Pleasantville's reputation as a cultural center was enhanced in 2001 with the opening of the nonprofit

Spanish mission-style building and one of the first movie theaters in Westchester County. The Burns Center is dedicated to presenting independent, documentary, and world cinema. Guest speakers at the Burns Center have included Jerry Lewis, Woody Allen, Jonathan Demme, Robert Klein, Oliver Stone, Stephen King, Rob Lowe
and numerous other notable filmmakers and actors.

Local birthday boy, Dan Ried

Usonia Homes, a neighborhood of 50 houses spread among 100 acres (0.40 km2) of wooded hillside, was started in 1948. Three houses were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.[26]

Pleasantville is home to the Westchester Table Tennis Center, where over 250 members compete, practice and train for various tournaments, and now, many are even training to become olympic athletes. The Captain Lawrence Brewing Company's first brewing location was in Pleasantville.

Another addition to Pleasantville's cultural scene is the Pleasantville Music Festival, made possible by the village, over 150 volunteers and WXPK, an all-day outdoor event stage at Parkway Field on the second Saturday in July. Main stage acts have included Roger McGuinn, The Bacon Brothers, Rusted Root, Jakob Dylan, Dar Williams, Carney, Back Door Slam, Marc Cohn, Augustana, Z.Z Ward, and Joan Osborne.

Pleasantville is also home to the Pleasantville Farmers Market. Started in 1998 as one of the first markets in Westchester with a goal of breathing life into a struggling downtown, the Saturday morning market is now the largest year-round farmers market in Westchester County, attracting upwards of 3,500 people a week to shop from about 60 vendors of locally grown and produced food. The market is run by volunteers in the community as a non-profit, and it has won the readers' choice "Best of Westchester" award from Westchester Magazine for eight consecutive years, since 2014.

From 1975 to 1987, Pleasantville was home to the New York Giants Training Camp. Each summer the Giants would hold their off-season workouts and Training Camp at the Pace University Pleasantville Campus. During their time at Pleasantville, thousands would flock to camp. During their stay in Pleasantville many businesses benefited from the influx of people and many of the players would be seen at many of the restaurants and delicatessens in town.[27]

Pleasantville is also the only place in America to have hosted a royal wedding, between Estelle Bernadotte and Count Folke Bernadotte, a duke of Sweden who rejected his claim to the crown.

The Marmaduke Forster House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.[28]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2), all land.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
19001,204—
19102,20783.3%
19203,59062.7%
19304,54026.5%
19404,454−1.9%
19504,8619.1%
19605,87720.9%
19707,11021.0%
19806,749−5.1%
19906,592−2.3%
20007,1728.8%
20107,019−2.1%
20207,5137.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[29]

As of the

Latino
of any race were 18.3% of the population.

There were 2,637 households, out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 28.5% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $86,632, and the median income for a family was $105,227. Males had a median income of $62,344 versus $47,978 for females. The

poverty line
, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Notes

  1. ^ Sometimes spelled "Sie".

References

  1. ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  2. ^ "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Pleasantville village, New York". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  3. ^ "The First People of the River". Riverkeeper. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  4. ^
    JSTOR 1185990
    .
  5. ^ "Our Tribal History..." nanticoke-lenape.info. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  6. ^ Corcoran, Dennis J. Pleasantville—300 Years: From Manor to Suburb, 1695-1995. Village of Pleasantville, publisher, 1995, pp. 1, 2, 3.
  7. ^ a b Crandall, John E. "A Village Between". Reader's Digest, 1971, p. 1
  8. ^ a b Corcoran, Dennis J. Pleasantville—300 Years: From Manor to Suburb, 1695-1995. Village of Pleasantville, publisher, 1995, pp. 11-13
  9. ^ Horne, Philip F. "Mount Pleasant: The History of a New York Suburb and Its People". self-published, copy on file at Mount Pleasant Library, Pleasantville branch, 1971, pp. 17-18
  10. ^ Corcoran, Dennis J. Pleasantville—300 Years: From Manor to Suburb, 1695-1995. Village of Pleasantville, publisher, 1995, pp. 20-21, 26
  11. ^ Crandall, John E. "A Village Between". Reader's Digest, publisher, 1971, p. 4
  12. ^ Crandall, John E. "A Village Between". Reader's Digest, publisher, 1971, p. 5
  13. ^ Horne, Philip F. "Mount Pleasant: The History of A New York Suburb and Its People". self-published, copy on file at Mount Pleasant Library, Pleasantville branch, 1971, p. 29
  14. ^ Waterbury, George. "Mount Pleasant (Image of America Series)". Arcadia Publishing, 2009, p.47
  15. ^ Village of Pleasantville, NY. "Village of Pleasantville, NY - About the Village of Pleasantville, NY". pleasantville-ny.gov.
  16. ^ Crandall, John E. "A Village Between". Reader's Digest, publisher, 1971, p. 7
  17. ^ Corcoran, Dennis J. Pleasantville—300 Years: From Manor to Suburb, 1695-1995. Village of Pleasantville, publisher, 1995, p. 28
  18. ^ Crandall, John E. "A Village Between". Reader's Digest, publisher, 1971, pp. 6, 7, 11
  19. ^ Corcoran, Dennis J. Pleasantville—300 Years: From Manor to Suburb, 1695-1995. Village of Pleasantville, publisher, 1995, pp. 42-48
  20. ^ Crandall, John E. "A Village Between". Reader's Digest, publisher, 1971, pp. 10,11
  21. ^ Horne, Philip F. "Mount Pleasant: The History of a New York Suburb and Its People". Self-published, copy on file at Mount Pleasant Library, Pleasantville branch, 1971, p. 50
  22. ^ Martinson, Deborah. "Lillian Hellman: A Life With Foxes and Scoundrels". Counterpoint, A Member of the Perseus Books Group, 2005, pp. 156-157
  23. ^ Corcoran, Dennis J. Pleasantville—300 Years: From Manor to Suburb, 1695-1995. Village of Pleasantville, publisher, 1995, p. 42
  24. ^ Crandall, John E. "A Village Between". Reader's Digest, publisher, 1971, p. 15, 16
  25. ^ Waterbury, George. "Mount Pleasant (Image of America Series)". Arcadia Publishing, 2009, p. 118
  26. ^ Reisley, Robert. "Usonia New York: Building A Community". Princeton Architectural Press, 2001
  27. ^ "New York Giants Training Camp Locations". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  28. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 3/14/11 through 3/18/11. National Park Service. March 25, 2011.
  29. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  30. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  31. ^ "Pleasantville village, New York". Census.gov. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  32. ^ Grimes, William. "Edward Gelsthorpe, Master Marketer, Dies at 88", The New York Times, September 27, 2009. Accessed September 29, 2009.
  33. ^ Graham, Bill (author) and Robert Greenfield (author). Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock And Out. Da Capo Press, 2004. pp. 247-248
  34. ^ "Dewey & LeBoeuf: John Nonna". deweyleboeuf.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  35. ^ "The Top Sports Figures from Westchester". www.westchestermagazine.com. April 9, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2019.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Pleasantville (New York).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pleasantville, New York.
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