Westchester Real Estate
Community Profiles

Eastchester 

Eastchester is a wonderful community - close to the nation's biggest city yet with the small town feel that is important to so many of us.

Eastchester's first permanent settlement was established in 1664 when ten families migrated from Fairfield, CT. They were invited by Thomas Pell, whose land holdings also included the territory that is now New Rochelle and Pelham, to "settle down at Hutchinson's" where the home of Anne Hutchinson had stood some 22 years before.

The original settlers were soon joined by others. Laws for the region were drawn up the following year under an agreement called the "Eastchester Covenant". The Covenant was a rare document for this period. Its 26 provisions included such items as education of children, disposition and upkeep of property and support of a minister.

After the English occupied the area in 1666, Governor Richard Nicolls confirmed the patent that had been two years earlier. Some years later, settlers signed a treaty with local Indian chiefs for a parcel of land known as the Long Reach because of it's odd geographical makeup. The price was 13 guns, 12 coats, 12 Indian Kettles, 12 Indian axes, 2 adzes and 4 barrels of cider. The area is the site of present day Bronxville, Tuckahoe and northwestern Mount Vernon. A dispute over ownership of this land arose in 1700 involving the towns of New Rochelle and Westchester and the Pell family. The decision was granted to Eastchester, and England's Queen Anne granted a second patent in 1708.

Eastchester was a farming community at the outbreak of the American Revolution. No major battles were fought here, but as the heart of the Neutral Ground it saw constant fighting and devastation for more than 13 years. The area was harassed by troops of both sides as well as by guerrillas of the day: the "cowboys" who were loyal to Britain and the "skinners" who opposed them.

 With the coming of the railroad in the 1840’s, Eastchester’s rural character began to change. A group of New York businessmen incorporated 375 acres in 1853 as the Village of Mount Vernon. It became a city in 1892. The village of Bronxville was incorporated in 1898, and the Village of Tuckahoe in 1903.

 Today, Eastchester is bounded by Scarsdale on the north, New Rochelle on the east, Mount Vernon on the south and Yonkers on the west. The Town covers approximately five square miles and includes the Villages of Bronxville and Tuckahoe and the unincorporated area known as the Town Outside.

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