As a Port Chester Westchester Real Estate Attorney, I know this area.

The Port Chester village was founded in 1868 after it was first settled around 1660.

The Mohegan Indian tribes were the first inhabitants of the area now known as the Village at Port Chester [1]. English settlers eventually moved from Connecticut to live in the area. The English established a saw mill and boat-building shop near the Byram River in 1732. This gave the area its name Saw Pit Landing. Slowly, the settlement grew with primary commercial activities including logging, shipping, and farming. In particular, the shipping of produce to New York City was a major activity.

The Saw Pit was an important military outpost during the Revolutionary War due to its proximity to waterways and the stunning views from Bloomer’s hill. The port was contested by both armies, and the Village was almost destroyed during the fighting. The area was important as a military outpost. General Israel Putnam used the John Lyon Park homestead as his headquarters. The area was rebuilt after the Revolutionary War and the boat building, farming, and shipping industries flourished. The area was well-known for its shipping industry but also its ability to produce stoves and furnaces. Established in 1840, the Abendroth Foundry was one of the most important foundries along the east coast. It shipped furnaces and stoves all over the globe.

The Civil War began in 1864 and the Union Defense Committee of Port Chester organized the first Civil War Company (Company A, Seventeenth Infantry), to be a Westchester County body. Port Chester, which was established as a village in the Town of Rye on May 14, 1868, had already been thriving. It included 3,500 residents, two banks and several coal and lumber yards. There were also a few shops.

Major railroads in the region led to a decline in agriculture and shipping. The economy became a center of manufacturing and no longer depended on its port for trade purposes. The Village experienced demographic changes as a result of this industrial shift. Large numbers of European immigrants began to move into the area, creating new opportunities for employment. Port Chester’s first notable industries were the Earnest Simons Manufacturing Company, established in 1876. It was the first company to make ready-made sheets and pillowscases in the world.

The first steamship service between Port Chester, Pennsylvania and New York City was established in 1870. This continued until World War I, when the cost of truck transport became more affordable. In the last 20 years of the nineteenth century, public services expanded with the establishment in Port Chester Water Works, which replaced many private wells and underground cisterns by reliable water from Connecticut reservoirs. Also, a community hospital was established and a trolley service was installed. As motorcar traffic increased during the 1920s, roads were made wider and paved. Sewers and drains were also installed.

Port Chester sent more than 5,000 soldiers to the World Wars. Many well-known corporations established headquarters or production centres in the Village by 1950 as the country was enjoying peace-time prosperity. These included Life Savers and Empire Brush Works, Arnold Bread, Neisner Brothers, and later, Ames Department Stores. The economy changed over the 20th century and Lifesavers was the last major manufacturer to close down operations in the Village.