Chappaqua is a hamlet and census-designated place in northern
Westchester County, New York. As of the
2000 census, the population was 9,468.
Chappaqua is located in the Town of New Castle.
Nationwide, Chappaqua ranks 42nd among the 100 highest-income
places in the United States (with at least 1,000 households).
History
In the early 1730's a group of Quakers moved north from Purchase, NY to
settle in present-day Chappaqua. They built their homes on Quaker Street and held their meetings at the home of Abel Weeks. Their
meeting house was built in 1753 and still holds weekly meetings each Sunday. All sorts of spellings were used for the name they
heard Native Americans use for their valley and hillside. It was an Algonquian
word, "shah-pah-ka," and it meant "the rustling land" or "the rattling land," or a place where nothing is heard but the rustling
of the wind in the leaves. The quakers spelled it Shapiqua, Shapaqua, Shapequa, Shappaqua, and, finally, Chappaqua. Their meeting
was often referred to as the Shapequa Meeting as early as 1745.[1]
Chappaqua and the American Revolution
From late 1776 to 1781, the main troop lines of the American Army moved back and forth between White Plains and Peekskill thirty miles to the
North. As the American lines moved, the British lines also moved North and South, with a narrow "no man's land" always between
the two sets of lines. It was well known that North Castle, and in particular,
the Quaker village of Shapequa (the most common spelling of the time), were areas where pacifists and neutrals lived. Indeed, most of mid-Westchester was supposed to be "Neutral Ground." Rather than
being left alone equally by both sides, though, it was raided by each side equally. The Quakers suffered terribly from this
raiding. Crops and livestock were stolen and weapons were seized. The Chappaqua Quaker Meeting House on Quaker Street served as a
hospital for Americans wounded after the Battle of White Plains in 1776 and again
in 1778. It is probably true that General Washington visited his wounded troops
there.
Creation of the Town of New Castle
On March 18, 1791, the government of New York decided to split the overly large town of North Castle (jokingly called "the two
saddlebags") into two smaller towns, one of which was named New Castle. The border was drawn from the southwest corner of
Bedford to the northeast edge of Mount Pleasant. New Castle's borders have
remained the same since 1791, except for a small piece of land received from Somers in
1846.
Early businesses of Chappaqua
Chappaqua had great streams such as the Saw Mill River and the Roaring Brook. These bodies of water were used to power mills
used to crush corn and press oil from beans. The eastern half of Chappaqua was very suitable for farming. The majority of the
Quaker settlers of Chappaqua were farmers. The popular farming industry also helped give way to Chappaqua's high milk production.
Other popular industries from Chappaqua included shoes, hardware, vinegar, pickles, eyeglasses, and furniture.
Railroad
In 1846 when the New York and Harlem Railroad extended through
Chappaqua, business became centered around the new train station. These businesses included, a hotel, livery stables, a public
library, and various stores and small factories.
The First Rail Road Commuter, Horace Greeley
The coming of the railroad marked the arrival of the commuter, the tireless person who traveled to New York City and back
everyday. One very famous commuter who would make his way back and forth from Chappaqua to NYC was Horace Greeley. Horace Greeley was a very successful editor of the New
York Tribune, which he started in 1841 when he was only 30 years of age. This free-thinker and politician came to
Chappaqua to live out the quiet and peaceful life of a country farmer. In 1853 he bought 78 acres of land just east of the
railroad. His land included upland pastures near present-day Aldrich Road, Greeley Hill, and the marshy fields now the site of
the Bell Middle School fields and the shopping area along South Greeley Avenue. Horace and his wife loved the streams, the large
evergreen trees, and their clean, fresh, ice-cold spring. Horace Greeley's house still stands on King Street, just east of the
train station and South Greeley Avenue and is home to the historical society.
Schools
Today, the schools in Chappaqua are by reputation among the best in the country.[2], although they have been falling in the rankings over the last decade. But this was not always so.
With 18 student classes in the 1890's and a one room schoolhouse, schools were less than accommodating. These schoolhouses were
completely devoid of windows, creating an atmosphere that was restrictive to learning. By standards of today, these schoolhouses
were the worst possible educational facilities.
In the Chappaqua region there were eight such schoolhouses, each as devoid of sunlight and full of opressive air as the last.
These small schools prevailed until around 1870, when the Quakers built a large school called the Chappaqua Mountain Institute on
the aptly named Quaker Street. In the year 1885 the school caught fire, and much refurbishing was done, with the addition of two
new wings. It was sold in 1908 and now belongs to the Children's Aid Society.
Around 1928, Robert E. Bell Middle
School, known at the time as Horace Greeley School, was built. The present day Horace Greeley High School was built in
1957, and three elementary schools were completed over a twenty year period: Roaring Brook School in 1951; Douglas G. Grafflin in 1962; and Westorchard in 1971.
Finally, Seven Bridges Middle School was
built in 2003 and added to the town's school system as a solution to the overcrowding of previously the only middle school in
Chappaqua, Robert E. Bell. Before Seven Bridges was constructed, all students, regardless of which elementary school they
attended, would have moved on to Robert E. Bell. But, because of population growth, half now move up to Bell and half move up to
Seven Bridges.
Substantially all of the hamlet of Chappaqua is included in the Chappaqua Central School District. The school district
currently consists of Roaring Brook, Westorchard, and Douglas G. Grafflin Elementary Schools; Robert E.
Bell and Seven Bridges Middle Schools; and Horace Greeley High School. 99% of Greeley graduates attend 4-year colleges.
Parent expectations in the school district are high, and while many Greeley graduates get into top-ranked colleges, school
officials have complained that because of parental pressure, students apply to colleges beyond their reach.[3] [4]
The educational environment is highly competitive and somewhat stressful.[5] In 2001, parental support an enthusiasm for students went badly awry when a Chappaqua couple was
arrested for hosting a pre-season party for the high school football team featuring a stripper, drugs, and alcohol.[6] This made national headlines. The couple pleaded guilty to
endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and one year of probation.[7] Also in 2001, Chappaqua students made national news in a
scandal about cyberbullying. [8]
The singer/songwriter Dar Williams grew up in Chappaqua and graduated from Greeley High
School. The area's briefly high teenage suicide rate in the mid 1980s [9] figures into her discussion of her music and her song lyrics.
[10][11]
In the fall of 2003, after the opening of the new middle school, Seven Bridges, and the moving of the fifth grade from
Chappaqua's elementary schools to the middle schools, the district added full day kindergarten.[12][13] In
2006, the Chappaqua Central School
District has come under criticism for assigning excessive homework at the elementary level.
[14]
Chappaqua's above-average house prices have been linked to the quality of its public schools. [15][16]
Geography
Chappaqua is located at 41°9′57″N, 73°45′55″W (41.165925,
-73.765244)1.
Parts of the Chappaqua ZIP code area are located in the Towns of Mount Kisco, New Castle, Millwood, Mount Pleasant, Yorktown, and Bedford. Parts of the Chappaqua
Central School District include homes in other zip codes, such as 10570, the Pleasantville, New York zip code.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of
24.4 km² (9.4 mi²). 24.3 km² (9.4 mi²) of it is
land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.64%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 9,468 people, 3,118 households, and 2,687 families residing
in the Census-designated place. The population density was 389.7/km² (1,009.8/mi²). There were 3,181 housing units at an average density
of 130.9/km² (339.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.80% White, 0.94% African American, 0.03% Native American, 5.62% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from other races, and 1.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.55% of the population. 14.3% were of
Italian, 11.4% Russian, 10.6% Irish, 7.1% United States or American, 6.0% English and 5.7% German ancestry according to Census 2000. 92.4% spoke English, 3.6%
Spanish and 1.0% Italian as their first
language.
There were 3,118 households out of which 52.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.1% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 13.8% were
non-families. 11.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.27.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 32.8% under the age of 18, 3.2% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from
45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.4 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $163,201, and the median income for a family was
$180,451. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $71,875 for females. The per capita
income for the CDP was $77,835. About 2.3% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.
Additional information
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton own a home in Chappaqua which they purchased toward the end of Clinton's
presidency in 1999 for $1.7 million.[17]
Like in many suburbs and rural areas in the Northeast, Emergency Medical
Service and fire service are provided by volunteer agencies. The Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps (CVAC) provides Basic Life Support services to most of New
Castle, including Chappaqua. The hamlet is protected by the New Castle Police Department, which provides first-response services
for medical and fire emergencies, too.
Although Chappaqua's crime rate is far below the national average[18], the area has had several high profile murders. in 1996, a battle between a lottery winner and his
former lover over custody of their 5-year-old child resulted in a gun battle; the lottery winner was acquitted of the murder of
his former lover on the basis of self defence, and convicted of the shooting of the woman's father.[19] And in November of 2006, a disbarred attorney who is a neighbor of the
Clinton's on Old House Lane, drove the body of his severely injured wife, Peggy Perez-Olivo, a special education teaching
assistant at Grafflin Elementary, to Northern Westchester Hospital, claiming the couple had been ambushed and shot. She died soon
after. The police has not yet been solved, but police have expressed skepitcism about the husband's account and have not yet
ruled him out as a suspect.[20]
Chappaqua is the birthplace of Festivus, the secular holiday invented by resident and
Reader's Digest editor Daniel O'Keefe. His son, Dan O'Keefe, popularized the holiday in
1997 by writing it into the plot of the television sitcom Seinfeld.
Notable residents
Some notable Chappaqua residents, past and present, include:
- Alan Arkin, Academy Award-winning actor, best known for starring in such films as The
In-Laws, Catch-22, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Wait Until Dark, and Little Miss Sunshine.
- Adam Arkin, American television, film, and stage actor, son of Alan Arkin
- Bibi Besch, actress
- Ayla Brown, NCAA basketball player and singer
- Dr. Joseph Casbarro, PH.D., author of Test Anxiety & What You Can Do about It: A
Practical Guide for Teachers, Parents, and Kids
- Bill Clinton, 42nd U.S. President
- Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator (D-N.Y.), former First Lady, candidate in 2008
U.S. presidential election
- Ace Frehley, lead guitarist of Kiss
- Horace Greeley, newspaper editor, reformer, politician
- Nora Guthrie, daughter of Woody Guthrie and sister of
Arlo Guthrie
- Jeff Van Gundy, formerly head coach of the Houston
Rockets, formerly head coach of the New York Knicks
- David A. Harris, Executive Director American Jewish Committee
- Roxanne Hart, An American television, film and stage actress, appeared in
Highlander, nurse on Chicago Hope among other roles
- David Ho, prominent AIDS researcher
- Mary Beth Hurt, Actress
- Paul F. Iams, founder of the Iams petfood company
- Kenneth T. Jackson, American historian
- Stu Jackson, former NBA head coach and current senior vice president of the NBA
- Herman Kahn, Cold War military strategist
- Heather Paige Kent, actress
- Jonathan Klein, President of CNN
- Peter Kunhardt, documentary film-maker
- Brian Leiser, musician
- Paul Levitz, President of DC Comics
- Jason Lichtenthal, Vice President - Information Systems National
Financial Partners
- Frank R. Pierson, screenwriter and film director
- Robert L. "Nob" Rauch, a financier and flying disc sports
executive
- Gerry Ritterman, founder of Soap Opera Digest
- Jay O. Sanders, an American character actor
- Jason Scott Sadofsky, computer historian and film producer
- Peter Saul, painter
- Simon Schama, British historian
- Paul Schrader, Writer and Director
- John and Elizabeth Sherrill, Christian writers
- Rene Syler, journalist
- Bert Sugar, boxing historian
- Matthew Van Fleet, children's book writer and illustrator [1]
- Kevin Wade, screenwriter known best for Working
Girl
- Vanessa Williams, model, actress, singer
- Dar Williams, singer, songwriter
- Jenna Wolfe, sportscaster
Famous structures
- The Chappaqua Friends Meeting House, circa 1753, is the oldest Quaker meeting house standing in Westchester County.
- America's first concrete barn. It was completed by Horace Greeley on his Chappaqua farm in 1865. It was also one of the first
concrete buildings ever built in the U.S.
- World headquarters of Reader's Digest (physically located in Chappaqua, though its
mailing address is in neighboring Pleasantville, New York; it really does have
statues of pegasus on it).
- One of Horace Greeley's homes. Part of the original structure still stands, and is part of the present-day New Castle
Historical Society.
References
- ^
Warde, Robert (1982). Chappaqua: Our Connections to Its Past. Chappaqua
Central School District (CCSD).
- ^ GREELEY HIGH CALLED ONE OF BEST IN U.S. by Lena Williams, The New York Times, September 27, 1981.
- ^ A Difficult Year for the College-Bound by Tessa Melvin, The New York Times, May 1, 1988.
- ^ A letter to the editor in which a Chappaqua parent describes the role of parental ambitions in the local educational
climate, The New York Times, November 11, 1990.
- ^ A New Uncertainty About Life After High School; Students at Horace Greeley Wonder if the Best Years of Their Lives Are
Ahead or Behind by Lydia Richardson, The New York Times, June 17, 1992.
- ^ Alcohol Wars Give 'Party Jitters' A Whole New Meaning by David Scharfenberg, The New York Times, February 20,
2005.
- ^ Metro Briefing | New York: Chappaqua: No Jail For Party Parents, The New York Times, June 1, 2002.
- ^ Cyber
slammed, by Amy Benfer, Salon, July 3, 2001.
- ^ FOURTH TEEN-AGER'S SUICIDE SHOCKS 2 SUBURBAN COUNTIES by Lena Williams, The New York Times, February 23, 1984.
- ^ Dar Williams bio
- ^ Cool As it Can Be by Lucy O'Brien, Diva Magazine, December 1996/January 1997.
- ^ [http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10F11F93A590C708EDDAB0894DB404482 IN THE SCHOOLS; The
Half-Day Stress Of Kindergarten] by Merri Rosenberg, The New York Times, February 23, 2003.
- ^ Minutes, Chappaqua Central School District Board of Education, May 25, 2004.
- ^ The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and
What We Can Do About It by Sarah Bennett & Nancy Kalish (2006), pp. 71-72.
- ^ "...the school districts in which the houses are situated. This fact,
more than any other, may determine the value of a home.
Maerhoff, Gene I. (1982-10-17). As the Schools Go, So Do House Prices. The New York
Times. Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
- ^ The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and
What We Can Do About It by Sarah Bennett & Nancy Kalish (2006), pp. 71-72.
- ^ The Clintons Are Coming and Chappaqua Braces by David Montgomery, The Washington Post, September 4, 1999.
- ^ Crime stats from a real
estate relocation site.
- ^ Lotto
Winner Guilty in a Killing, Cleared in 2d, The New York Times, March 21, 1998.
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/22/AR2006112200256.html Husband Not Ruled Out in Murder
Probe], Jim Fitzgerald, the Associated Press, November 22, 2006.
External links
Coordinates:
41.165925° N 73.765244°
W
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