From 1703 until the position of county executive was created in 1937, Westchester County was run by a county Board of Supervisors (replaced in 1970 by the Board of Legislators), featuring elected supervisors from each town. In 1758, the Westchester County courthouse, located in the town of Westchester (now part of the Bronx), burned down. Robert Graham, town supervisor of White Plains, convinced the county Board of Supervisors to build the new courthouse in White Plains, and donated his own land as a site for it. This made White Plains the county seat, an honor it shared with Bedford in northern Westchester for about a century. Two buildings on South Broadway served as county courthouse (the first was burned down by the American army following the Battle of White Plains) until 1857. That year, a new courthouse was opened on Main Street at the present site of Macy's. Court Street was built alongside it beginning in 1856, and in 1888 William Maynard, who bought much of the Martine property, extended the street to Post Road. The portion between Main and Martine Avenue was made a public road in 1888 and the continuation to Quarropas Street was accepted as public in 1889. Finally it was continued to Post Road at some point. At present, Dr. Graham is not honored in any way by White Plains. I'd like to see Maple Avenue east of Mamaroneck Avenue renamed for him. White Plains Town Supervisors: Caleb Hyatt, 1727 to 1735. Moses Owen, 1735-36. Jonathan Purdy, 1737 to 1750. Elisha Budd, 1750-51-52-56-57. Elisha Hyatt, 1753-4-5. Abraham Hatfield, 1758 to 1769. Dr. Robert Graham 1769 to 1775. Samuel Purdy, 1775-6. Anthony Miller, 1777 to 1783. Daniel Horton, 1783 to 1787. Richard Hatfield, 1787 to 1796. John Falconer, 1796 to 1801. Jacob Purdy, 1801 to 1810. Jonathan Purdy 1810-1816 Joseph Horton, 1816-18. John Falconer, 1819 to 1831. Elisha Horton, 1831 to 1838. Henry Willets, 1838 to 1844. John W. Mills, 1844-45-47. Lewis C. Platt, 1846. John Dick, 1848, 1850. Henry C. Field, 1849. Gilbert S. Lyon, 1851 to 1854. Robert Cochran, 1854-5, 1875-6. John J. Clapp, 1855-6. Gilbert S. Lyon, 1851 to 1854. John W. Mills, 1860-61. E. G. Sutherland, 1862 to 1867. John D. Gray, 1867-8. M. Donohue, Jr., 1869-70. E. G. Sutherland, 1871 to 1874. Elisha Horton, Jr. 1874-5, 1876-7. Stephen S. Marshall, 1877-8. E. G. Sutherland, 1878-9. Artemus Eggleston, 1879 to 1882. Lewis C. Platt, 1883 to 1893 (died 3/13/1893) Frank G. Schirmer, 1893 to 1899. William S. Sterling, 1899 to April 1903 (died 4/14/03) Ffarington M. Thompson, April 1903-1915
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AuthorMy name is Cliff Blau. I was born and raised in White Plains, NY, and in 2015 became interested in learning more about the history of this fair city. The pathway I took into White Plains history was to discover the reason for the names of each of the streets. See https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1WvlOinVQnWh4KGDmEN7YPFfg4II for an annotated map of White Plains. Archives
March 2024
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