On November 22, 1683, a group of English settlers from Rye came up an Indian path to meet with the local Weckquaskech Indians at the present day site of the Westchester mall. There they arranged the purchase of a territory of a bit more than 4400 acres (White Plains today consists of just under 6400 acres). The path they took became a street in 1708 known as the Road to Rye before officially becoming the Queen's Highway. By 1846 it had the name North Street, likely because it goes north from Rye. It originally went all the way to Broadway, but when Westchester Avenue was built circa 1870, the end was changed to where it merges into that road at White Plains Avenue northbound, and a bit west of that southbound. A small bit that had been stranded north of the new Westchester Avenue was eliminated circa 1885.
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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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