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Upcoming Events
Genealogy Workshop: Digging Deeper - Genealogy Made Easy with FamilySearch
Sunday, May 18, 1pm - Buy Tickets
Memorial Day Parade Viewing
Monday, May 26 - Society Members Event
Mount Kisco Sesquicentennial Celebration
May 31 & June 1 - Explore events
| | Flower Show Welcomes Spring | | We were excited to host the Chappaqua Garden Club's Spring Awakening on the Greeley Farm flower show last month. Thank you to everybody who helped convert the house into a wonderful show space, exhibited their flowers, and attended! | | Source: Chappaqua Garden Club | | Vietnam War Lecture Replay | | Watch the discussion from our April annual meeting lecture with Jim McCauley, US Army Special Forces Captain who served two tours in Vietnam, and Tom O'Connor, decorated Marine Corps veteran. | Click the image to watch the video | | |
The New Castle Historical Society is pleased to announce the appointment of Clinton Smith as President and Barbara Romeo as Vice President. Both bring a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to preserving the rich history of New Castle. Clinton Smith, a dedicated community member, was a former New Castle Town Supervisor and instrumental in the town's support for the Society to purchase the Greeley House.
Barbara Romeo has served two terms as Society Trustee and has been active on the governing board of St. Mary the Virgin and owns and cares for the noteworthy Rocky Hills house and gardens.
Under their leadership, the Society aims to expand its outreach and continue its mission of discovering, collecting, preserving, and communicating the history of the Town of New Castle. With a shared vision of fostering a sense of community through a shared understanding of the town’s past, Clinton and Barbara are poised to lead the Society into a new era of growth and engagement. Their combined expertise and passion for history ensure that the New Castle Historical Society will remain a vibrant cultural base for the town.
Richard Comstock, Treasurer, and Amy Holmes, Secretary, continue in their roles. Georgia Frasch, Past President, will continue to serve on the executive committee.
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Historic Places of New Castle
Ridgewood Terrace: Our First Suburban Subdivision
by Gray Williams
| | The J. Sidney Quinby House at 586 King Street: a New Castle Landmark. | | |
A recent addition to the official landmarks of New Castle is this handsome 1908 house on the southwest side of King Street, a few blocks southeast of the intersection with Bedford Road. Its architectural style is commonly called Colonial, but its ornamentation is extensive enough for it to be classified in the more aristocratic fashion described as Georgian Revival. It is the former home of builder J. Sidney Quinby, who developed the first suburban subdivision in New Castle, Ridgewood Terrace.
The Quinbys were among the Quaker pioneers who settled in what is now New Castle from about 1730. Their original homestead property on Whippoorwill Road straddled the border with North Castle and is now largely occupied by the Whippoorwill Country Club.
| | The intersection of Bedford Road and King Street, the northwest end of the Quinby family properties. | | |
In 1849, a branch of the family headed by Abraham Quinby acquired property that extended from Bedford Road southeast along both sides of King Street. The family homes were on the northeast side, approximately where the firehouse and its neighbors are now.
Throughout the nineteenth century, New Castle was still mostly rural. The leading occupation was farming, and most farmers and their families lived on their own places. The limited number of purely residential and mixed-use properties were clustered in the commercial centers that had grown up near the railroad stations of Chappaqua and Millwood. But toward the end of the century, new, non-agricultural businesses sprang up, accompanied by the need for more housing. By 1900, Abraham Quinby’s son, Abram J. Quinby, and his son, J. Sidney Quinby, decided to take advantage of this increased demand.
The site they picked for development was on the southeast side of King Street. Another family member, George S. Quinby ran a sheet metal, plumbing supply, and hardware shop in one corner of it, at the Bedford Road intersection, but the rest was marshy, marginal farmland. The Quinbys drained it to form solid ground, and named the site Quinby Park. The earliest record of it appeared in the December 13, 1900, issue of Chappaqua’s local newspaper, The Item: “Mr. J.S. Quinby recently purchased a large work horse for the purpose of cutting several new streets through Quinby Park.”
| | 1905 map of De Quarmby Park | | In March, 1905, J. Sidney filed an official map of the development with the County of Westchester. It shows one main street, Ridgewood Terrace, running parallel to King Street, plus two side streets connecting to King: Elm Place (now Elm Street) and Maple Place (now an extension of Ridgewood Terrace). The name has been changed from Quinby Park to the more gentrified De Quarmby Park. | | Early photograph of houses on Ridgewood Terrace | | |
The development already contained a few houses, and over the next decade J. Quinby would build several more, so that by 1915 most of the properties were occupied. This was the earliest suburban development in New Castle.
For his own home, J. Sidney reserved a relatively large lot on King Street, registered in his mother Sadie’s name. The property was eventually enlarged farther, to the corner of Maple Place. Not surprisingly, the house he built there was more elaborately detailed than the houses he built for others. He and his family made it their home until his death in 1940, after which his widow moved to a smaller residence nearby. The house remains to this day the most prominent building in the neighborhood, which is now called simply Ridgewood Terrace.
| | Tea towels $20 each, flower candles $15 each, and canvas tote bags $55 each - email giftshop@newcastlehs.org to purchase. | |
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Museum Shop
For the perfect gift, check out our Museum Store collection of locally inspired products.
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