An Historic community about an hour north of New York City, the village of Brewster is in the midst of a dramatic renaissance. New water and sewer lines, artful renovations of classic homes and buildings, pedestrian-friendly streets and a scenic setting will make Brewster a vital 21st century business and cultural destination.

To fully realize Brewster's rich future, residents must make the most of a unique blend of rural and modern assets. With accesible, small-town government and strong community spirit, the village embraces its role as an environmental steward of the croton reservoir system. Simultaneously, citizen groups carefully evaluate and integrate state-of-the-art communication and transportation systems to ensure Brewster's long-term role as the Economic hub of the entire Harlem Valley.

The Village of Brewster, incorporated in 1894, physically lies within the Town of Southeast (itself incorporated by the State of New York in 1788). Walter Brewster, a local builder and speculator, initially founded the Village in the 1840s. In 1848, Brewster and his brother James purchased a 134-acre farm that comprised much of what is now the Village of Brewster, motivated by the prospect of nearby mines, an abundant water supply, and the certainty that the Harlem Line Railroad had plans to pass through the already incorporated Town of Southeast. With the hopes of getting the burgeoning rail line to make a stop on their land, the two brothers constructed passenger and freight stations on their farm. By 1849, the Harlem Line indeed came to reach “Brewster’s Station.”

At the time the Brewster family purchased the farm, there were only a few houses and a Methodist Church already in the area. A one-room schoolhouse was built soon thereafter. In 1849, Walter Brewster himself laid out Main Street Brewster. A skilled builder, Brewster was responsible for the construction of over 50 buildings, churches and stores in the new village, facilitated by the advent of the railroad, which made large shipments of materials possible. Building homes at the rate of six or seven structures a year, the first house Brewster erected was the Walter Brewster House in 1850, still standing at 43 Oak Street. Growth in the Village progressed rapidly, soon gaining hotels and other business establishments. By the 1890s, Brewster’s thriving businesses included three dry goods and grocery stores, an active coal business, a tin shop, the newspaper printing press, The Southeast House and Brewster House, a wagon-making and blacksmith shop on East Main, and one barber.

The railroad furthermore helped to foster two local industries, iron mining and dairy. Although neither industry remains in function today, at the height of its operation in 1879, the largest and most prosperous mine in Southeast, two miles north of the Village, (Tilly Foster Mine) yielded 7,000 tons of iron ore per month. In 1864, John Gail Borden constructed a milk condensery (The Borden Milk Factory), founded as a result of increased demand for condensed milk during the Civil War. The dairy industry, itself, brought many new families to the Village, giving an impetus for the building of even more homes. It was a place for local farmer’s to sell their milk and the Village Main Street became a place for workers to spend their paychecks. John G. Borden, the son of the factory’s founder, over his life contributed much to the building costs of the Brewster school, the Town Hall and the Baptist Church.

By the 1870s, the Village of Brewster was at thriving community. A national bank had been established, newspapers were founded (the Brewster Gazette in 1869 and the Brewster Standard in 1871), and several industries, both large and small, were running. In the later part of the 19th century, the construction of the Croton Reservoir System had significant repercussions on the economy and the landscape of both Southeast and the Village of Brewster. Much of the best farmland was flooded for construction of the dams, including the Borden Milk Factory Dairy Lands, while many other properties were condemned in order to protect the purity of the watershed. This cast a lull over the life in the Village, causing farmers to look elsewhere to take their milk, many even going out of business. To this day, growth restrictions and other regulations related to the Croton Reservoir System continue to have a serious impact on planning in the Village of Brewster.