Mount Kisco was founded in 1850 shortly after the arrival of the railroad.  It included two small settlements called Kirbyville and New Castle Corners.  Kisco is derived from an Indian word –either kiskamenahook meaning “settlement near a brook” or cisqua meaning “a muddy place.”  Mount comes from the 623-foot hill northwest of town.

Since 1875, Mount Kisco has been an incorporated Village under the Village Law of the State of New York.  One half of the Village laid in the Town of Bedford, and on half laid in the Town of New Castle.  In the mid-seventies, the administrations of the two Towns agreed to support the Village’s effort to “secede” from the Towns.  Mount Kisco emerged from the Town of Bedford and the Town of New Castle as a coterminous and independent Village/Town of Mount Kisco effective January 1, 1978.  

There is a statue named “Chief Kisco” in Mount Kisco.  There never was a real person with that name.  David F. Gorham gave the statue to Mount Kisco in 1907 as a decorative top to a water fountain.  On the base of the pedestal are the words “God’s Only Beverage For Man and Beast.”  Chief Kisco rules over the village from his perch at the intersection of Routes 133 and 117.

Mount Kisco comprises 3.25 square miles and has a population of 9,983 (2000 estimate).  It includes 3,993 households as per the 2000 census.