History:

The area that is now Hastings-on-Hudson was once the home of the Weckquaesgeek Native Americans, one of the Algonquian tribes. In the summer, the Weckquaesgeeks camped at the mouth of the ravine running under the present Warburton Avenue Bridge. There they fished, swam and collected oyster and clamshells used to make wampum. On the level plain nearby (which is now Maple Avenue), they planted corn and possibly tobacco.

Around 1650 a Dutch carpenter named Frederick Philipse arrived in New Amsterdam. In 1682 Philipse traded with the Indians for the area that is now Dobbs Ferry and Hastings. In 1693 the English crown granted Philipse title to the Manor of Philipsburg, which included what is now Hastings-on-Hudson. After dividing the area into four nearly equally-sized farms, the Philipses leased them to Dutch, English, and French Huguenot settlers.

During the American Revolution, what is now Hastings lay between the lines of the warring forces and was declared neutral territory. In reality, the area became a no-man’s land and was raided repeatedly by both sides. Following the Revolution the Philipses, who had been loyal to George III, saw their vast lands confiscated and sold by the newly established American state. In 1785 the four farms comprising today’s Hastings were bought by James DeClark, Jacobus Dyckman, George Fisher, and tavern keeper Peter Post.

Around the same time, Westchester County, which had been established as one of the 10 original counties in New York, was divided into towns, and the area that is now Hastings became part of the town of Greenburgh. The village was incorporated in 1879 and its name changed from Hastings-Upon-Hudson to Hastings-on-Hudson.