Port Chester


From Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition, 1910)

EncycloReader

Port Chester, a village of Westchester county, New York, U.S.A., in the south-east part of the state, on Long Island Sound, and about 10 m. N.E. of New York City (26 m. from the Grand Central Station). Pop. (1900), 7440, of whom 2110 were foreign-born; (1910 census), 12,809. It is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, and by daily steamers to and from New York City. The village is a summer resort as well as a suburban residential district for New York City. Among its public institutions are a library, a park and a hospital. The village has various manufactures, including bolts and nuts, motors for racing boats and automobiles; there are also large planing and wood-moulding mills. The earliest mention of Port Chester in any extant record is in the year 1732. Until 1837 it was known as Saw Pit, on account of a portion of the village, it is said, being used as a place for building boats. During the War of Independence the village was frequently occupied by detachments of American troops. Port Chester was incorporated as a village in 1868.