Chappaqua was founded by a group of Quakers in the 1730s and was the home of Horace Greeley, New-York Tribune editor and U.S. congressman. He now names Chappaqua's high school.
A few notable people have called Chappaqua home. Leo Esaki, a Japanese physicist, was living in town when he won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1973.[7] Since the late 1990s, the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton, and the 67th secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, have lived there.
Various spellings were used for the name they heard Native Americans use for their valley and hillside. It was an Algonquian word, shah-pah-ka, and it meant "the rustling land" or "the rattling land," or a place where nothing is heard but the rustling of the wind in the leaves. The Quakers spelled it Shapiqua, Shapaqua, Shapequa, Shappaqua, and, finally, Chappaqua. Their meeting was often referred to as the Shapequa Meeting as early as 1745.[9]
On March 18, 1791, the government of New York decided to split the overly large town of North Castle (jokingly called "the two saddlebags") into two smaller towns, one of which was named New Castle. The border was drawn from the southwest corner of Bedford to the northeast edge of Mount Pleasant. New Castle's borders have remained the same since 1791, except for a small piece of land received from Somers in 1846 and the secession of Mount Kisco in 1978.
Chappaqua had great streams such as the Saw Mill River and Roaring Brook. These bodies of water powered mills to crush corn and press oil from beans. The eastern half of Chappaqua was very suitable for farming. The majority of the Quaker settlers of Chappaqua were farmers. The popular farming industry also helped give way to Chappaqua's high milk production. Other popular industries from Chappaqua included shoes, hardware, vinegar, pickles, eyeglasses, and furniture. Many early homes and businesses were demolished in the 1904 Chappaqua tornado.
According to the 2020 U.S. census, Chappaqua has a total area of 0.45 square miles (1.2 km2), all land.[10] As delineated for the 2000 census, the CDP of Chappaqua covered a much greater area: 9.44 square miles (24.4 km2), of which 9.38 square miles (24.3 km2) was land and 0.06 square miles (0.16 km2), or 0.64%, was water.
Chappaqua has a vibrant downtown along King Street and South Greeley Avenue. It includes many commercial buildings such as Pizza Station, Little Thai Kitchen, a Bank of America office, and various local hardware shops. South Greeley Avenue is also home to Robert E. Bell Middle school, the Chappaqua Library, and the local police station.
Chappaqua Farm, West Chester County, N.Y., The Residence of Hon. Horace Greeley, Currier & Ives, c. 1870Statue of Horace Greeley in Chappaqua
As of the 2010 census, following a major revision to the delineation of its boundaries by the Census Bureau, the population was 1,436.[13] At the 2000 census, with very different census-defined boundaries, Chappaqua had a population of 9,468.[14] Note the Chappaqua census-designated-place is different from the Hamlet of Chappaqua, which has a much higher population as part of the Town of New Castle.
As of the census of 2010, there were 1,434 people residing in Chappaqua. According to the 2015-2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, there are 595 housing units and the median household income is $250,000+. The racial makeup of the CDP was 76.1% White alone, 0% Black or African American alone, 0% Native American alone, 22.6% Asian alone, 0% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander alone, 0% some other race alone, and 1.3% from two or more races.
According to the 2010 census], the median age was 39 years, with 3.8% of the population under 5, 81.6% 18 and older, and 10% 65 and older. Males had a median income of $207,083 versus $128,750 for females. 0% of families were below the poverty line. 6.6% of people old enough had a high school or equivalent degree of education, 5.8 had some college but no degree, 4% had an associate degree, 37.3% had a bachelor's degree, and 46.3% had a graduate or professional degree.
Nationwide, Chappaqua ranks 42nd among the 100 highest-income places in the United States (with at least 1,000 households). In 2008, CNNMoney listed Chappaqua fifth in their list of "25 top-earning towns."[15] Chappaqua 2007 estimated median household income was $198,000.[16]
Crime
Although Chappaqua's crime rate is far below the national average,[17] the area has had a few high-profile murders. In 1996, a battle between a lottery winner and his former lover over custody of their 5-year-old child resulted in a gun battle; the winner was acquitted of the murder of his former lover on the basis of self-defense, and convicted of the shooting of the woman's father.[18] In November 2006 a disbarred attorney drove the body of his severely injured wife to Northern Westchester Hospital, claiming that the couple had been ambushed and shot in the nearby town of Millwood. She died soon after. For over a year, police expressed skepticism about the husband's account and did not rule him out as a suspect. In December 2007 the man was charged with his wife's murder after trying to collect on life insurance policies.[19][20] Carlos Perez-Olivo was convicted October 4, 2008 for the murder of his wife, Peggy Perez-Olivo, who had been working as a teaching assistant at Douglas Grafflin Elementary School in Chappaqua.[21]
America's first concrete barn was completed by Horace Greeley on his Chappaqua farm in 1856. It was also one of the first concrete buildings ever built in the U.S. Greeley's daughter and son-in-law later remodeled it into their house and named it Rehoboth.[citation needed]
The Shamberg House, designed by Richard Meier, was built in Chappaqua in 1974.[23]
A Georgian-inspired mansion in Chappaqua served as the shooting location for the 2022 horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies.[24]
Farmers Market
Chappaqua downtown includes a farmer's market near the Saw Mill River Pkwy. It boasts a variety of local vegetables and fruits and is open during the spring, summer, and the rest of harvest season.[25]
The Chappaqua Central School District includes the village.[26] In 2024, Chappaqua Central School District had around 3.5 thousand students from grades K-12, above the national average.
Around 1928, Robert E. Bell Middle School,[27] known at the time as Horace Greeley School, was built. The present day Horace Greeley High School was built in 1957. The three elementary schools in Chappaqua were completed over a twenty-year period: Roaring Brook School[28] in 1951, Douglas G. Grafflin[29] in 1962, and Westorchard[30] in 1971.
In 2003, after the opening of the new middle school, Seven Bridges, and the moving of the fifth grade from Chappaqua's elementary schools to the middle schools, the district added a full day kindergarten.[31][32]
In 2024, Chappaqua Central School District was ranked as the 17th best public school district in New York State. [33]
Schools currently operating in Chappaqua include:[34]
Small, one-room schoolhouses devoid of windows were prevalent in the 1800s. In the Chappaqua region, there were eight such schoolhouses.[citation needed] These small schools prevailed until around 1870, when the Quakers built a large school called the Chappaqua Mountain Institute on Quaker Street. In the year 1885 the school caught fire,[35] and much refurbishing was done, with the addition of two new wings. It was sold in 1908 and the school's property is now owned by Children's Aid.
Utilities
Emergency services
Emergency medical services and fire protection are provided by volunteer agencies. The Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps provides basic life support services to most of New Castle, including Chappaqua. Paramedic service is provided by Westchester EMS, a non-profit provider. The hamlet is protected by the New Castle Police Department, which also provides first-response services for medical emergencies. The volunteer-based Chappaqua Fire Department, established in 1910, provides firefighting services to the hamlet of Chappaqua.[36][37] The fire department currently maintains two firehouses in Chappaqua.[38]
Notable people
Bill Ackman,[39] investor and CEO & Founder of Pershing Square Capital Management
Adam Arkin,[40] American television, film, and stage actor, son of Alan Arkin
Tina L. Brozman, former Chief Justice of the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York
Dan Bucatinsky, actor, producer, director, 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series as James Novak in Scandal.
Bill and Hillary Clinton, former governor of Arkansas and U.S. president, and former first lady, U.S. senator, and United States Secretary of State. The Clintons purchased their home in Chappaqua for $1.7 million in 1999, near the end of Bill Clinton's presidency.[45]
Renee Cox, Jamaican-American artist, photographer, political activist, and curator
Horace Greeley, reformer, politician, editor of the newspaper New York Tribune. He came to Chappaqua to live in a rural area, so in 1853 he bought 78 acres (320,000 m2) of land just east of the railroad. His land included upland pastures near present-day Aldridge Road, Greeley Hill, and the marshy fields now the site of the Bell Middle School fields and the shopping area along South Greeley Avenue.
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