Peekskill, New York, United States

History | Fort Independence | Post-Revolution | Geography | Rehabilitation efforts | Media | Parks | Education | Healthcare | Transport

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Peekskill is a city in north-western Westchester County, New York, United States, 50 miles (80ย km) from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from Jones Point in Rockland County.

The area was an early American industrial centre, primarily for iron plow and stove products. The Binney & Smith Company, now as Crayola LLC and makers of Crayola products, linked to the Peekskill Chemical Company founded by Joesph Binney at Annsville in 1864 and succeeded by a partnership by his son Edwin and nephew Harold Smith in 1885.

The well-publicised Peekskill Riots of 1949 involved attacks and a lynching-in-effigy occasioned by Paul Robeson's benefit concerts for the Civil Rights Congress, although the main assault following the September concert properly took place in nearby Van Cortlandtville.

History In September 1609, Dutch explorer Henry Hudson, captain of the Half Moon, anchored along the reach of the Hudson River at Peekskill. His first mate noted in the ship's log that it was a "very pleasant place to build a town". After the establishment of the province of New Netherland, New Amsterdam resident Jan Peeck made the first recorded contact with the Lenape people of this area, then identified as "Sachoes". The date is not certain, (possibly early 1640s), but agreements and merchant transactions took place, formalized in the Ryck's Patent Deed of 1684. The name Peekskill derives from a combination of Mr. Peeck's surname and the Dutch word for stream, kil or kill.

Fort Independence Located on the north bank of the Annsville Creek as it empties into the Hudson, Fort Independence combined with Forts Montgomery and Clinton to defend the Hudson River Valley. Fort Independence was built in August 1776, while Forts Montgomery and Clinton were started in June. Fort Hill Park, the site of Camp Peekskill, contained five barracks and two redoubts.

Settlement was slow in the early 18th century. By the time of the American Revolution, the tiny community was an important manufacturing centre, which made it attractive to the Continental Army, which established an outpost here in 1776. Several creeks and streams powered mills which provided gunpowder, leather, planks, and flour. Slaughterhouses provided fresh meat, easily shipped from docks along the river. Much was needed to support several other forts and garrisons located to support the Hudson River Chains placed between Bear Mountain Bridge and Anthony's Nose during the Revolution to prevent British naval passage upriver.

Though Peekskill's terrain and mills were beneficial to the Patriot cause, they also made tempting targets for British raids. The most damaging attack took place in early spring of 1777, when an invasion force of a dozen vessels led by a warship and supported by infantry overwhelmed the American defenders. On leaving New Windsor in June, 1781, Washington established his quarters, for a short time, at Peekskill.

Post-Revolution Peekskill's first legal incorporation of 1816 was reactivated in 1826 when Village elections took place. The Village was further incorporated within the Town of Cortlandt in 1849 and remained so until separating as a city in 1940.

In 1859 Rev. Henry Ward Beecher bought a thirty-six acre farm at Peekskill. Beecher made many improvements and established a summer home for his family. In 1902 the locally prominent McFadden family bought the property. In 1987 the Beecher-McFadden Estate was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In August 1949, following reports misquoting Paul Robeson's speech to the World Peace Conference in Paris as stating that African Americans would not fight for the United States in any prospective war against the Soviet Union, a planned benefit concert for the Civil Rights Congress in Peekskill had to be cancelled amid White Nationalist and anti-communist violence. An effigy of Robeson was lynched in the town. The artists were able to plan a second concert in nearby Van Cortlandtville on a farm owned by a Holocaust survivor. (His house was subsequently shot into and brickbats thrown through his windows.) The publicity drew a crowd of around 20,000, and two men with rifles were discovered and removed prior to any violence during the concert itself. It was one of the earliest performances of Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer"; Robeson sang surrounded by union guards and volunteers from the audience as protection against other snipers. Following the event, area police and state troopers directed exiting traffic down a single road into an ambush where rocks were thrown through car windows (even at cars with small children). Some were overturned and their occupants beaten without police intervention. These Peekskill Riots were subsequently well-publicized in news report and folk songs and formed a major event in E.L. Doctorow's historical fiction novel The Book of Daniel.

Peekskill was the landing point of a fragment of the Peekskill Meteorite, just before midnight on October 9, 1992. The meteoric trail was recorded on film by at least sixteen individuals. This was only the fourth meteorite in history for which an exact orbit is known. The rock had a mass of 27.7 pounds (12.6ย kg) and punched through the trunk of Peekskill resident's automobile upon impact.

The Peekskill Evening Star and the Peekskill Highland Democrat were two of the city's daily newspapers through much of the city's history. The Evening Star published under various mastheads from the 19th century on, and as the Evening Star from 1939 until 1985 when the paper folded into what would become the nexus of the Journal News, a conglomeration of local papers from throughout Westchester County. The Journal News focused more on statewide and New York City issues, however, which led to the founding of the Peekskill Herald in 1986. Although numerous prominent citizens came together to try to keep the paper afloat after a series of New York Times articles about the paper's foundering fiscal situation, it folded in 2005, being replaced by the Peekskill Daily in 2009.

The Centennial Firehouse, built in 1890, was located under a U.S. Route 9 bridge. During the original construction of the bridge in 1932 part of the roof of the firehouse was removed. As part of a 2008 highway reconstruction project it was to be relocated to a new historic district. The city spent $150,000 in grant money in preparing the building. Unfortunately a mechanical failure during a turn caused the building to collapse.

In 1984, Richard E. Jackson would become Peekskill's first African American mayor.

Geography Peekskill is located in north-western Westchester County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14ย kmยฒ), of which 4.3 square miles (11ย kmยฒ) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.8ย kmยฒ) (20.99%) is water. The city's eastern border is the Town of Cortlandt and its western border is the Hudson River.

Rehabilitation efforts Beginning in the early 1990s, Peekskill made sustained efforts to attract artists, particularly from high-rent areas in New York City. These included economic development incentives to landlords such as tax incentives, grants, facade improvements, and loans to renovate buildings that could be used as live-work spaces by artists. In 2002 the city of Peekskill and the County of Westchester joined with a private real estate company to develop The Peekskill Art Lofts, a 28 unit limited equity income co-op offering artists an opportunity for affordable home ownership. By one account, upwards of 50 artists in all relocated to the community.

Some local art-related highlights included Paramount Center for the Arts, a restored 1930 movie palace which served as the area's cultural hub, offering music, comedy, drama and independent films before suspending operations in 2012; the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art;STUDIO No.9 Gallery and Workshops; and the Peekskill Coffee House, which showcases local acts. The Bean Runner Cafe, on South Division Street, and 12 Grapes, on North Division Street, also showcase local artists and musicians.

Media Locally owned WLNA 1420 AM has served the community since 1948.

Parks The town contains several parks and recreation areas, including Charles Point, with bay and river views; Depew Park, which has pools and a pond in addition to ballfields and trails and is the home of the Recreation Department headquarters; Franklin Park; Lepore Park; Fort Hill Park; Peekskill Dog Park; Peekskill Stadium; Riverfront Green Park; and Tompkins Park (home of Little League).

Education The Peekskill City School District is the local school district, with Peekskill High School being the main high school.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York operates Catholic schools in Westchester County. Our Lady of the Assumption School in Peekskill closed in 2013. The closest Catholic school to Peekskill is St. Columbanus School, which is located in Cortlandt Manor.

Healthcare Peekskill is served by the Hudson Valley Hospital Center (HVHC), founded in 1889 as Peekskill Hospital on lower South Street. In 2014, the hospital began an affiliation with New York-Presbyterian Hospital and is now referred to as New York Presbyterian โ€“ Hudson Valley Hospital.

The hospital has 128 inpatient beds and includes a comprehensive cancer centre, maternity centre, neonatal intensive care unit and surgery centre among several other patient care services.

The city also has an emergency medical service staffed by EMTs and paramedics from the city's fire department and volunteer ambulance corps. The fire department staffs seven EMTs and eight paramedics whereas the volunteer corps has 60 active riding members. Most patients are transported to NYP-Hudson Valley Hospital.

Transport Peekskill train station provides commuter service to New York City, 41 miles (66ย km) away via Metro-North Railroad. The Bee-Line Bus System provides bus service to Peekskill on routes 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 31. The Bear Mountain Bridge, five miles (8ย km) to the north-west, gives road access to Bear Mountain State Park across the Hudson River, Palisades Interstate Parkway and to the United States Military Academy at West Point via US 6 and US 202. The Croton Expressway portion of US 9 ends here. NY 9A and NY 35 also run through the city.

Peekskill, New York, United States 
<b>Peekskill, New York, United States</b>
Image: Daniel Case

Peekskill has a population of over 24,511 people. Peekskill also forms part of the wider Westchester County which has a population of over 1,004,457 people. It is also a part of the larger New York metropolitan area. Peekskill is situated 35 km north-east of Clarkstown.

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Peekskill has links with:

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Castlebar, Ireland ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Cuenca, Ecuador
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Peekskill is: 106.083,-41.283

Locations Near: Peekskill -73.9167,41.2833

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Clarkstown -73.967,41.117 d: 19  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Orangetown -73.918,41.091 d: 21.4  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Newburgh -74.017,41.517 d: 27.3  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Palm Tree -74.167,41.333 d: 21.6  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Ramapo -74.111,41.111 d: 25.1  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Carmel -73.667,41.417 d: 25.6  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ White Plains -73.767,41.033 d: 30.5  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Yonkers -73.887,40.942 d: 38  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ New Rochelle -73.786,40.949 d: 38.7  

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Greenwich -73.6,41.033 d: 38.4  

Antipodal to: Peekskill 106.083,-41.283

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Bunbury 115.637,-33.327 d: 18793.2  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Mandurah 115.721,-32.529 d: 18719.9  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Rockingham 115.717,-32.267 d: 18697.2  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Albany 117.867,-35.017 d: 18773  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ City of Cockburn 115.833,-32.167 d: 18681.8  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Vincent 115.834,-31.936 d: 18661.3  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Perth 115.857,-31.953 d: 18661.5  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Wanneroo 115.803,-31.747 d: 18646.3  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Guildford 115.973,-31.9 d: 18650.2  

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Midland 116.01,-31.888 d: 18647  

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