Briarcliff Manor is a heckuva big place to be called a “village.”  It is part of both the Town of Ossining and also the Town of Mount Pleasant.  But it shouldn’t be a big surprise because as of the early 1900’s, Walter Law had purchased 5,200 acres of land and was the largest individual landowner in Westchester County.   The Village of Briarcliff Manor was his handiwork.

The beating heart of the village is the tiny, tree-lined area once known as Whitson’s Corners.  No matter how much things have changed, the site of its original settlement has managed to remain pretty much the same.

The first Church in what is now Briarcliff Manor was incorporated in 1883 as "St. Mary's Church, Beechwood," and reincorporated in 1945 as "St. Mary's Church of Scarborough," an Episcopal Church receiving its name from St. Mary's Church of Scarborough, England. Its architecture was in large part inspired by that same ancient English Church. Founded by Rev. William Creighton, D.D., in 1839, its original property was an acre of land and a "glebe lot" from his estate, Beechwood.

Early this month the world lost a great artist and son of Briarcliff Manor when Brice Marden died at his home in Tivoli, New York, on August 9, 2023, at the age of 84. Writing in The New Yorker in 2006, the critic Peter Schjeldahl (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Schjeldahl) described Marden as "the most profound abstract painter of the past four decades".  This is reflected in the length of his obituary in the New York Times – Two full pages!

In the early fall of 2022 numerous files and an extraordinary collection of antique gardening and landscape books were donated by Mr. Oliver Chamberlain who drove from Rhode Island to bring it to us. We are eternally grateful. By selecting the BMSHS as the archive for this archival collection he honors us.

If you frequent Law Park you’ve probably seen the monument above.  You may also have read the text on the plaque.  For those who haven’t, It briefly tells the story of Lt. John Kelvin Koelsch, a son of Briarcliff Manor who died October 16, 1951 in the line of duty at a Prisoner of War Camp in North Korea, during the Korean War.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, August 2, 1955. Read on to learn more about his story.

You've seen them here and there around the Village, but our original historical research (our Mission after all) has revealed where each was originally placed and where it is now. Only two are in their original locations.

Provides a short history of Briarcliff Manor from the earliest days through the pre-colonial period and the 17th-19th century. This is followed by a summary of Walter Law’s Briarcliff. The notebook concludes with a discussion of 20th century Briarcliff and the Briarcliff of today.

V. Everit Macy (1871-1930) has been described as "a helluva nice guy." He earned a degree in 1893 from Columbia's School of Architecture, where he studied alongside Chester Aldrich, architect of his future house. Macy himself never practiced professionally. Instead, this amazingly busy and selfless man spent his entire adult life improving the lives of others, mainly in Westchester County.

Answers to Briarcliff Manor History Trivia Questions No1

We have provided some additional information and pictures on the sites mentioned in the quiz.

Test your knowledge of the history of our village

See how many of the sites pictured below you can identify. We will post the answers in two weeks on the Events Page of our website at https://www.briarcliffhistory.org/events-news and our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BriarcliffHistory/

During the early 1900s, Briarcliff was home to one of America’s most famous detectives. His friend, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called him “America’s Sherlock Holmes” and The New York Times called him “The greatest detective America has produced.”

With the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote very soon upon us, it is our privilege to be able to bring to your attention one of the most prominent of the Suffragists, Carrie Chapman Catt…

Currently the Briarcliff Manor Fire Department is organized into three fire companies, the ambulance corps, and the fire police who deal with traffic and crowd control.

The “Crossways” was built in 1820 by Joseph Whitson and was the home of John Whitson. The Whitson Family owned 400 acres of farmland and had several houses in the area and so the intersection of Pleasantville and South State roads became known as Whitson’s Corners.

God and Route 9A. And almost 50,000 cars—daily.

That's the number of vehicles that motor by Briarcliff Manor's "God Answers Prayers" sign each day. But why is the subtle, yet iconic placard there?

This house at 25 Studio Hill Road may be more familiar to you as Maison Lafitte, La Petite Affair, Unique Affairs at Mansion Hill, Tara on Hudson, Hudson at Haymount House, or most recently as The Briarcliff Manor/Antipasti di Napoli. 

On September 23, 1780 British Major John Andre, dressed in civilian clothes, rode south through Westchester on his way to British-held New York City after meeting with American General Benedict Arnold. In his boot were the plans for the American Fortress at West Point which Arnold planned to surrender to the British.

Mrs. Eileen O’Connor Weber was an exceptional woman, but that is something the community already knows. She was a woman whose charisma, generosity, and larger-than-life personality lives in Briarcliff Manor to this day.

Driving down Scarborough Road, one might notice a long brick wall running from Philips Laboratories to one of its distant entrances on Holbrook Road.  I often wondered why this wall was there.  I eventually discovered that this wall once served as the border of the “Waldheim” estate of James and Ellin Speyer. 

The Briarcliff Library was started in 1914 by the Briarcliff Manor Community Club which was organized to conduct lectures, hold theatrical performances and meetings of literary, political and religious societies. According to the 1914 issue of “Community Notes” published by the club “The library is open for the lending of books.