Eastview, New York facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eastview
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Business district
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Headquarters of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, one of many commercial buildings in Eastview
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| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Westchester |
| Town | Mount Pleasant |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Area code(s) | 914 |
| GNIS feature ID | 972438 |
| Historic names | East Tarrytown Knapp's Corners |
Eastview is a business area in Mount Pleasant, New York. It is about 25 miles north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Long ago, Eastview was a small village, also called a hamlet. It had homes, a post office, a train station, and a school.
Today, Eastview is known for its many office buildings. It is home to the main offices of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. This company moved into a new campus here in 2014. The Hammond House, a historic farmhouse from the 1720s, is also in Eastview.
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History of Eastview
For a long time, the Eastview area was mostly farmland. In 1824, Westchester County bought some land. They built the Westchester County Alms House here. This was a place with buildings and a cemetery. It helped abandoned children, the elderly, the poor, and people without homes. Later, this almshouse became part of the Westchester Medical Center.
The area got its name, Eastview, from a large farm. This farm was called East View Farm. It was 350 acres and bought by a grocery store owner, James Butler, in 1893. Before that, part of this land belonged to John Paulding. He was famous for capturing John André during the American Revolutionary War.
Life in the Old Hamlet
Eastview used to be a small, busy hamlet. It had about 15 wooden houses. There were also general stores and candy shops. The community had a hall and a Methodist church. A one-room schoolhouse served the local children. Farms around the hamlet provided milk and other products to nearby Tarrytown.
The hamlet was located near the old Tarrytown Lakes Pump house. It stretched east towards where a Park-and-Ride lot is today. John Paulding's grandfather, Joseph Paulding, built a small farm here in 1753. A man named John F. Brown owned a general store in the center of the hamlet. Brown's Mill, a grist mill, was also in Eastview. It burned down in the 1920s.
The Eastview train station was close to the almshouse. It also held the community's post office. The station was part of the New York and Putnam Railroad. Near the station was a tall, 80-foot (25 m) high trestle. This was a bridge for the railroad. In 1881, the train tracks were moved to get rid of this trestle.
Changes by the Rockefeller Family
In 1893, John D. Rockefeller started buying land nearby. He was building his large estate in Pocantico Hills. The train tracks ran through his property, making a lot of noise. Also, the sight of Eastview was not pleasing in his quiet estate.
So, in 1928, John D. Rockefeller's son, John Jr., took over the estate. He talked with the New York Central railroad company. They owned the tracks. John Jr. wanted the railroad moved to a different path. He offered to pay $200,000 for this change.
In the late 1920s, John Jr. quietly bought almost all the property in Eastview. He paid well for the homes, from $25,000 to $50,000 each. He spent $825,000 to buy nearly the whole area. The 46 families who had lived there for a long time moved away. The buildings were torn down on May 1, 1929. The new train tracks were built along what used to be Eastview's main street.
In July 1930, John Jr. gave some of the Eastview land to Westchester County. This land helped build the Saw Mill River Parkway. In 1935, the old cemetery in Eastview was covered with 20 feet of dirt. This allowed the Saw Mill River Parkway to be built over it.
Eastview Today
After World War II, Butler's old Eastview estate was considered as a place for the United Nations headquarters. In the early 1960s, Union Carbide bought the property. Later, they sold it to Landmark at Eastview, which still owns it. Today, the company Con Edison is located where the county almshouse once stood.
