White Plains

History

At the time of the Dutch settlement of Manhattan in the early 17th century, the region had been used as farmland by the Weckquaeskeck tribe, a Wappinger people, and was called "Quarropas". To early traders it was known as "the White Plains", either from the white balsam (Gnaphalium polycephalum) which was said to have covered it, or from the heavy mist that local tradition suggests hovered over the swamplands near the Bronx River. The first non-native settlement came in November 1683, when a party of Connecticut Puritans moved westward from an earlier settlement in Rye and bought about , presumably from the Weckquaeskeck. and as a city in 1916. After World War II, White Plains' downtown area developed into a shopping district featuring branches of many famous New York-based department and specialty stores. Some of these retail locations were the first large-scale suburban stores built in the United States. In 1949, Macy's launched a grand White Plains store on Main Street across from City Hall. Other prestigious stores followed, such as B. Altman and Company, Rogers Peet, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Alexander's, Wallachs, and a short-lived branch of Bergdorf Goodman, which was converted to sister chain Neiman Marcus in 1981. Construction of nearby parkways and expressways in the 1940s through the 1970s brought shoppers from elsewhere. During the late 1960s, the city of White Plains developed an extensive urban renewal plan for residential, commercial and mixed-use redevelopment that called for the demolition of its entire central business district from the Bronx River Parkway east to Mamaroneck Avenue. By 1978, the urban renewal program centered around the construction of the Westchester County Courthouse (1974), the Westchester One office building (1975), the…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  46,688
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  45,267
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  44,513
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  40,344
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  38,023
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  36,663
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  34,384
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  33,800

Largest nearby schools

• NEW ROCHELLE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NEW ROCHELLE · 3,076 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• WHITE PLAINS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · WHITE PLAINS · 2,220 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• MAMARONECK HIGH SCHOOL
  High · MAMARONECK · 1,660 students · 13:1 ratio
• PORT CHESTER SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · PORT CHESTER · 1,555 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• WHITE PLAINS MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · WHITE PLAINS · 1,517 students · 9.7:1 ratio
• SCARSDALE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · SCARSDALE · 1,458 students · 10.3:1 ratio
• YONKERS MONTESSORI ACADEMY
  Other · YONKERS · 1,261 students · 15:1 ratio
• HOMMOCKS SCHOOL
  Middle · LARCHMONT · 1,258 students · 10.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2025-08-05
  1 km N of Hillsdale, New Jersey
• M 3 — 2025-08-03
  0 km W of Little Ferry, New Jersey
• M 2.9 — 2024-05-24
  6 km E of Califon, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-05-01
  1 km NW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.9 — 2024-04-27
  7 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-04-10
  5 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey