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A history tour of Revolutionary War sites in Westchester County

The Jacob Purdy House is currently located at 60 Park Avenue, White Plains, New York. George Washington and his army encamped at this house twice during the time of the Revolutionary War. Washington’s troops first used the Jacob Purdy House as a headquarters in 1776 during the Battle of White Plains. Then it was used again, in 1778 when Washington had the British Army on the run. It should be noted that there are still some historians who argue that Washington’s troops were located at the Miller House, another White Plains site, not the Purdy House in 1776. (2) The Mohican Native Americans originally owned the land where the Purdy House now stands. In 1683, Joseph Horton purchased one hundred and thirty two acres of land from the Mohicans, which now has become the city of White Plains. In the early 1720’s Joseph Horton’s brother Samuel, took control over the purchased land and shortly after, in 1721 began construction of the Purdy House. (1) When Samuel Horton died in 1730 the house and its surrounding farm land was purchased by Samuel Purdy. Samuel Purdy passed the land down to his son Jacob Purdy. Jacob owned the land during the Revolutionary War, when Washington occupied it twice. The Purdy family sold the house to Samuel Mott in 1869. In the 1960’s the house became neglected and was slated to be demolished to make way for roads. Fortunately for this historic site, in 1963 the Battle of White Plains Monument Committee purchased and restored the house. In 1973 the Purdy House was moved to Park Avenue and was deeded to the City of White Plains. It is currently maintained by the White Plains Historical Society. The Jacob Purdy House is still open today and is available for tours by appointment. You can also visit the Purdy House by checking events open to the public on the White Plains Historical Society’s official website. (3)

The Jacob Purdy House was used by President George Washington as his headquarters twice, in 1776 and 1778, during the Revolutionary War. The Purdy House is believed to be the oldest residence in the city of White Plains.

The Jacob Purdy House

The oldest section of the Miller House was built in 1738, on land acquired by John Miller and the Miller family around the 1680s. The original portion of the house was built in 1738 and then later added on to by Elijah Miller around 1770. In addition to being one of the few remaining 18th century structures in White Plains, the house is an excellent example of the colonial vernacular architecture. While not particularly unique, the house exhibits features that were popular with farmsteads in Westchester at the time. The clapboarded one and a half story home has a porch that extends the full length of the front of the home and two interior chimneys on either side. As the Revolution broke out, Elijah Miller joined the Westchester Militia as a Lieutenant under Colonel Samuel Drake. He was wounded at Hells Gate on the East River in the days leading up to the Battle of Brooklyn and died of his wounds on August 21, 1776. Ann Fisher Miller, Elijah’s widow, and their five children took over the home and farm prior to the retreat of Washington’s Continental Army from New York City. Between October 21st and 31st they took up positions in White Plains in preparation for an assault by British General William Howe. At some point the Miller home was commandeered and used as a command post for Continental Army leadership, while the Miller’s farmland played host to the soldiers’ camps. General Howe, having failed to cut off Washington’s retreat, assaulted the colonial forces on October 28th. Washington’s defeat at White Plains would force him to retreat further north, crossing the Hudson River at Peekskill and would set the stage for his famous crossing of the Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton. Those October days would be well remembered by locals and by the 1850s the Miller House would become an unofficial shrine to George Washington. In 1917, after decades of intermittent occupation, Westchester County purchased the Miller House and the remaining land. It was opened to the public the following year as a museum operated by the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation with assistance from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Due to financial constraints, the museum would fall into disuse and public access became limited. In 2017, the Friends of The Miller House announced that $2 million would be put towards renovating the house for future use. The Miller House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 29, 1976.

This colonial-era farmhouse is one of the last remaining 18th-century buildings in White Plains. As an important landmark in the events of the 1776 Battle of White Plains, the Miller House was the home of Ann Fisher Miller, widow of a Westchester Militiaman named Elijah Miller. Generations of tradition surround the colonial farmhouse and it has become an important cultural feature in the North White Plains/North Castle area. The house is owned by Westchester County and offers public programs.

The Miller House

A native of Bermuda, William Hammond arrived in New York in the early 1700s. By 1719 he was leasing a tenant farm on Philipsburg Manor, and about that year he constructed a home on the parcel that he was renting. Because William owned the building but not the land on which it was located, he constructed the house without a basement so that it could be relocated if his lease was terminated. William served as an elder at the Old Dutch Church in nearby Sleepy Hollow, and was also a captain in the militia. After William died in 1762, his fourth son, James, inherited the tenant farm. James served as an officer in the Westchester County Militia during the Revolutionary War, and was appointed a lieutenant colonel in 1775 and a colonel in 1776. He was captured by the British in May 1780 and was held as a prisoner until November 1781. As Frederick Philipse III sided with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War, the State of New York confiscated Philipsburg Manor during the conflict. Disposition of the manor was the responsibility of the Commissioners of Forfeiture, who sold off the tenant farms from 1784 to 1786. In 1785 James Hammond purchased the farm that he had been leasing from the Philipses. He lived in the home until his death in 1810, and the dwelling remained in his family for at least three more generations. The central portion of the Hammond House, which is one-and-a-half stories with a broad front porch, is the original section of the structure. In 1835 a small cottage that was standing on another portion of the property was moved and adjoined to the west end of the original house. This addition served as the house's kitchen wing. In 1860 a two-story addition was built on the east side of the original section. The land on which the Hammond House stands was acquired by New York City in 1923. Two years later, the city allowed the Westchester County Historical Society to acquire and restore the house. WCHS operated Hammond House as a museum from 1926 to 1989, but sold the building after it was unable to acquire the land on which it stood. Hammond House, which is now privately owned, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

From 1693 to 1779 all of the present towns of Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant and Ossining, as well as the City of Yonkers, were part of Philipsburg Manor, which had been granted the Philipse family through a royal charter.  The manor featured hundreds of tenant farms, one of which was leased by the Hammond family.  Comprising 242 acres, the farm included a house that was built by William Hammond in 1719.  When the tenant farms were auctioned by New York State in 1785, the Hammond family purchased their farm, and resided on the property for at least three more generations.  Operated by the Westchester County Historical Society as a museum for many years and now privately owned, the Hammond House is an excellent example of a Colonial tenant farmhouse.

Hammond House

While it was originally constructed in 1732, the Odell house was built in stages over time. Originally, it was a modest residential home that was built by John Tompkins of Eastchester and located in an area surrounded by locust trees and woods. Tompkins eventually built another house further north in 1760 and decided to make the home a “tenant farmstead of Philipsburg Manor, one of the largest and richest manors of its time.”1The structure itself is “a composite structure with varying roof heights.”2 The original single-story portion of the home was constructed in 1732 as mentioned, with a eastern wing added in 1765 that brought it to a one-half story home until 1785, when the west and eastern wings were raised once again. This would remain relatively untouched until 1855 when a two-story stone west wing was added to the home. Additionally, “the central and east portions of Odell House, on fieldstone foundations, are of wood frame construction covered with cedar shingles. The western wing is constructed of coursed local fieldstone. Shingles cover the gable roofs.”3 The structure also features three divided Dutch doors. Two located on the southern side, with one located to the north. In regards to the interior of the home, there is only one chimney that is located on the eastern end of the structure. The home's floors have had to have replacements over the years but originally it was constructed with red pine boards of random width, some of these boards can still be found. “All walls are covered with plaster, and, in some areas, the plaster is laid directly on the original wattle and daub.”4 Original mantles and molding are also still present in the home with much of the interior and exterior being modeled in the Dutch fashion. There is interest in the structure because much of its original eighteenth century aspects are still in place even in the twenty-first century. With time the structure has started to degrade but it is currently being restored. Following Tompkins' ownership of the home, Gilbert Bates occupied it from 1760 to 1785. But unfortunately “Bates himself had been captured by the British early in the war and, like many another unfortunate prisoner, had died in captivity.”5 Ownership then went to his wife who sold the property to Col. John Odell, hence the name Odell House. “A local hero, Odell is known for having served as Lieutenant in the Westchester Guides during the Revolution, and for having been a member of a family established in Westchester by 1662.”6 It was in Odell family ownership until 1965 when the property was given to the Sons of the American Revolution.“Odell farm is particularly well-known as the Headquarters of Count de Rochambeau and campsite for the French expeditionary forces under his command between July 6-August 18, 1781. Here, Washington and Rochambeau forged the American and French alliance, and agreed to put the southern plan into effect.”7 Together Rochambeau and Washington created a plan at the Headquarters to deceive the British into believing that there would be an attack on New York City while they moved their forces elsewhere. “They were well on their way to Virginia before they could be intercepted. With Lafayette, they trapped Cornwallis at Yorktown.”8 This capture led to the surrender of Cornwallis which ultimately led to the final victory of the Revolution.The home has many stories to share of stories across the centuries. With work underway to restore the structure, the public will be able to experience an important piece of colonial history in Westchester County. Odell House was added to the National Register in 1973.

Constructed in 1732, the Odell House or Rochambeau Headquarters, served as French headquarters for a unit of five thousand men during the Revolutionary War. While the structure itself has no outstandingly architectural features, the stories of its residents, and its use by the Count Rochambeau during the war for independence gives this small home immense historical meaning.

Odell House Exterior (Exact Date Unknown)

Odell House 

Patriots' Park is a historic site located on the border between Tarrytown and Sleep Hollow in New York, that contains a monument commemorating the capture of a British spy named Major John Andre by three patriot militiamen. The monuments is topped by a figure of one of the militiamen, John Paulding, sculptured by William Rudolph O'Donovan . Paulding became famous when he along with two other soldiers, Issac Van Wart and David Williams who caught a British horsemen on the Albany Post Road. (1)The horsemen was Major John Andre, who was wearing civilian clothing. When Paulding, along with his two other fellow militiamen identified and searched Andre they found papers in his boots. General Benedict Arnold had secret correspondence with Major John Andre. Benedict Arnold, a patriot who was spying for the British, gave Andre papers concerning West Point which would help the British in the Revolutionary war. The three militiamen found these papers in Andre's boots when they captured him. (2)John Andre offered the three militiamen bribes in return for his release but they refused. Andre was convicted and hanged as a spy. (3)As a reward for the capture the three militiamen were granted medals, farms, and pensions. Along with the awards John Paulding was given a monument in his honor. (1)The cornerstone for the first monument of the three militiamen capturing Major John Andre was first established on Independence Day in 1853. In 1880 the monument was replaced and rededicated and to include the sculpture of John Paulding.

Patriots Park, located in Tarrytown, New York, is a recreational site with walkways, picnic areas, and a playground. This location has a historical monument called the Captors Monument which commemorates the capture of the British spy Major John Andre on this spot in 1780 by three militiamen, John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart and David Williams.

Monument in Patriots' Park commemorating the capture of Major John Andre.

Entries on This Tour

Westchester Revolutionary War Sites

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