Cedar Knolls is an affluent district of the City of Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. It shares the zip code and postal address of the neighboring village of Bronxville. It was described in a 2001 New York Times article as “… a snug suburban neighborhood in the northeast corner of Yonkers, is in many ways a community frozen in time. The subdivision of narrow and meandering streets exists today primarily unchanged since it was built in the early 20th century.
Approved as a subdivision in 1913 and granted landmark status by Yonkers in 1996, the 104-acre, 143-home Westchester neighborhood has historical and current associations with the arts, sports, and business. Cedar Knolls is a former artist colony, and composer Jerome Kern and actor Charlie Chaplin each called Cedar Knolls their home for a period in their lives. Residents from multiple professions and all business areas are now part of the community.
The Lenape Nation
What is today considered Cedar Knolls was initially part of the hunting, fishing, and farming grounds of the Wiechquaeskeck tribe of the Lenape nation. The Lenape were once sovereign over a vast domain stretching along the Middle Atlantic coast from New York to Delaware Bay, between Long Island Sound and the Atlantic coast to the Delaware River valley. This tribe made its settlements on the banks of the rivers that flowed between the surrounding hills and on knolls that held special significance for the Lenape. One of their longhouses served as a wintertime school and was located on a knoll overlooking the present site of the Patricia A. Dichiaro School on Bronxville Road, then a significant trail. EZ Westchester Junk Removal
Architecture and Landscape
At the end of the 19th century, controlled, picturesque settings for planned landscapes called the Aesthetic Movement became popular. A reaction to American society’s increasing industrialization and urbanization, this movement sought to emphasize the bucolic and restorative qualities of rural home life. In these planned rural landscapes, nature was manipulated for aesthetic purposes. Typically, the often-hilly topography was accommodated by meandering roads and lanes organized to enhance already scenic views in the curvilinear plan. The curvilinear plan was to become a primary element for developing Cedar Knolls. Starting in 1910, the Cedar Knolls subdivision was executed as planned, embracing a unique period of American architecture, utilizing a curvilinear plan, and resulting in the architectural cohesiveness that exists in Cedar Knolls to this day.
Nearby Restaurants
- Barney McNabbs is located at 600 Tuckahoe Rd, Yonkers, Westchester, NY
- Corrib Tavern is located at 1041 Yonkers Ave, Yonkers, NY.
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