Purchase is a hamlet in the town and village of Harrison, in Westchester County, New York, United States. One myth explains that its name is derived from Harrison’s purchase, where John Harrison was to be granted as much land as he could ride in one day. Purchase is home to the State University of New York at Purchase and Manhattanville College.
In 1967, 200 residents supported a plan to incorporate Purchase so corporations could not build in the community. In response, officials from the Town of Harrison put forward plans to try to become a city to stop Purchase from seceding from the Town of Harrison. There are many historic sites located in Purchase. The grave of Revolutionary War General Thomas Thomas is located on the grounds of SUNY Purchase. The settings that SUNY Purchase now occupies were once Strathglass Farms, a dairy farm. The Quaker Friends Meetinghouse was founded in the 18th century. EZ Westchester Junk Removal
The original building fell victim to fire years ago, and the present one is an accurate reconstruction. Before the headquarters of Pepsi was built, the Blind Brook Polo Club was located on that site. Amelia Earhart flew her plane from the polo grounds. Many colonial-era homes and unspoiled natural woodlands have decreased due to residential development in the last 30 years. The Old Oaks Country Club, originally named ‘Hill Crest,’ is a splendid mansion house built in the late 1880s by millionaire Trenor Luther Park and his wife, Julia Catlin Park.
Trenor Luther was a Harvard graduate studying law and was a silk merchant. His father, Trenor William Park, funded the Panama Railway, ran for Vice President of the United States in 1864, and was involved with the California Gold Mines. Purchase is also known for being one of the wealthiest areas in the country. The Reid Hall, Manhattanville College was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Culture
Purchase in Westchester is known for the Purchase Community House (PCH), home of the Purchase Day Camp (PDC). It also runs after-school activities during the rest of the year. On the PCH property, there are four pools and numerous playing fields. The Purchase Free Library is also located on the PCH property. The Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens at the PepsiCo headquarters and the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College are two significant art collections found in the community.
During the 1980s, the county of Westchester, NY, hosted the festival Pepsico Summer fare, known for its opera productions which included Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde (1981–84), David Eaton’s The Cry of Clytaemnestra (1982), and Peter Sellars’s Little Mahagonny/Cantata 60: Conversations with Fear and Hope After Death (1985).
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