Pound Ridge Historic District

The Pound Ridge Historic District encompasses almost all of the hamlet of Pound Ridge. It is located in far eastern Westchester County, one-and-a-half miles south of the county-owned Ward-Pound Ridge Reservation and two miles north of the Connecticut border. Covering approximately ninety-five acres, the district contains forty-six contributing historic buildings constructed between 1758 and 1950, with the majority dating between 1780 and 1852. Included in the district are a mixture of residences, a former school (currently a library), a former lecture hall (present-day town hall), and a number of churches and church buildings. The Pound Ridge Historic District is significant for the integrity of its overall setting, which has received few insertions of post-nineteenth century structures, as well as for the quantity of surviving architectural resources. The Pound Ridge Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 1985.

The 23-square-mile town of Pound Ridge was incorporated in 1788. Its natural topography contains wetlands, marshlands, densely wooded hills, and cliffs that cascade into ravines and ponds. Its strict zoning laws regarding lots sizes have helped Pound Ridge to retain much of its rural look and feel over the past 230+ years. To this day, Pound Ridge remains sparsely populated; according to the 2020 U.S. Census, it had a population of about 5100, and the lowest population density of any town in Westchester County, New York.

During the nineteenth century, Pound Ridge was known mostly as a dairy-farming community. When industry arrived, it revolved around shoe, hat, and basketmaking. For a time, Pound Ridge was referred to as “Basket Town” because it was a leading maker of straw oyster baskets used by fishermen on the nearby Long Island Sound. 

The center of Pound Ridge’s Historic District, along Westchester Avenue near Pound Ridge Road, is where the religious, commercial, and civic buildings are concentrated, and where development is densest. Outside of this core, buildings are located on relatively large (three- to five-acre) lots along the gently curving tree-lined roads.

Buildings in the historic district are predominantly of the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century. Some retain remnants of Victorian period embellishments, including fish-scale shingles, French windows, and small porches. Others exhibit eclectic embellishments in a Neoclassical mode, including Palladian windows and English "bow-front" and "sail-front" shop windows.

Residences in the historic district range in size from the one-and one-half story Betsey Lockwood Hunt house (1823) to the five-bay Solomon Lockwood house (ca. 1800). Non-residential buildings include the former Methodist Episcopal Church (1833) that is now the Pound Ridge Community Church; the former Patterson Memorial Presbyterian Church (1893) that is now Conant Hall; the former Presbyterian Lecture Hall (1852) that is now the Pound Ridge Town Hall; and the former Pound Ridge Village School (1851) that is now the Hiram Halle Memorial Library.

1. Bowie, Infiniti Styles. “The Quiet Town Where Wealthy New Yorkers are Moving During the Pandemic.” TheClick.news. Dec. 9, 2020. Accessed March 2, 2022. https://theclick.news/new-york-coronavirus-wealthy-westchester-moving/
2. Harris, Jay. God’s Country: A History of Pound Ridge, New York. Pequot Press, CT. 1971.
3. Harris, Jay. “Records of the Methodist Episcopal/Community Church: Pound Ridge, New York, 1833-1983.” The Community Church. Pound Ridge, NY. 1984. 
4. Kriss, Gary. “If You’re Thinking of Living in Pound Ridge.” New York Times. March 13, 1988.
5. Kurutz, Steven. “Pound Ridge, N.Y.: A Rural Alternative to Nearby Commuter Towns.” New York Times. July 21, 2021.
6. “Pound Ridge Historic District #85003196.” National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service. 1985. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75323177 
7. Pound Ridge Historical Society. https://www.poundridgehistorical.org/ 
8. Williams, Gray. Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County. Westchester County Historical Society. 2003.