Kensico Village

Kensico was named in 1849 for a Siwanoy Indian chief, Cokenseko, who had sold most of the land surrounding White Plains to English settlers in the 1600s. The English settlers had moved inland from villages along Long Island Sound. They took advantage of the varied geography of the inland region-its cliffs, ridges, valleys, streams and ponds-to establish water-powered mills and lay out roads in the valleys. One of these roads, an important east-west connection stretching from Tarrytown to the Connecticut border, followed an Indian route known as the Otter Trail. It became known as Upper Cross Road (now Steven’s Avenue) when the area was populated by English and German settlers. The old State Road, which ran through the village of Kensico, was a main artery for north-south travel.

In the 1700s, the early hamlets in this area bore the names of the mill owners, but the early Indian chiefs were not forgotten. For example,Wampus Pond bore the name of an Indian sachem,Wampus, from early days of its settlement. Through the years, Kensico (formerly Robbins’ Mills, Fisher’s Mills and earlier, Wright’s Mills) flourished with mills, factories, and other businesses, while the lower neighborhood of Davis Brook (Valhalla) was a settlement of a few farms. The extension of the Harlem River Railroad through Valhalla in 1845 created a small business area in the vicinity of the station, and in 1850 a stage line for mail and passengers was established between Valhalla, Kensico,Armonk (Mile Square) and Banksville.

Post offices were being established in this rural area in the mid-nineteenth century. As the area's business activities increased, Indian names for towns tended to replace those of mill owners.