The Ward House is a landmark of local and national historical distinction, standing at the crossroads of pre-colonial Westchester, where New York’s earliest patriots gave their lives for liberty. For over 300 years, the Ward House has witnessed both the earliest growth of our region and the birth of our nation -- one of the few colonial properties still with us to be appreciated and remembered:

Purchased from Native Americans in the early 1700s, this was the home of Eastchester Town Supervisor and Patriot Stephen Ward and his family.  Early in the Revolution, a bloody skirmish between Patriots and British Loyalists on March 16, 1777 would leave Captain Samuel Crawford mortally wounded. Tragically, Crawford’s body would never be recovered after being taken to a British prison – though he will never be lost to history. Crawford had been a witness to the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in White Plains, then casting what is believed to have been the first official motion to establish New York as a state. In November of 1778 the Ward House would be burned in retaliation for Stephen Ward’s patriotism, then rebuilt on the original footprint in the late 1790s by Stephen’s son, Jonathan Ward.

Over one hundred years ago, the Bronx Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) commemorated Crawford’s sacrifice. Dedicating the Captain Crawford monument at the corner of Post Road and Winter Hill, they placed a plaque that remains to this day on a massive stone across the street from the Ward House. In the early 20th century, remains of several Patriot soldiers were discovered and reburied by the D.A.R. at St. Paul’s Church in Mount Vernon.

The historical significance of this home and its surrounding sacred ground has been acknowledged and honored for over a century, and served Eastchester’s history well: As a meeting house, a tavern, a local inn and most notably a colonial post office commissioned by Postmaster Benjamin Franklin. Post Road was the main thoroughfare from The Pelhams to White Plains and points north throughout the Hudson Valley – and locally, this spot is the natural intersection of Eastchester, Bronxville and Tuckahoe.

Geographically, the location was the center of what had been a military no-man’s land between Dobbs Ferry and Mamaroneck – as well as the staging ground for the Battle of White Plains – this area was on the periphery of James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Spy. Here existed a deadly middle ground where loyalists and patriots often debated and struggled to determine what side Westchester (and New York) would be on during our revolution against the British. The Ward House sits at the center of Revolutionary Westchester.

Marble was discovered on Ward House land in the early 1800s. Later the Ward House would serve the community and local travelers along White Plains Post Road as Marble Hall. In 1839, the house would host President Martin Van Buren during his tour of Eastchester’s famed quarries. Irish quarry workers lacking a place of worship attended the first documented Catholic Mass in Eastchester at The Ward House in 1850, before the first Immaculate Conception Church was built three years later in Waverly Square. At the heart of a suburban village, the Ward House remained a welcomed historical location during Tuckahoe’s Centennial in 2002 and Eastchester’s 350th anniversary in 2014. 

Many untold stories, including those of Native Americans, enslaved persons, and women, have roots within the Ward House site that remain to be discovered and recounted. The Ward House can transition into a self-sustaining resource of living history for Westchester County, including serving schools and our regional historical community.

The Ward House can provide our county and local communities a central location to commemorate lower Westchester’s key role in the American Revolution. In solemn remembrance, these grounds, watered by the blood of patriots, can finally provide them a reflective resting place. This beloved home will leave future generations with an enduring look into our nation’s history, repurposing this 18th century home into the 21st century and beyond.

If you are interested in assisting us with this noble cause, please review our plans in the Executive Summary and feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions.

Sal Provenzano, President 

Friends of the Ward House Inc.

wardhousefriends.org  

wardhousefriends@gmail.com

917-650-5547