National Register of Historic Places

North Salem Town Hall

Salem Center, Westchester County, New York
Listed
September 3, 1980
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
80002794

About this property

North Salem Town Hall is a historic town hall located in North Salem, Westchester County, New York. It was built about 1770 by New York lawyer Stephen De Lancey, a member of a prominent Loyalist family. The house has been used for governmental and educational functions since 1773. It is a three-story frame building, covered in clapboard, five bays wide and three bays deep on a fieldstone foundation in a vernacular Georgian style. It has a gambrel roof topped by a six-sided cupola. Although the building underwent various modifications over time—such as the addition of a large porch—its exterior was returned to its initial design following World War II. Through his grandmother, Anne Van Cortlandt, Stephen De Lancey was a descendant of the owners of Van Cortlandt Manor, once the largest landholding in northern Westchester. Around 1770, he decided to build for himself a manor house in Westchester (in what is now North Salem) that would measure up to that of the Van Cortlandts. He moved into the house in 1773, but had to leave his new residence and move to New York City just months later amid growing political tensions on the eve of the American Revolutionary War. A staunch Loyalist, he eventually emigrated to Canada and never lived in his house again. De Lancey died in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, in 1809. The building was appropriated by local Patriots in 1776 and initially served as a courthouse and jail. From 1790 to 1884, it housed a private school for boys, the North Salem Academy. The academy survived for almost a century and had several prominent people as its graduates, including DeWitt Clinton and Daniel D. Tompkins. After 1886, the building housed the town offices of North Salem, New York. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as North Salem Town Hall.

Location

Salem Center, Westchester County, New York
41.32904, -73.59718

Categories

EDUCATIONARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Nearby Historic Sites

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Purdy, Joseph, Homestead
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Somers Hamlet Historic District
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Nearby Battles

Raid on Danbury and Battle of Ridgefield
1777Revolutionary War
5.7 mi
Battle of Ridgefield Connecticut
1777Revolutionary War
6 mi
Battle of Ridgefield (Connecticut, 1777)
1777Revolutionary War
6 mi
Skirmish at Ridgefield
1777Revolutionary War
6.1 mi
Battle of Pine's Bridge
1781Revolutionary War
7.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was North Salem Town Hall listed on the National Register?

North Salem Town Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 3, 1980.

What type of historic resource is North Salem Town Hall?

North Salem Town Hall is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for North Salem Town Hall?

The period of significance for North Salem Town Hall is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near North Salem Town Hall?

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