Editing Ardsley, New York (section)

== History ==
{{expand section|when its second population boom ended, and what has become of the town since the 1950s|date=December 2022}}
Prior to European settlement Ardsley and its surrounding area was inhabited by the [[Wecquaesgeek|Wickquasgeck]] tribe, a band of the [[Wappinger]], related to the [[Lenape]] (Delaware) tribes which dominated lower New York state and [[New Jersey]].<ref>The name of the Indian band has variously been spelled Wiechquaeskeck, Wechquaesqueck, Weckquaesqueek, Wecquaesgeek, Weekquaesguk, Wickquasgeck, Wickquasgek, Wiequaeskeek, Wiequashook and Wiquaeskec. The spelling given here is one widely used for the original name of [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] in lower Manhattan: "The Wickquasgeck Trail."  The meaning of the name, however spelled, has been given as "the end of the marsh, swamp or wet meadow," "place of the bark kettle," and "birch bark country." See {{cite book|author=James Hammond Trumbull|title=Indian Names of Places, Etc., in and on the Borders of Connecticut: With Interpretations of Some of Them|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_JS8TAAAAYAAJ|year=1881|publisher=Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company|location=Hartford|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_JS8TAAAAYAAJ/page/n97 81]}}</ref><ref name="chrono">Henry Steiner, [http://henrysteiner.com/DIRcomm/irvington/chronology.htm A Quick Chronology of Irvington, New York in the Early Days] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711162940/http://henrysteiner.com/DIRcomm/irvington/chronology.htm |date=2011-07-11 }}</ref>

After the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] came to the area, the land was part of the Bisightick tract of the [[Adriaen van der Donck|van der Donck]] grant purchased by [[Frederick Philipse]] in 1682, first [[Lord of the manor|lord]] of [[Philipsburg Manor]]. In 1785 the state of [[New York (state)|New York]] confiscated the land from his [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] grandson, Frederick Philipse III, after he sided with the British in the American Revolution, and sold it to local [[farmer]]s who had been tenants of the Phillipse family.

The village of Ashford was formed from some of these portions, named for the main road. Notable businesses included a [[blacksmith]], and a sawmill and grist mill both situated upon the [[Saw Mill River]]. Three pickle factories were in operation by the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], and in the 1880s the construction of the [[Putnam and Dutchess Railroad|Putnam Railroad]] and [[New Croton Aqueduct]] led to a population boom which saw the installation of electric lighting and improved roads.

Due to the presence of an earlier Ashford Post Office in New York state, the town was forced to change its name in order to receive its own. The choice of "Ardsley" is attributed to [[Cyrus West Field]], who owned {{convert|780|acre|km2}} of land lying between Broadway ([[Dobbs Ferry, New York|Dobbs Ferry]]) and Sprain Brook (Greenburgh) named Ardsley Park. He had named his home Ardsley Park after the English birthplace of his immigrant ancestor, Zechariah Field ([[East Ardsley]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], England), who immigrated to the U.S. in 1629. The story told at one time is that Field agreed to use his influence to get the post office established, and in return the village would be renamed Ardsley.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy - Descendants of Cyrus West Field|url=https://atlantic-cable.com/Field/FieldDescendants.htm|access-date=2021-09-20|website=atlantic-cable.com}} The information about Zechariah Field and Ardsley Park came from Diane Druin Gravlee, great-great-granddaughter of Cyrus W. Field.</ref>  The first village postmaster was appointed in 1883.

Ardsley was incorporated as a town in 1896.  [[Ardsley High School]] was established in 1912, with an addition in 1925. The town would continue to grow at a steady pace until a fire destroyed the village center in 1914. This led to the reconstruction of several buildings, and the establishment of a fire department in the former schoolhouse. Two population booms would follow, the first between the end of [[World War I]] and the beginning of the [[Great Depression]], and the second following [[World War II]]. The Concord Road elementary school was built in 1953 with an addition in 1966. The town outgrew its original high school by the mid-1950s, resulting in the current facility being opened in 1957, and graduating its first class in 1958. The old school was converted into a middle school, until in 1971 the $5.5 million middle school was built.

The village was greatly changed during its second boom by the construction of the [[New York State Thruway]] in the late 1950s, which resulted in both the loss of the Ardsley station on the Putnam Division of the [[New York Central Railroad]] and the loss of much of the downtown business district.