Editing White Plains, New York (section)

===Early history===
At the time of the Dutch settlement of [[Manhattan]] in the early 17th century, the region had been used as farmland by the [[Weckquaeskeck]] tribe, a [[Wappinger]] people, and was called "Quarropas".<ref name="wp">{{Cite web |title=History of White Plains &#124; White Plains, NY - Official Website |url=https://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/469/History-of-White-Plains |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011818/https://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/469/History-of-White-Plains |archive-date=February 12, 2019 |access-date=February 10, 2019 |website=www.cityofwhiteplains.com}}</ref> To early traders it was known as "the White Plains", either from the [[Gnaphalium|white balsam]] (''Gnaphalium polycephalum'') which was said to have covered it,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gannett |first=Henry |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0258/report.pdf |title=The Origin of Certain Place Names |date=1905 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |edition=Second |location=Washington, D.C. |page=324 |access-date=March 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415120728/http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0258/report.pdf |archive-date=April 15, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Britannica">''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Eleventh Edition (1911), Volume XXVIII, p. 607.</ref> or from the heavy mist that local tradition suggests hovered over the swamplands near the [[Bronx River]].<ref name="Hoffman">Hoffman, Redona. ''Yesterday in White Plains, a Picture History of a Vanished Era'', Second Edition, Privately Published, 1984. Available from the White Plains, NY Public Library and other sources.</ref> The first non-native settlement came in November 1683, when a party of [[Connecticut]] [[Puritans]] moved westward from an earlier settlement in [[Rye (city), New York|Rye]] and bought about {{convert|4400|acre|km2}}, presumably from the Weckquaeskeck.<ref name=wp/> However, John Richbell of [[Mamaroneck (town), New York|Mamaroneck]] claimed to have earlier title to much of the territory through his purchase of a far larger plot extending {{convert|20|mi|km|0}} inland, perhaps from a different tribe.<ref name="Hoffman" /> The matter was not settled until 1721, when a [[Land patent|Royal Patent]] for White Plains was granted by [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]].<ref name="Hoffman" />

In 1758, White Plains became the seat of [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]] when the colonial government for the county left West Chester, which was located in what is now the northern part of the borough of the [[Bronx]], in New York City. The unincorporated village remained part of the [[Rye, Westchester County, New York|Town of Rye]] until 1788 when the town of White Plains was created.<ref name="Hoffman" />

On July 9, 1776, a copy of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] was delivered to the New York Provincial Congress, which was meeting in the county courthouse. The delegates quickly adopted a resolution approving the Declaration, thus declaring both the colony's independence and the formation of the [[State of New York]]. The Declaration itself was first publicly read from the steps of the courthouse on July 11.<ref name="Hoffman" />

During September and October 1776, troops led by [[George Washington]] took up positions in the hills of the village, hotly pursued by the British under General [[Sir William Howe]], who attacked on October 28.<ref name="Hoffman" /> The [[Battle of White Plains]] took place primarily on Chatterton Hill, (later known as "Battle Hill," and located just west of what was then a swamp but is now the downtown area) and the Bronx River. Howe's force of 4,000–6,000 British and [[Hessian (soldiers)|Hessian soldiers]] required three attacks before the Continentals, numbering about 1,600 under the command of Generals Alexander McDougall and Israel Putnam, retreated, joining Washington's main force, which did not take part in the battle. Howe's forces had suffered 250 casualties, a severe loss, and he made no attempt to pursue the Continentals, whose casualties were about 125 dead and wounded. Three days after the battle, Washington withdrew north of the village, which was then occupied by Howe's forces. But after several inconclusive skirmishes over the next week, Howe withdrew on November 5, leaving White Plains to the Continentals.<ref name="Hoffman" /> Ironically, one of Washington's subordinates, Major John Austin, who was probably drunk after having celebrated the enemy's withdrawal, reentered the village with his detachment and proceeded to burn it down. Although he was court-martialed and convicted for this action, he escaped punishment.<ref name="Hoffman" />

The first [[United States Census]], conducted in 1790, listed the White Plains population at 505, of whom 46 were slaves.<ref name="Hoffman" /> (New York City's population at that time was about 33,000.) By 1800, the population stood at 575 and in 1830, 830.<ref name="Hoffman" /> By 1870, 26 years after the arrival of the [[New York Central Railroad]], it had swollen to 2,630<ref name="Hoffman" /> and by 1890 to 4,508. In the decades that followed the count grew to 7,899 (1900) and 26,425 (1910).<ref name="Britannica" /> White Plains was incorporated as a village in 1866<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historic Map - White Plains, NY - 1887 |url=https://www.worldmapsonline.com/historic-map-white-plains-ny-1887/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731235824/https://www.worldmapsonline.com/historic-map-white-plains-ny-1887/ |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |access-date=July 31, 2022 |website=World Maps Online}}</ref> and as a city in 1916.