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Upcoming Events
at the New Castle Historical Society
Lecture by WWII Veteran Sgt. Dan Santagata
Sunday, Feb. 25 at 2pm, Chappaqua Library
Silhouette Artist Portraits
Saturday, Apr. 13. Details to follow on how to book your session.
Exhibition Members' Preview Party: New Castle Artists View New Castle
Friday, Apr. 19
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LEGO Landmarks Exhibition Highlights
Over 70 children in grades K-6 participated in the New Castle Historical Society and Chappaqua PTA STEM Committee's LEGO Landmarks Exhibition to reinterpret and build local landmarks.
More than 150 people attended the opening party bringing in kids and families to marvel at the 39 submitted structures shown throughout the Horace Greeley House and to learn more about the history of our town.
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Historic Homes of New Castle: The Shingle House
Shinglehouse Road takes its name from this very old house, sheathed in shingles, that stands at the corner of Pinesbridge Road. Its first known owner was James Cornell (1753-1839), who married fellow Quaker Elizabeth Chadeayne in 1780. We don't know whether the house was already in existence when they married, or whether they built it when they established their own household. In any event, it represents the simple, early style of the Colonial and early Federal periods. Its shape was originally a plain symmetrical box, with heavy stone chimneys centered at each end of the roof ridge. A slightly later addition at the back, covered by an extension of the back roof, gave it the asymmetrical form known as a saltbox. Further additions in the 20th century have altered it into a comfortable modern home, graciously combining the old and new.
|  | As the photograph shows, the front of the house has two front doors, and originally there was a separate room behind each one. Why? Because this wasn’t only a home. In James Cornell’s time, when Pinesbridge Road was a main highway and there was no downtown before the arrival of the railroad in 1846, the room closest to the road served as a country store, selling tobacco, tea, and spices. The other room served as the parlor and kitchen of the home. The Shingle House is apparently the only one of these establishments to have survived here. | |
Horace Greeley's 213th Birthday Celebration!
We celebrated the 213th birthday of our favorite resident, Horace Greeley, on February 3rd! Neighbors were able to tour the LEGO Landmarks Challenge exhibition while enjoying birthday cake. As an added bonus, Town Historian Gray Williams was on hand to answer questions about the history of New Castle.
Horace requested that in lieu of gifts, please consider becoming a member!
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Our Local Underground Railroad Station
by Gray Williams, Town Historian
| The Quakers have always believed that all human beings possess a portion of the Holy Spirit, and are therefore equal, regardless of sex, race, nationality, or any other distinction. In consequence, theirs was the first religious denomination in this country to renounce slavery. In the 1770s, they concluded that owning fellow human beings was simply wrong, and that any Friend who persisted in doing so would be disowned. | Moses Pierce, operator of a local stop on the Underground Railroad. | In the years leading up to the Civil War, the Quakers continued to oppose slavery, but they were somewhat ambivalent about whether they should go so far as breaking the law to resist it. So, there was only one member of the Chappaqua meeting who operated a station on the Underground Railroad to Canada, and that was Moses Pierce. His farm lay on Bedford Road, just over the border of New Castle in Mount Pleasant, where Pierce Drive is today. | In his lifetime, Moses Pierce was considered to be something of a contrarian. His portrait at the Friends’ meetinghouse, based on a photograph, certainly suggests a stern and stubborn character. He was nonetheless respected for his steadfast devotion to his convictions. He and his family are buried in a prominent row at the Quaker graveyard. | | |
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Museum Shop
Cuddle up this winter with a historic New Castle throw blanket, part of our collection of locally-inspired merchandise and memorabilia.
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