Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site

Philipse Manor Hall in Yonkers, New York, is one of the state's oldest surviving buildings and a vivid testament to the Hudson Valley's layered history. Built around 1682 by Dutch-born merchant Frederick Philipse, the house became the center of a vast 52,000‑acre estate that once encompassed all of modern Yonkers and much of Westchester County. Over generations, the Philipse family expanded the structure into an elegant Georgian‑influenced manor, sustained by the labor of enslaved Africans and European tenant farmers. After the family fled to the British side during the American Revolution, the building served as Yonkers’ Village Hall and later as City Hall before being preserved in the early 20th century. Today, as the Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, it interprets Indigenous, African, and European histories and stands as a powerful reminder of the region’s colonial, revolutionary, and civic past.