CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARCHIVED SLIDESHOW PHOTOS
Thank you for visiting my web site. Northern Westchester is an important historical area that contributed greatly to our nation's development. The City of Peekskill, the Town of Cortlandt and the Town of Yorktown have given so much to our country's history. I am honored to have served as Mayor for the City of Peekskill and look forward to further serving the the community through this site.
This site will be updated often so stop back from time to time. I would appreciate receiving comments and suggestions regarding the site. Thank you very much.
John G. Testa
A Look into Peekskill Area History...
This feature of johngtesta.com will show rare historic photos of people, places and events. I will mostly be using photos from my personal collection. Photos submitted to johngtesta.com are welcome for this feature and if used will be given full credit. Enjoy! (click on photo for a larger view)
This 1907 photo shows the "Craig Mansion" on the Mount Florence property now known as Chapel Hill Estates. It was built in 1865 by Daniel H. Craig, an entrepreneur who owned a news service using carrier pigeons. He later became a correspondent for The Associated Press. He built the Italianate-style house in the country for his daughter, Florence, who suffered from tuberculosis.
The site, which Mr. Craig called Mount Florence, was acquired for $32,000 by Marshall Lefferts, a colonel during the Civil War, who was president of a number of early telegraph companies. In 1874, the Craig estate was sold to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, and they began calling it Mount St. Florence. Girls from 12 to 16 were referred to the school by the Welfare Department of the City of New York.
The nuns built other structures on the site for the school, some of which still stand. But the Craig house, which fell into disrepair late in the 20th century, was taken down in 2001.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARCHIVED HISTORY PHOTOS
Powered by online web analytics and statistics website program. |