Scarsdale History: From Hardscrabble Farms to Gracious Estates

One of Scarsdale's first residents, Thomas Hadden was the father of not one, but two families at the same time -- a white family consisting of an English wife, two sons and a daughter who lived in Wayside Cottage, and a family of slaves he fathered with "the Wench Rose" who lived across the road in what is now the Underhill House at 1020 Post Road.

That's just one of the many interesting stories revealed in a new documentary, "Scarsdale in the 18th & 19th Centuries: From Hardscrabble Farms to Gracious Estates," hosted by the Scarsdale Historical Society and narrated by historian Barbara Shay McDonald. You can watch it online here.

It's hard to imagine Scarsdale as the home of large farms, slaves, revolutionaries and even a gun powder factory: but those were just a few of the surprising elements of Scarsdale's history that are chronicled in the video which traces Scarsdale's history from 1701.

The documentary was professionally produced and directed by Scarsdale native Lesley Topping, an independent filmmaker, producer and film editor whose work includes dramatic films, documentaries, and television programs. She partnered with her cousin Richard Westlein, a 12-time Emmy Award winning cinematographer and ABC cameraman whose credits include "One Life to Live", "All My Children", and is currently the cameraman for "The View."

Barbara Shay MacDonald says she first became interested in Scarsdale's history when she was in contract to purchase the Underhill House in 1967 where her family lived for over 30 years. She did some research at Wayside Cottage but found that there was no mention of the family of slaves that were the original residents of Underhill House. In fact, MacDonald only figured this out when she came upon Hadden's will that stipulated that, upon his death, his slave children should "larnt to read," taught a trade and be freed.

Another early resident of Wayside Cottage was James Varian, a butcher from New York City who bought the house after Hadden's death. The Varian family lived there from 1763 to 1853. He and his sons were patriots in the Revolutionary War. In 1853 the property was sold to Charles Butler who built a mansion on the land and farmed much of the property that is now Fox Meadow.

One of this country's earliest authors, James Fenimore Cooper was also a renowned resident. He married Susan Delancey, a great granddaughter of Caleb Heathcote. Best known for "Last of the Mohicans," he used another historic Scarsdale home, "The Locusts" as the scene for "The Spy," which was the first American novel, and written while Fenimore Cooper lived in Scarsdale. The Locusts still stands today.

Greenacres was home to a gunpowder factory powered by the water from the Bronx River. There were three fatalities there before it was eventually torn down. Another famous home that remains on Brook Lane today, is the Powder Mill House, which at one time was a tea house with a sunken Italian garden overlooking the river.

There are many more historic buildings in Scarsdale and Edgemont to discover in this 30-minute film that is a gift to the community from the Scarsdale Historical Society. Watch it here: