White Plains, New York

White Plains is a city in the USA. It is located in the county of Westchester in the city of New York. It is also East of the Hudson River and a stones through from the Long Island Sound. In the year 2000 the city had a population of just over 53,000 people and this is estimated to have grown since then to in excess of 55,000.

White Plains is very close to New York Cit y and as such is known as an 'edge city'. The downtown part of the city was developed into a key shopping district in the early 20th Century and housed many branches of famous New York department stores including Saks, Macys and Bergdoff Goodman. White Plains used to have a very charming characterful village type image but is now very much like any other 'edge' city with its office blocks are shopping malls.

During the 1950s a good number of the major companies in New York City had branches or even headquarters in White Plains but by the 1990s most of them had moved out.

White Plains does retain a number of historical sites of interest. These include:-

Jacob Purdy House: this house was used as a base for General George Washington during the Battle of White Plains in 1778. It was restored in the 1960s and it was moved to its current position. It is now used as the home of the White Plains Historical Society.

Percy Grainger Home: this was the home of the composer Percy Grainger until his death in 1961. The house is now a base for the Percy Grainger Society.

White Plains Armory: this was erected on the site of the orginal White Plains County Courthouse. There is a plague outside the commemorates the reading of the declaration of independence for the first time in the state of New York.