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Kensico, New York

I’ve been fascinated by the hamlet of Kensico, New York for as long as I can remember. Kensico was in the Town of North Castle in Westchester County, New York, between Armonk and what is now North White Plains. The hamlet ceased to exist when New York City created the Kensico Reservoir, putting most of old Kensico under water.

My great-grandmother went to school in Kensico and lived there with my great-great-grandparents and great-great-great-grandparents. My great-grandfather’s family owned a store in Kensico. I spent my youth looking out my bedroom window at the Kensico Dam, riding past the dam on my way to school every day, and exploring the dam and plaza with my friends. Almost weekly I’d find myself looking at the reservoir from NY-22, listening to myths like the old church steeple appearing when the water was low. Kensico has always been in my blood. After 20 years of intending to create a webpage/website about Kensico (almost since there was a world wide web to put a webpage on), I’ve finally gotten around to posting this site.

• The Peninsula – The northern half of the reservoir is split by a long peninsula. An old road to Kensico ran the length of this peninsula, and back in the early 1990s I photographed some of the old foundations along that road.
• Family Photos and Postcards – Some old family photos from Kensico as well as some old postcards and previously published pictures of Kensico.
• Building the Kensico Dam and Reservoir – While doing some unrelated research in my company library in the early 1990s I stumbled upon some NYC Board of Water Supply reports from the time the dam was being built. The reports provide a fascinating look at how the Catskill System and the Kensico Dam and Reservoir were built, and include many photos of the construction.

Note: Most of my “web presence” is a collection of road and train pictures. Those can be found at my other website roadandrailpictures.com.

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