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Valhalla | |
|---|---|
 Kensico Dam at theKensico Reservoir in Valhalla | |
 Location of Valhalla, New York | |
| Coordinates:41°4′30″N73°46′31″W / 41.07500°N 73.77528°W /41.07500; -73.77528 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Westchester |
| Town | Mount Pleasant |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.83 sq mi (2.15 km2) |
| • Land | 0.83 sq mi (2.15 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 256 ft (78 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 3,213 |
| • Density | 3,873.2/sq mi (1,495.44/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Code | 10595 |
| Area code | 914 |
| FIPS code | 36-76639 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0968353 |
Valhalla (/vælˈhælə/val-HAL-ə) is ahamlet andcensus-designated place (CDP) within thetown ofMount Pleasant, inWestchester County, New York, United States, in theNew York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census.[2] The name was inspired by a fan of the composerRichard Wagner. The hamlet is known for being the home of the primary hospital campus ofWestchester Medical Center andNew York Medical College as well as the burial place of numerous notable people. Valhalla acquired its distinctive name not from the Kensico Cemetery directly, but through a decision by the local post office to avoid confusion with the existing "Kensico" train station and the newly established Kensico Cemetery. The name "Valhalla" was chosen by the wife of the postmaster, Andrew J. Kirch, who was an admirer of Richard Wagner's operas and, consequently,Norse mythology. In Norse lore, Valhalla is Odin's grand hall where the souls of valiant warriors are welcomed, a fitting, albeit coincidental, association for a community that would become home to a prominent cemetery. This renaming of the post office subsequently led to the hamlet itself adopting the name Valhalla around the early 20th century, with some sources indicating the train station's name also changed to Valhalla by 1904.[3]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: information on the hamlet’s settlement and more actual history of the community. You can help byadding to it.(May 2024) |
TheKensico Cemetery was founded in 1889 in Valhalla at a time when many of the cemeteries in the city ofNew York were filling up, and several rural cemeteries were founded near the railroads that served the metropolis. Initially 250 acres (100 ha) in size, the cemetery was expanded to 600 acres (2.4 km2) in 1905, but reduced to 460 acres (1.9 km2) in 1912, when a portion of its land was sold to the neighboringGate of Heaven Cemetery.
The Kensico Cemetery is the final resting place of numerous famous people, including legendaryNew York Yankees starLou Gehrig; virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductorSergei Rachmaninoff; the authorAyn Rand; andNBC founderDavid Sarnoff. It was also, afterhis suicide, the final resting place of Pvt. Danny Chen.
Valhalla and neighboring Hawthorne are fairly densely packed with cemeteries, albeit not as densely asColma,California.
On July 12, 2006, theWestchester tornado, anF2 event, touched down in nearbyHawthorne and proceeded to move into Valhalla, causing much destruction in the Stonegate section of the community. This was one of the strongesttornadoes the area had ever seen, as tornadoes of this magnitude are mostly in theMidwest. The tornado knocked down power lines and uprooted hundreds of trees, but did not cause any deaths.
On September 11, 2006,The Rising memorial toSeptember 11 victims was dedicated at theKensico Dam by Westchester County and the Westchester County September 11 Memorial Committee.The Rising honors the 109 county residents who were killed in the terrorist attacks.
In July 2007, Valhalla hosted the opening ceremony of the 2007Empire State Games. The ceremony was held at the Kensico Dam honoring the athletes and their families and was attended by GovernorEliot Spitzer among other politicians.ESPN'sJeremy Schaap was a keynote speaker.
On February 3, 2015, in theValhalla train crash, aMetro-North train crashed into a Mercedes-Benz SUV[4] that was stuck on the tracks at Commerce Street near theTaconic State Parkway. The crash caused six deaths and 15 injuries, including seven seriously injured.[5]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the hamlet has a total area of 0.81 square miles (2.1 km2), all land.[6]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3,213 | — | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[7] | |||
As of thecensus[8] of 2000, there were 5,379 people, 1,847 households, and 1,470 families residing in the hamlet. The population density was 2,010.6 inhabitants per square mile (776.3/km2). There were 1,886 housing units at an average density of 704.9 per square mile (272.2/km2). The racial makeup of the hamlet was 95.85%White, 0.76%African American, 0.07%Native American, 2.12%Asian, 0.02%Pacific Islander, 0.30% fromother races, and 0.87% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 3.36% of the population.
Valhalla has a large Italian-American population. As of the2000 U.S. census, 34.2% of residents were of Italian ancestry, the 28th highest number of Italian-Americans per capita of all communities in the United States.[9]
There were 1,847 households, out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.2% weremarried couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.4% were non-families. 16.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the hamlet the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the hamlet was $76,003, and the median income for a family was $91,205. Males had a median income of $60,814 versus $38,608 for females. Theper capita income for the hamlet was $33,939. About 0.6% of families and 1.7% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 1.4% of those age 65 or over.
As noted above, Valhalla's population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census, an apparent decline of 2,217 that may reflect the impact of the 2006 tornado, but more likely due to redrawing of CDP borders, which can change from one census to the next.
Valhalla is the location ofWestchester Medical Center,New York Medical College,Westchester Community College of theState University of New York, and the Westchester County jail.
In April 2017, Westchester County officials unveiled plans for an 80-acre, 3 million square-footbiotechnology hub to be built with US$1.2 billion in private investment on vacant land adjacent to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla; the bioscience center, a public-private partnership, is anticipated to create 12,000 new jobs and include over 2.25 million square feet of biotechnologyresearch space.[10][11]
Valhalla is the location of the Mount Pleasant Town Hall as well as the Mount Pleasant Town Pool and Community Center. The main street in Valhalla is Columbus Avenue, which runs the length of the hamlet. Along this road is theValhalla train station. The Valhalla train station is located right off theTaconic State Parkway, across from the hamlet's commercial center. The train station is the next major stop ofMetro-North Railroad afterNorth White Plains, when proceeding northbound fromNew York City.
Columbus Avenue also contains theKensico Dam, and Holy Name of Jesus Church, as well as shops and restaurants. The Valhalla ZIP Code (10595) includes portions of the towns of Mount Pleasant,Greenburgh, andNorth Castle. The hamlet is bordered by the North White Plains area of North Castle, the northernmost portion of the town of Greenburgh, and the hamlets ofThornwood andHawthorne, both within Mount Pleasant. The Valhalla School District, comprising parts of the three towns, is served by the Virginia Road Elementary School, located in the southernmost part of the hamlet in Greenburgh, and the Kensico School and Valhalla Middle and High Schools, all located along Columbus Avenue in Mount Pleasant. Some residents with Valhalla addresses are in the Mount Pleasant Central School District, served by Westlake High School in Thornwood. TheJohn A. Hartford House was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1977 as aNational Historic Landmark.[12] It serves as administrative offices of SUNY Westchester Community College.
Public education in Valhalla is provided by theValhalla Union Free School District, which operates four schools: Virginia Road School, Kensico School, Valhalla Middle School, andValhalla High School.
Some areas of Valhalla are served byWestlake High School, located in nearbyThornwood.
TheRoman Catholic Archdiocese of New York previously operated a Catholic school in Valhalla, Holy Name of Jesus School, which closed in 2013.[13]
Media related toValhalla, New York at Wikimedia CommonsMunicipalities and communities ofWestchester County, New York,United States | ||
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