The Village of Tarrytown is located in northwest part of the Town of Greenburgh. It is adjacent to the Hudson River and the Tappan Zee Bridge. It has a total area of 5.7 sq mi where 47.54% of it is water.

Commuter service to New York City is available via the Tarrytown train station, served by Metro-North Railroad.

As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 11,090. Most of the village's population is white. About one-fifth of Tarrytown's population consists of Hispanics, many of whom are Ecuadorians and Dominicans.

History

Situated on the eastern shore of the Hudson River, in an area called the Tappan Zee, (Tappan for the Tappan Indians who once lived in what is now Rockland County, and Zee meaning sea in the Dutch language), lies the village of Tarrytown, a village rich in history and of course, local legend. It is a village of rolling hills, twenty-five miles north of New York City.

The first residents of what eventually became Tarrytown were the Weckquaesgeeks Indians. Their principle settlement was at the foot of Church Street at place they called Alipconk,or the Place of Elms.

The first white settlers were Dutch and that they were farmers, fur trappers, and fishermen. Tarrytown soil was light and loamy which was ideal for growing cereals; especially wheat. This led to the area being known as Wheat Town, or Terve Town, which later became mispronounced as Tarrytown.

At the turn of the century the Tarrytown skyline was filled with innumerable castle-mansions and Tarrytown was known as "Millionaire's Colony". "Millionaire's Colony" was the wealthiest place of its size in the world according to Tarrytown historian William C. Gross who wrote under the pseudonym of Wally Buxton. There were more than 65 grand estates existing at the time, but few are still standing. The millionaires of "Millionaire's Colony" greatly contributed to Tarrytown's economy. Every mansion and castle was built mostly by local tradesmen, every estate had many local workmen, and every local merchant had his share of millionaire customers.

Tarrytown, being home to the "Millionaire's Colony", also attracted many students to its private schools and its boarding schools. The first private school to appear in the Tarrytown area was the Irving School for Boys in 1837. It was followed by the very fashionable Castle School, or Miss Mason's school for girls.