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A free-press milestone happened on Mount Vernon's village green: the disputed 1733 election held there led printer John Peter Zenger to publish the articles that sparked his landmark libel trial. The green and the stone St. Paul's Church beside it are now a National Historic Site, the most important stop in this compact Westchester city on the Bronx border.
Mount Vernon grew in the late 1800s as a commuter town with piano factories and leafy streets, and its Carnegie-funded public library opened in 1904. Today it is the only city in New York State with a Black majority, and it has a proud music heritage as the hometown of hip-hop figures such as Heavy D and Pete Rock, who gave it the nickname Money Earnin' Mount Vernon. Actor Denzel Washington also grew up here.
Visitors can tour St. Paul's, cool off at the Tudor-style wave pool of Willson's Woods Park and browse the shops of Fleetwood and downtown Fourth Avenue. Three Metro-North stations put Grand Central about 30 minutes away, while Pelham Bay Park, City Island and the New Rochelle waterfront are all short drives east.
A 1760s stone church and old village green where the contested 1733 election led to John Peter Zenger's famous press freedom trial. British and Hessian troops used the church as a field hospital in 1776. A museum, graveyard and ranger tours tell the story; check NPS hours, as days are limited.
One of Westchester County's oldest parks, with a wave pool, water slides and a spray deck set against an English Tudor style bathhouse, plus shaded picnic areas and a fishing pond. A scene of The Thomas Crown Affair was filmed here. The pool opens in summer only; arrive early on hot weekends.
A grand library funded by Andrew Carnegie and opened in 1904 in the downtown civic center near City Hall, now part of the Westchester Library System. Its classical building holds local history collections about the city's growth. Visitors are welcome to look around; it is a calm stop between downtown errands.
A neighborhood in the city's north end built around its Metro-North Harlem Line station, with large pre-war co-op apartment buildings, cafes and small shops along Gramatan Avenue. It feels like a village within the city. Walk Gramatan Avenue north toward Bronxville for a pleasant stroll.
Known locally as The Avenue, the Fourth Avenue and Gramatan Avenue district is the city's traditional downtown, with Caribbean bakeries, clothing stores, barbershops and family restaurants near Mount Vernon East station. Weekday afternoons are the liveliest time to browse.
Mount Vernon's main outdoor stadium, home to high school football, track meets and community events, on the city's east side near the Hutchinson River Parkway. It is a long-time gathering place for the city. Check the city calendar for games and festivals, which draw big local crowds on autumn evenings.
A long Westchester County park following the Bronx River along Mount Vernon's western edge, with a paved pathway for walking and cycling beside the water and the Bronx River Parkway. Herons and ducks are common. The path is closed to cars on some Sunday mornings for bike rides, a good time to visit.
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Log in to add photosPhoto: Anthony22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Anthony22 at en.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Jim.henderson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Jim.henderson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: NPS staff, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: NPS staff, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: NPS staff, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: SounderBruce, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: SounderBruce, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: NPS staff, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: SounderBruce, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
