West Nyack, New York

West Nyack is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Central Nyack; east of Nanuet; south of Valley Cottage and west of Upper Nyack. It is approximately 18 miles north of New York City. The population was 3,282 at the 2000 census.

History
In 1847, the hamlet was named Clarksville, renamed MontMoor and since 1891 has been known as West Nyack.

In 2010, The West Nyack Engine Co. No 1 which was incorporated on March 10, 1910, celebrated its 100 th Anniversary.

The Clarksville Witch 1816
Jane Kannif, the widow of a Scottish physician, lived in a small house on Germonds Road in West Nyack. She devoted herself to the care of her only child, a son by a previous marriage, named Tobias Lowrie. She treated, with great results, neighbors that came to her with herbs and methods she learned from her late husband. But “Naut Kannif”, as she was called, seemed to have been exceedingly eccentric. According to the people at that time she dressed oddly with strange hairdos and was unsociable. She was regarded as insane - worse yet - a witch in an era of superstition. It was decided to take “Naut” to Auert Polhemus’s grist mill and using his great flour scales weigh her against the old Holland Dutch family Bible, iron bound, with wooden covers and iron chain to carry it by. If outweighed by the Bible, she must be a witch beyond any doubt, and must suffer accordingly. She was taken to the mill against her most earnest protest, put on the scales, and weighed. Weighing more than the Bible, she was released by the committee. This was the last witch trial in the state of New York.

Geography
West Nyack is located at °N, °W (41.091096, -73.968785).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.9 sqmi, all land.

Accident

 * 🇺🇸 February, 1902 – a stagecoach-train collision in West Nyack, New York. Eight students returning from a night basketball game in a horse-drawn stagecoach were killed by a train, after getting trapped between manually-operated railroad crossing gates.  First train-school vehicle collision in the United States.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,282 people, 1,107 households, and 892 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,125.9 per square mile (435.5/km²). There were 1,132 housing units at an average density of 388.3/sq mi (150.2/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 88.03% White, 1.98% African American, 0.03% Native American, 7.59% Asian, 0.98% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.58% of the population.

There were 1,107 households out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.8% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.4% were non-families. 14.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $98,931, and the median income for a family was $106,576. Males had a median income of $67,326 versus $41,518 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $40,178. About 1.0% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

 * Strawtown Elementary School became a Blue Ribbon Award winner in 2007. This is the second school in Rockland County to win this award.
 * Clarkstown High School South is located in West Nyack.

Historical markers

 * Clarksville - West Nyack & Sickletown Roads
 * Clarksville Inn - One Strawtown Road. Built by Thomas Warner in 1840 as a hotel, the blacksmith shop still remains and is used as a retail shop. The Inn now serves as a restaurant, open for dinner seven evenings.
 * Colonial Clarkstown - 135 Strawtown Road
 * DeClark-Polhemus Mill - Intersection of Germonds, Strawtown & Old Mill Roads
 * Mount Moor African American Cemetery - Off Route 59 at West Nyack Road. "This: Burying ground for Colored people, was deeded on July 7, 1849 by James Benson and Jane Benson his wife to William H. Moor, Stephen Samuels and Isaac Williams, trustees. The cemetery has provided burial space for colored people, including veterans of the American Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War l, World War ll and the Korean War. The grounds have been maintained since 1940 by the Mount Moor Cemetery Association, Inc."
 * Old Clarkstown Reformed Church Cemetery - 254 Germonds Road
 * Pye's Corner - Strawtown & Germonds Roads
 * Site of First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of New Hempstead - 254 Germonds Road
 * The Nyack Turnpike - West Nyack Road & West Nyack Way
 * The Old Parsonage - 106 Strawtown Road
 * Van Houten Fields - Van Houten Fields & Sickletown Roads
 * Washington's Encampment - 134 Strawtown Road
 * West Nyack's Last Horse Trough, West Nyack Free Library 65 Strawtown Road
 * West Nyack's and New York's largest Shopping Center, Palisades Center Mall, Route 59. Tenth largest in the United States.

Landmarks and places of interest

 * Palisades Center, one of the largest malls in the country, is located along Route 59, Route 303 and the New York State Thruway (I-87 and I-287), exit 12.
 * Clarkstown Reformed Church - 107 Strawtown Road - Site of First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of New Hempstead (name in reference to many who moved here from Hempstead. L.I.). built 1750-51, replaced 1871 by present Clarkstown Reformed Church, 107 Strawtown Road. Note gravestones inscribed in Dutch and those bearing names of 40 veterans of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 and of the Hill family, which produced three generations of artists and a renowned scientist.
 * DeClark-Polhemus Mill Remnants still exist on the southwest corner of Strawtown Rd & Germonds Road, West Nyack. The last witchcraft trial in New York State supposedly took place at this gristmill in 1816. Jane (Naut) Kannif, a widow of a Scottish physician, was knowledgeable about herb medicines and was accused of practicing witchcraft. At the mill, Naut was weighed against a large brass-bound Dutch Bible on the large flour balance. Jane outweighed the Bible, was judged innocent and set free. The mill operated into the 20th century to grind flour. The hub of the water wheel still exists as does the dam and mill pond. Historical Marker on site.
 * Mount Moor Cemetery - Mount Moor Cemetery sits in the shadow of the Palisades Center Mall, just north of Route 59. This well kept cemetery is maintained by the Mount Moor Cemetery Association located at 1 Milford Lane, Suffern, New York 10901. Although several stones appear to have been professionally restored, many are too badly worn to read. There are also many field stones often used as burial markers with no inscriptions as well as a plain wooden cross. One of the graves at Mount Moor is that of Lafayette Logan, a Buffalo Soldier who fought in the American Civil War with the legendary black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the unit made famous in the motion picture "Glory" About six others members of the Buffalo Soldiers are buried here. (NRHP)
 * Rockland Center for the Arts - RoCA has been a vibrant cultural center in County of Rockland for 57 years presenting a variety of highly acclaimed cultural arts programs including an extensive School for the Arts, exhibitions, a performing arts series and RoCA's Summer Arts Day Camp. RoCA provides opportunities for artists to exhibit, perform, create & teach.
 * Terneur-Hutton House - 160 Sickelton Rd., National Register of Historic Places. (NRHP)

Notable residents

 * Mary Mowbray-Clarke - Designed the "Dutch Garden" in New City in 1933-34 as memorial to county's early settlers, and won "Garden of the Year" from Better Home and Gardens magazine in 1935. She played an important role in the founding the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and along with Dr. Lucy Virginia Meriweather Davie's husband Arthur Bowen Davies of Congers were responsible for gathering the works of Picasso, Van Gogh, Renoir, Cézanne and Monet for the Armory Art Exhibit in 1913. As co-owner of a small avant-garde book store on 31st street in NYC, she provided a place for future writers (Ernest Hemingway, Eugene O'Neill, Edna St. Vincent Millay...) to read their works of literature and display their art work. She helped establish the Rockland Foundation for the Arts and is also credited for the saving of Hi-Tor Mountain which is now a part of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission and local geographical landmark, from being quarried.
 * John William Hill (1812–1879) - British born American artist. He was the son of John Hill who resided in West Nyack and was known as "Master of the Aquatint".
 * Morris Kantor (1896–1974) - Russian-born American painter.
 * Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916, Waco, Texas – March 20, 1962, West Nyack, New York) was an American sociologist.
 * Arthur S. Tompkins - (August 26, 1865 - January 20, 1938) was a U.S. Representative from New York, and a justice of the New York Supreme Court.
 * John Flaherty - (October 21, 1967-) a major league baseball player and broadcaster.
 * Michael Park - (July 20, 1968-) Emmy Award winning actor.
 * Jake T. Austin - an actor, Wizards Of Waverly Place.