| a city in SE New York, near New York City: battle 1776. 46,999. |
| White Plains A city of southeast New York, a residential suburb of New York City. Population: 57,100. |
White Plains
city, seat (1778) of Westchester county, New York, U.S. It lies along the Bronx and Hutchinson rivers. Known to the Wappinger Indians as Quarropas ("White Marshes"), probably for the area's heavy fogs, the site was sold twice (in 1660 and in 1683) by them to different groups, causing long litigation over the title and delays in the settlement of the area. An established community by 1735 within the town (township) of Rye, White Plains became the centre of iron-mining activity in Westchester and also served as a crossroads for several transportation lines. The New York Provincial Congress met there on July 9, 1776, approved the Declaration of Independence, and proclaimed the creation of the state of New York. On October 28, 1776, at the battle on Chatterton Hill (commemorated as White Plains National Battlefield Site), George Washington outmaneuvered the British general Lord Howe and was able to slip his troops away to fortified lines farther north. The Elijah Miller House (1738), which served as Washington's headquarters, has been restored.
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