Who Is It Named After? The Lost Village Of Kensico

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The Kensico Dam is named after the village that was flooded to satisfy New York City's thirst for fresh, clean water and the Kensico Dam begat the Kensico Reservoir, but where did the relocated and since renamed village get its moniker?

Today, the Kensico Dam Plaza is a centerpiece of the Westchester Parks system, hosting concerts, fireworks, food and wine festivals, drive-in movies and a popular winter spectacular. However, the modern engineering marvel, expansive reservoir and one-of-a-kind green space in many ways owes its existence to a leader who lived more than four centuries ago.

Prior to the arrival of European settlers to the region, the Siwanoy Native American tribes were indigenous to the Long Island Sound along the coast extending from what is now The Bronx to what is now southern Connecticut. The village of Kensico was named after the Siwanoy Indian chief Cokenseko, who signed an agreement deeding most of the land surrounding White Plains to English settlers more than 100 years before the United States was formed, according to a 2003 New York Times report.

Kensico Dam was once the largest structure of its kind in New York (Jeff Edwards |Patch)

The agreement signed by Chief Cokenseko eventually led to the birth of a nation, but also led to the destruction of a culture. Both the village that bore his name and the civilization he led have disappeared, but a dam built of stones from a single nearby quarry stands as a lasting tribute to a people's legacy.

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