Katonah, New York
census-designated place in Westchester County, New York, United States
Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,603 at the 2020 census.
History
Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, a Native American sachem from whom the land of Bedford was purchased by a group of English colonists.
During the American Revolution, most local men supported the Continental side, with some joining the New York 4th Regiment of the Line and the majority the local Militia. Though Bedford Township lay in what was called the Neutral Ground, its inhabitants were preyed on by military units and irregulars affiliated with both sides of the war. The Katonah area suffered less from such depredations than other areas in the Neutral Ground because of the proximity of the Croton River and the "Westchester Lines", a sparse string of outposts defended by units of the Continental Army.
Originally known as Whitlockville, the settlement changed its name, then moved south to its present site in 1897, when what is known by some as "Old Katonah" was flooded by the construction of the New Croton Dam. This raised the water level behind it enough to submerge the existing Muscoot Dam, the waters it empounded, and the village, under the resultantly expanded Muscoot Reservoir. More than 50 buildings were moved from the old site to "New Katonah", rolled on logs pulled by horses. The move was originally ordered to start in 1894, but litigation delayed this by almost three years.
“Katonah, New York” enters the record as census-designated place in Westchester County, New York, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Katonah, York and census-designated can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Katonah, New York” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Katonah, York and census-designated provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2888777. VIAF identifies the subject as 168694147. The Library of Congress control number is n82054845. Authority coordinates are 41.259, -73.685. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1897 and 1894.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Katonah, New York”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Katonah, New York primary sources, Katonah, New York archive and Katonah research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Katonah, New York”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Katonah, New York” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.