IN THE BEGINNING Croton Heights was inhabited by "Indians, deer and wild turkeys." (According to Scharf: History of Westchester)

June 7, 1697: Sylvanus van Cortlandt received a grant of land in the New World from William III of England. It extended from Croton Point on the Hudson River to the present Connecticut border, and northward ten miles. It included the present townships of Cortlandt, Yorktown, Somers, Poundridge and North and South Salem.

In 1734, upon his death, the land was divided among his heirs. His daughter Elizabeth received "Lot 4 of the Middle Ward" (covering Yorktown and Somers). She was married to Cortlandt Skinner.

About 1744 J. Danfurt from Holland bought land and built the western part of the present Wilson house on Croton Heights Road. It was inherited by Richardson Davenport, who added the part east of the present hall, and ran it as the Davenport Inn during the Revolutionary War. It was said to have been a good one.

In May 1781 the Inn became the scene of a skirmish between American and British troops. At this time the British had invaded as far north as White Plains, and the American forces had retreated to northern Westchester, under General Washington. American soldiers had been stationed in the Inn to protect the Oblenus Ford over the Croton River, and they were betrayed to the British by a disgruntled Tory. About sunrise one day a British force under Col. Delancey crossed the ford and marched up the valley along Turkey Mountain (no road there then) and up the hill to the Inn.

During the subsequent engagement Major Flagg was killed, and Colonel Christopher Green, badly wounded, was carried out on a horse, on a lane leading to the old Pines Bridge, thrown off into the "whortleberry bushes," and left to die. Both officers were given a military funeral and buried, it is said, in a common grave, in the churchyard of the Presbyterian Church. A large stone monument marking the spot is easily visible to passers-by to this day.

In his report to Congress May 17, 1781 General Washington ends: "The loss of these two officers is to be regretted, especially the former (Colonel Greene) who has, upon several occasions, distinguished himself."

The account of a witness continued: "Between ten and twenty fell, in and around the house, and were afterward interred in one common pit or grave, in the northwest corner of the lot, under an ash tree."

 

Later Jacob Carpenter married Davenport’s daughter and they lived in the Davenport house. Their daughter married Daniel K. Griffen, who built the farmhouse across the road, now the Croton Heights Inn. Legend has it that he built the wings on either side for his sons as they grew up and married. He was owner and resident of the property in 1881, when the Bolton History of Westchester was published.

An old calf-bound ledger, found in the attic of the Wilson house bears the inscription "Daniel K. Griffen & Sons, 1877," on the flyleaf. The latest entry in the same handwriting is September 19, 1892. The book then became the daybook of George C. Griffen. Entries run from September 1894 to November 31, 1902. Its pages, many of which are nearly illegible from flowers having been pressed therein, cast interesting sidelights on the local industry, and the prices and wages of the time.

Roads: The main road nearest the Inn in Revolutionary times was Pines Bridge Road (now Hanover Road) which ran from Crompond Road down to the Old Pines Bridge (east of the present structure). A rough lane led to it from the Inn. Just when the present Croton Heights Road (Cross Road in 1924) was built is not clear, but at one time it extended to the west up the hill through the Locke property (where there was once another Griffen farm) and down to the lake. There is still an exit to the present Route 129.