Adriaen Von der Donck, founder of Yonkers: first lawyer in New Netherlands. First and only patroonship erected during Dutch period in what is now Westchester County (1646). Safety elevator invented in Yonkers by Elisha Graves Otis (1854). Yonkers Gas and Light Company, the first company of its kind in Westchester County organized in 1854. First street lighting in Westchester introduced in Yonkers in 1861. First village in Westchester County to respond to Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers troops (1861). A letter signed by Lincoln thanking Yonkers citizens can be seen at Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site. Thomas Towndrow and Thomas Smith publish The Yonkers Herald —first daily newspaper to be published in Westchester County (1864). The first elevated mass transit system in the world, the West Side and Yonkers Railway Company (later known as the Third Avenue “El” invented in 1867 by Yonkers resident Charles T. Harvey and financially backed by a group of Yonkers investors. First city to be incorporated in Westchester County in 1872. First waterworks established in Westchester County (1873). Samuel Tilden, former Governor of New York State and resident of Yonkers—first and only presidential candidate to win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote (1876) until Al Gore (2000). Axminster (1858) and Moquette (1877) looms invented in Yonkers revolutionizing carpet manufacturing. First city in New York State to erect municipal public baths (1896). The synthetic plastic Bakelite invented in Yonkers by Leo H. Baekeland (1906).  [more information] FM Radio broadcasting invented in Yonkers by Edwin H. Armstrong (1912).  [more information] Golf introduced to America in Yonkers in 1888. [more information] The first practical dynamo invented, and produced in Yonkers. Yonkers was the wool hat industry center. Abraham Lincoln’s attending physician, Dr. Charles Leale, was a citizen of Yonkers and is buried in Yonkers.  [more information] The first practical electric engine was invented and produced Yonkers.

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