Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 15 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1892.
From the record
“The Jacob Purdy House was used as General George Washington's headquarters in 1778 and possibly in 1776 during the Battle of White Plains in the American Revolutionary War. Originally constructed by Samuel Horton, it was purchased by Jacob Purdy's father, Samuel Purdy in 1730.”
Wikipedia article Jacob Purdy House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 250 National Register listings published here for Westchester County · listed in 1979 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.79001651- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Fires near this property
901 since 2000
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 901 fires within 5 miles of Jacob Purdy House
between 2000 and 2020, burning about 777 acres in total. 65 started naturally. 88 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
502
Arson/incendiarism
88
Smoking
85
Recreation and ceremony
72
Natural
65
Equipment and vehicle use
31
Debris and open burning
26
Power generation/transmission/distribution
21
Misuse of fire by a minor
10
Other causes
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
6 workings within 5 miles of Jacob Purdy House: 4 past producers, 1 plant, 1 producer.
2 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Granite, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
White Plains, the town this property stands in, in 31 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 8 flash flood, 2 flood.
No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
Heavy rains caused a mudslide which closed portions of the Bronx Rover Parkway and Playland Parkway. Numerous rescues preformed frompersons trapped in flooded vehicles on I-287, I-684, under the Boston Post Road Bridge on the Playland Parkway, and South Broadway in White Plains.
Heavy rain across Southern Westchester County caused flash flooding including the closing of the Bronx River Parkway from White Plains to Yonkers, the Saw Mill River Parkway at various locations, and the Hutchison River Parkway. Numerous other side streets were flooded as well.
Extremely heavy rainfall rates caused flash flooding to occur on I-287. The highway was covered with several feet of water and mud in spots. Several motorists were rescued as the rapidly rising water swamped their cars during rush hour. A police inspector was noted as saying that there were manhole covers floating down streets with several cars submerged. Water was seen cascading down several levels of a parking garage like a waterfall.
Severe thunderstorm wind gusts knocked down several large tree limbs in White Plains and numerous large trees in East White Plains. The winds and falling trees also downed several power lines in the area, causing about 4600 residents to lose power. The Bronx River Parkway was closed for approximately two hours after a large tree had fallen and blocked the road.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.