Events

Holiday Tree Event 2025

Please join us at the North Salem Christmas Tree, Titicus Road, just east of Baxter Road on Christmas Eve, 6:00pm.

Carolling around the bonfire, hot cocoa and cider, homemade treats, and SANTA!

Santa arrives atop a Croton Falls Fire Department truck and takes his seat to greet all the little ones who tell Santa how good they were this year.

Special thanks to all who make this happen -- NS Highway, NS Police and trustees of the former NS Improvemet Society.

Sunday, January 25, 2026, 3:00pm at Ruth Keeler Memorial Library, RNS250 event: Author talk by Keith Marshall Jones III The Battle of Ridgefield – Benedict Arnold, the Patriot Militia and the surprising 1777 Battle that Galvanized Revolutionary Connecticut

Fly me to the Moon!

Mark your calendars for the most exciting evening

Valentine's Day, 2026

Whether you want to kick up your heels and hit the dance floor or just sit back and watch the show, you don't want to miss this evening of dining, music, dancing and a bit of love in the air!

Saturday, February 14, 2026

Ticket reservation will be out right after the holidays.

This is our major fundraiser for 2026

We thank you for helping us preserve North Salem's splendid past.

Our First Ever Historical Cemetery Tour!

We hope to have more cemetery tours in the future. To watch the video of the June Cemetery tour go here

Titicus Dam History Hike

What a fabulous outing. Thanks to four reps from the NYC DEP* we had a first hand accounting of the operations bringing clean water to NYC, a bit of history and a vigorous walk up to the top of the dam. Photo courtesy of Steve LaRocca

If you want to know more about the construction of the dam and the site from which the granite was quarried, see the story on our Historical Material page.

* NYC Environmental Protection

Louis Occhiuto, Chief of Croton Operations

Anthony Pironty, Field Maintenance Supervisor

Michael Ansaldi, Watershed Maintainer/Supervisor Level II

Eva Solarik, P.E., Engineering Manager

The Fighting Delavans - The amazing North Salem family that sent nine brothers to war and ended up escorting Washington into New York at the end. Presenter: John McMenimon. We will post the video soon.

Revolutionary War Maps - An updated edition of our earlier bulletin is available for sale. To watch the video of the presentation, click here

Programs Scheduled Including RNS250 Events!

SAVE THE DATES

February 21, 2026, 2:00pm, Encore Showing: The French Are Coming is a reprise of Iris de Rode’s North Salem talk on the role of the French in the American Revolution. Dr. de Rode is a celebrated historian of the French-American alliance. She figures prominently in Ken Burns’ series The American Revolution. Visit here to register: Registration

IN THE WORKS

History Tour of North Salem – co-sponsored with the Town Recreation Department. Transportation will be via the Town's senior bus. Stay tuned.

Fall 2026: The Great Revolutionary War Scavenger Hunt and Quiz RNS250 event - How Much do you know about your town in the Revolution? You might win the grand prize! To start studying for the scavenger hunt/quiz, visit the websites below, the local history section at the library or the graves of 46 of our Revolutionary War veterans in the town cemeteries. Check out the town historian’s overview of the Revolution in Upper Salem on her page on the town website, on the Historical Society’s website or use this link: [add link]

Did you miss some of the events shown below? Become a member and never miss another!

Annual Meeting 2025

We had a full house at Vails Pavilion as we celebrated 94 years of the

North Salem Improvement Society

The Society is handing over the reigns of the annual Christmas Eve event to the historical society and the Roadside Clean-up and Recycling efforts to the Town's Conservation Advisory Council.

Visit our Events page to see more about Christmas Eve

Annual Meeting, Friday, October 25, 2024 - Our Annual Meeting - Pot Luck Supper was a huge success. The room was filled with members, including a few who recently joined. The cocktail hour was delightful upstairs in the St. James parish hall where we were treated to oodles of delectable appetizers and had plenty of time to meet and greet friends both new and old. The buffet dinner was wonderful and the program was filled with laughs! Be sure to mark your calendar for the next one - always at the end of October.

We had a special tribute to two outstanding officers and trustees of the society - Peter Bliss and Tim Purdy, see photos of displays below.

WHAT A WONDERFUL EVENING AND WE SOLD OUT!

THANK YOU!

We were most fortunate to be inside this splendid home

for a delightful evening last Februrary at our Valentine Cocktail Party.

Across from the North Salem Firehouse is an area rich in history dating back to the 1700s, including the site of the home of the first resident pastor of St. James Church that became a Revolutionary War era tavern (see more below).

This evening was a benefit for the Society and will help us keep the past present by continuing to collect, restore and display the many wonderful historical memorabilia housed at our White Elephant.

If at any time you would like to make a donation to help support our programs and events, including guest speakers, please click on the Donation button and use the down arrow to select "Donation!" Many thanks!

Donation

Join us in thanking our SPONSORS and all who donated to the historical society

Food by chef Paul Gileno of Hayfields who recently received the Caterer of the Year award from NYS Restaurant Association!

Flowers by Amy's Flowers

Music by Chick's Candy Store

Martin Aronchick & Richard Brooker

Libations by

Goldens Bridge Fine Wines

Please enjoy this bit of history about the area, the homes and

the people who lived here.

From early St. James records we know that in 1769 Rev. Epenetus Townsend was given 60 acres of land by Stephen Delancey and he built his home here. But Townsend was a Loyalist and by 1776 he and his family were long gone! According to the 1779 Erskine Map below, drawn for George Washington, a tavern, labeled “Youngwells” was on the site. The Titicus River is drawn across the bottom and here you see from left to right - Capt Steelrod (Delancey Hall), Youngwells Tavern, Salem Church (the first St. James) and Salem Meeting House (the first Presbyterian Meeting House). The tavern could very well have been on the same foundation as the Vogliano house but we do not have the information yet to make that leap.

In 1809 Epenetus Wallace bought the 60 acres and settled into the home. Was he already living there? Did he run the tavern? We understand that the original Wallace house sustained a fire. Was the whole house demolished or just a part of it? In later years the house, while generally similar in structure, did undergo several renovations. This photo of the house from 1909 is compliments of the Westchester County Historical Society.

Below are two more images from the WCHS collection of ice skaters on the pond that was commonly referred to in more recent times as Hy William's Pond. You catch a glimpse of the house in the photo on the right.

In a 1933 real estate appraisal the house is described as a four-bedroom home on 16 acres including a 5-acre lake, three-car garage and a barn with three box stalls and poultry house combined.

The central part of the Vogliano home appears to be the same as the 1909 Wallace home, but only more research will help us identify its age. As the town prepares for celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we hope to see more information arise through research, archaeological digs and sharing of information throughout the area. Please stay tuned, and join us on the 9th!

Page updated

Report abuse