Yonkers New York, A Brief Overview
Yonkers is a city located in Westchester County on the Hudson River in the state of New York. Yonkers is the 4th largest city in Westchester county and is directly between New York City and the Hudson Valley.
Yonkers has a rich history in the state of New York and the entire United States. Many historical experts will recall that New York city itself was a Dutch colonly formerly known as New Amsterdam but was awarded to the English in 1674, thus changing the name from New Amsterdam to New York.
But how does this relate to Yonkers and its history of being a Dutch City? In the 1640s, a Dutch landowner known as Adriaen Van Der Donck aquired a land grant from the Dutch East India Trading Company. With this grant, he was able to innovate with the land he aquired, building one of the first saw mills in the New World.
Why Yonkers? Adriaen Van Der Donck was known as Jonk Herr, which can be translated to Young Noblemam or Young Gentleman in the Dutch language. This was because in Holland, Adriaen Van Der Donck had nobility status. Overtime because if English influences, the term eventually evolved into Yonkers instead of Jonk Herr.
According to census.gov, the population estimates of Yonkers for July 1' 2021 was estimated to be 209,530. The ethnic makeup of Yonkers proves to be somewhat diverse as 46.3% of residents are white or of European decent, 18.7% African American, 0.9% Native American, 5.9% Asian, and 40% Hispanic/Latino. The median household income in 2021 was estimated to be $72,403, while the per capita income was $39,086 with a person's poverty percentage at 13.2%.
Like many cities on the East Coast of the United States, Yonkers has a rich and beautiful history with a diverse and rich community that offers many rewarding experiences to engage in. Yonkers is one of the cities that are on my personal bucket list to visit.
Sources:
Yonkersny.gov/live/about-yonkers/rich-history
history.nycourts.gov/figure/adriaen-van-der-donck/
census.gov/quickdacts/yonkerscitynewyork?
