Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,603 at the 2020 census.
History
Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, an American Indian sachem from whom the land of Bedford was purchased by a group of English colonists.
During the American Revolution most local men supported the Continental side, with some joining the New York 4th Regiment of the Line and the majority the local Militia. Though Bedford Township lay in what was called "Neutral Ground", supposedly unmolested by military forces of either side, its inhabitants were preyed on by the lawless of both. The area suffered less from such depredations than other areas in the Neutral Ground because of the proximity of the Croton River and the "Westchester Lines", a sparse string of outposts defended by units of the Continental Army.
Originally known as Whitlockville, the settlement changed its name, then moved south to its present site in 1897, when what is known by some as "Old Katonah" was flooded by the construction of the New Croton Dam. This raised the water level behind it enough to submerge the existing Muscoot Dam, the waters it empounded, and the village, under the resultantly expanded Muscoot Reservoir. More than 50 buildings were moved from the old site to "New Katonah", rolled on logs pulled by horses. The move was originally ordered to start in 1894, but litigation delayed this by almost three years. Evidently not all of the moved houses were within the affected area, leaving empty foundations where new houses would eventually be built upon.
An eleven-year-old child named B. Robertson wrote the following to a children's magazine on March 2, 1897:
Katonah was just one of a great number of settlements in northern Westchester and Putnam counties to be eradicated - variously moved, demolished, or burnt to the ground - during the creation of the Croton Watershed as part of New York City's drinking water supply.
Trademark attempt
In early 2007, groups representing the hamlet came out in opposition to a trademark filed by homemaking mogul Martha Stewart for a new furniture line called the "Katonah Collection". Stewart purchased a estate in Katonah in 2000, and it is there that she spent her five months of house arrest following her prison term resulting from charges of "lying to investigators". Representatives stated that Stewart was seeking to "honor the town" and the new furniture line was "...paying homage to this beautiful region." The pending trademark was contested by the Katonah Village Improvement Society and Katonah Architectural Hardware, along with support from the Ramapough Mountain Indians who foresaw legal conflict should Stewart succeed in trademarking the name for her furniture line. (View current appeals at the U.S. Trademark Office.)
Demographics
Katonah is classified as a hamlet, with no legal status as an administrative jurisdiction. The Katonah post office serves portions of the towns of Bedford, Lewisboro and Somers. Katonah was identified as a census-designated place (CDP) for the first time in 2010.
According to the 2010 United States Census, the CDP of Katonah had a total population of 1,679 people, compared to 10,739 residents of the Katonah ZIP code, 10536. In 2010, half (5,391, or 50.2%) of the Katonah ZIP code's population resided in the town of Bedford, 36.9% in Somers and 12.9% in Lewisboro.
Within the Katonah CDP, there were 589 households, and 445 families residing at the 2010 census. The population density was . There were 619 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.1% White, 2.5% African American, 0.2% Native American, 2.6% Asian, 5.4% some other race, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.9% of the population.
There were 589 households, out of which 46.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were headed by married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.4% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.1% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83, and the average family size was 3.24.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 29.5% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 31.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.