Town Hall, Alfred F. Sulla, Jr. Municipal Building. 1 Heineman Place

The original town offices were located on the 2nd floor of an old stone building on Halstead Ave and included the Police Department. This was near the downtown fire house. The local government operated out of this space from 1914-1977. The current municipal building, called “The Town House” by most people, was built in 1977 at 1 Heineman Place in downtown Harrison and the old town house was demolished. The building was dedicated to former Supervisor Alfred F. Sulla, Jr. Heineman Place was originally called Hillside Avenue but was changed to Heineman Place after Mort Heineman. Heineman was a Purchase resident and former Town Councilman. [1]

The records about how this Town was formed and who were the officials who made the decisions that made Harrison what it is today are stored here. The Town Clerk has minutes from meetings as far back as 1774. The handwritten ledgers are kept in a vault for safekeeping. In 1921, Town Clerk William A Wilding prepared a 21-page history [2]of the Town for the County Historian. Wilding listed the Supervisors and Town Clerks from 1774 to 1921. The first elected officials were Supervisor, Major Thomas Thomas and Town Clerk, William Miller. On this document, 168 men are credited for their participation during the Civil War. This is a remarkable number considering the population at the time was 1413. Their commitment to safety continued during World War I. Men and women opened spaces for drills, held recruiting rallies, assisted the Red Cross, and welcomed home soldiers with service medals. “Harrison feels proud of her 254 Sons who went forward to do or die…” [3] Seven of the 21 pages list those soldiers, sailors and marines by name.

According to Robert Bolton’s A History of the County of Westchester, from its Settlement to the Present Time, the first law enforcing officials appointed in 1775 were Captain, Henry Dusinberry; 1st Lieutenant, Lyon Mills; 2nd Lieutenant Caleb Paulding; and Ensign, Gilbert Dusinberry. [4]

So much about our past government can be learned from Wilding's 1921 report, which can be obtained from the Westchester County Archives, as well as Robert Bolton's Book which is available through the Westchester Library System.

[1] Kelly, Jean. Town of Harrison Tricentennial, 1696-1996, 1996, p.35.

[2] Division of Archives and History. The Records of Harrison. Westchester County. Prepared by William A. Wilding. 1921.

[3] Division of Archives and History. The Records of Harrison. Westchester County. Prepared by William A. Wilding. 1921.

[4] Bolton, Robert. “A History of the County of Westchester, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time : Bolton, Robert, 1814-1877. CN : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/historyofcountyo02inbolt.