Westchester 407 



1851, at a contract price of $200 an acre, to Henry Palmer, 

 trustee of the building association. This will give an idea of 

 the value of land in this vicinity as long ago as the middle of 

 the last century. 



Passing out Avenue C, we go through a stone gateway and 

 over a shady country road and reach the neck itself. The 

 surrounding fields are well-cultivated, the old estates being in 

 possession of German market gardeners. We get fine views 

 from the top of the ridge along which we pass to the outer 

 end of the neck. The road ends at a fence about an estate 

 which gives evidences of having once been a gentleman's 

 country-place. It formerly belonged to the late Gouverneur 

 Morris Wilkins, and later to his son-in-law, John Screven, 

 from whom the neck is known locally as "Screven's Point." 

 The mansion stands on a bluff near the end of the neck over- 

 looking a stretch of meadow. The view is a fine one, with the 

 mouth of Westchester Creek and Old Ferry Point to the east- 

 ward and the East River to the south with the hills of Long 

 Island beyond. 



If, when we come to the end of the Castle Hill Road, we 

 turn to the right, we can follow a lane which passes close to 

 the fence and which brings us into the farmyard of the ancient 

 home of the Reverend Isaac Wilkins, built, supposedly, about 

 1765. It is likely that the house is even older than this, as it 

 may have been erected by the Underhills, or even by the 

 Cromwells, previous owners of the neck; and the curious 

 hiding-place which the house contains may have been con- 

 structed for protection from the Indians; or, more likely, 

 as a place for the storage of smuggled goods. The lonely 

 position of the house and the convenience to the creek at 

 its very door lend likelihood to the latter supposition, as 

 we know that the gentlemen of colonial days were exten- 



