From Slavery to Scarsdale: A Home's Value

On Tuesday, June 21, the Scarsdale Committee for Historical Preservation will consider the petition by a new property owner to raze a single-story, unassuming house and build in its place a two-story home about double in size. No surprises here; in fact, it's a fairly routine request in Scarsdale. A look at the 2010-11 Committee records suggests that many demolitions were approved — a sign of the old making way for the new, modern and marketable.

What makes 140 Saxon Wood Road unique is its storied land. Purchased by one Robert Purdy, a runaway slave born in 1820, the property has been subdivided over the years, yet has remained in the hands of Purdy’s direct descendants for 155 years. Earlier this year, however, the property was sold to an incorporated construction company.

A founder of —  one of the oldest African-American churches in the county — Purdy’s legacy is his pursuit of the American dream under the harshest of circumstances.  

The early Purdy home is known to have held prayer services for Scarsdale's freed slaves until a church building was established. “The Robert Purdy Estate,” so named in the “Index County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918,” represents an unbroken chain of African-American local history.

A pillar of his community who broke the chains of slavery to raise four daughters on his own rich land, Purdy escaped from Louisiana and worked his way north through the network of safe houses, barns and cemetery hiding spots known as the Underground Railroad.  

The Underground Railroad, which some speculate had a stop in the Saxon Woods Road area, was made famous by Harriett Tubman, an escaped slave herself who would later return to Maryland to lead scores to freedom. 

Spearheading the effort to preserve the Purdy house is its adjoining neighbor, Toril Hanna.

“An important community was founded here. Robert Purdy’s story shows strength of character. His family and community have their heritage here in Scarsdale. His house should not be torn down,” Hanna said. 

Hanna has enlisted the research expertise of various individuals: village clerk, assessor’s office, school librarian and local historians, as well as church and family members, to piece together scattered information and assemble oral histories. She hopes to present her findings to the Committee members and be a voice to oppose demolition.

The existing home appears to have an original central structure with two extensions. One alternative to demolition, Hanna suggested, is to preserve the central structure and add on a smaller scale structure than proposed. Two other quaint homes are nestled aside number 140, and were part of Purdy’s five-acre estate purchased in 1856 for $270.00.

"Along with the two houses on tree-lined acreage, it gives a feel for the community that once thrived here," Hanna said. 

Scarsdale seventh graders, as noted in October’s “Your Community Corner,” are conducting a research project about slavery in the 17th through 19th centuries in Scarsdale. A culminating project to "create an elegy for a slave they identify with in history” demonstrates the community’s enthusiasm and respect for the cultural importance of the area's African-American trailblazers.