John Harrison and four others bought the land that became Harrison from the Native Americans in 1695; by 1708 all but Samuel Haight had sold their interests. The original purchase was between the Mamaroneck River and Blind Brook, north to the Rye ponds. This was, in part, the same land that Shenorock had sold to the settlers of Rye. After a heated dispute, Governor Nichols sided with Harrison et al and granted a royal patent. This caused Rye to secede from New York for a brief period of time.

In 1724 Members of the Society of Friends from Long Island settled in the area that was known as Harrison’s Purchase. In 1788 the New York State Legislature designated the town as Harrison. In 1977, to preclude secession by Purchase, Harrison became a town/village having coterminous boundaries.

Visit the Town/Village of Harrison online

The Letters Patent for Harrison,
June 25, 1696

The Book of Record Kept in Harrison's Precinct, 1774-1839

Ledger of Town Accounts,
1791-1860

War Records of the Town of Harrison,
1862-1865

Copy of the 1774 Heathcote Map,
March 25, 1907

Photographs of Harrison Ski Jump,
ca. 1928-1942

Journal of the Commissioners of Partition, 1774

Records from the Purchase Meeting House, 1789-1983

A Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Harrison, 1847-1865

Photographs Relating to Ophir Hall in Purchase, ca. 1877-1925

Copy of 1797 Harrison Map, 1928

Amelia Earhart Photograph, 1933