Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Thornwood

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Thornwood train stationPhoto: Usroadman · CC BY 3.0
–Not graded
History · Thornwood

Thornwood’s post office opened in 1914, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1892 on.

1914first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Usroadman · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Thornwood began

When was Thornwood founded?

1914

The Thornwood post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 3,960112 years
Founding year: the first Thornwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Thornwood’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Thornwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18927 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1979. Watch Thornwood change.Old housesHalf of Thornwood’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Thornwood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thornwood’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Thornwood on the map, 1892 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Thornwood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Thornwood on the 1892 USGS mapThornwood on the 1902 USGS mapThornwood on the 1932 USGS mapThornwood on the 1947 USGS mapThornwood on the 1957 USGS mapThornwood on the 1967 USGS mapThornwood on the 1979 USGS map1892Tarrytown sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Thornwood.

The story

How Thornwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Thornwood.

Read it all →

In 1891, Lewis Smadback started a very successful development at what is now Thornwood. The village of Sherman Park was incorporated in 1906 and the name was changed to Hillside in 1909. The village was dissolved in 1914, when Thornwood took its current name and became a hamlet within the Town of Mount Pleasant. It is possible that Thornwood is a derivative of "Hawthorne's Woods," since Hawthorne is an adjacent hamlet. Another possibility is Thornwood is named after an area in Glasgow, Scotland.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Thornwood, 1892 to 1978

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Born hereWilliam J. Pachler is born here
  5. 1978Born hereAnn Marie Saccurato is born here
By decade

Thornwood, decade by decade

Today6 recent
ThornwoodFD52014ThornwoodFD5ThornwoodFD42014ThornwoodFD4ThornwoodFD32014ThornwoodFD3ThornwoodFD22014ThornwoodFD2ThornwoodFD12014ThornwoodFD1Thornwood train station2009Thornwood train station
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Thornwood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
A
Ann Marie SaccuratoAmerican boxer · b. 1978
W
William J. Pachlerb. 1904
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

HawthorneIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPleasantville2 historic placesA

Questions about Thornwood’s history

What year was Thornwood founded?

The Thornwood post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.