No. Castle Committee Updates Town on 250th Anniversary Celebration Plans

A parade, musical performances, reenactors, burying a time capsule and a town bedecked in flags and bunting are some of what North Castle residents can expect when it commemorates the nation’s 250^th anniversary in 2026.

Members of the North Castle Revolutionary War Steering Committee updated the Town Board last week on their plans for a major celebration on July 4, 2026, that will rival the festivities during the nation’s bicentennial in 1976.

North Castle is steeped in Revolutionary War history, including the Miller House on Virginia Road, which served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Battle of White Plains, and Miller Hill and Mount Misery in North White Plains, where the Americans repelled the British advance in that fight, among other sites.

Longtime town resident and former town justice Susan Shimer, a committee member who was a speaker at the town’s bicentennial event, said with the semiquincentennial less than two years away, she is looking forward to the preparations. She hopes the 250^th anniversary celebration and the planning leading up to it can once again unify the town.

“I’m so glad the people of North Castle will again be allowed to have a celebration, a celebration of America and our town’s participation in that history,” Shimer said.

“This is our community, a small piece of America but a very important one, not just to me but to all of us and to everyone in this grand land,” she added.

Earlier this year the Town Board appropriated $40,000 to go toward expenses, including the already completed refurbishment of five historical markers that were dedicated in 1976, paying for a sixth one to mark the significance of Mount Misery and the production of a video about North Castle’s role in the Revolution and the historical sites in town that will be shown to local students and residents.

The refurbished markers are Sands Mill, where Major John Andre, who collaborated with Benedict Arnold, was delivered to the American troops; Reuben Wright’s Mill, another headquarters of Washington; Middle Patent Rural Cemetery where Revolutionary War veterans are buried; Smith’s Tavern, a militia headquarters in 1779; and Miller Hill.

Co-town Historian Sharon Tomback said in addition to the American troops staving off the British at Miller Hill, which gave Washington an opportunity to regroup, the site has special significance.

“It is the only Revolutionary War battle site in the entire County of Westchester remaining in its natural surroundings, the only surviving one,” Tomback noted.

The town will also have to choose the location on Mount Misery to denote a key site where the British were repelled.

Several minutes of raw footage from the yet-to-be completed video was shown during the Town Board’s work session as part of the committee’s presentation.

Erik Lichak, dressed during last week’s work session as a British redcoat, leads students in a fife and drum corps. He said one possibility would be to stage a skirmish with about 20 to 25 soldiers as part of a reenactment.

There are also plans to get Byram Hills and Valhalla high school students and local artists to be part of an art competition that includes painting, sculpture, crafts and other medium with a Revolutionary War theme. Entries will likely open next year right after Labor Day and close during the winter in early 2026, said Armonk resident Richard Rosen.

There are also plans for concerts featuring musicians performing Baroque and other music popular from about 250 years ago.

Supervisor Joseph Rende, who attended bicentennial events throughout the county, including North Castle, because his father chaired the bicentennial celebration in the Town of Rye, said he hopes the community is as enthusiastic as he and the committee are to see the plans unfold.

“It’s easy for the town to donate funds to help get this off, but it’s really up to the people in the community to embrace this and really build the support,” Rende said. “Personally, I’m looking forward to it, and I encourage all the board members to take an active role, and the folks at home and the young students at home.”

Similar to 1976, the town will bury a time capsule and unearth the one from the bicentennial.