Horace Greeley's Mansion Purchased by Historical Group -- by the Half Moon Press

July, 1998 issue

Horace Greeley's Mansion Purchased by Historical Group The New Castle Historical Society celebrated on May 12 following the official closing on the purchase of the Horace Greeley house in Chappaqua.

During the previous twelve months, the society had monitored a plan by the previous long-time owners of the historic structure, that could have converted it to multi-family housing. The society's bid was accepted in January this year and efforts to get a required zoning change were successful. With the assistance of the town, the society obtained a low-interest mortgage.

Horace Greeley (1811-1872) was the founding editor of the New York Tribune, which had an enormous influence on American public opinion, particularly during the Civil War period. He was nominated as the Democratic candidate for President in 1872, but lost by a landslide to the incumbent Ulysses S. Grant. He died a month later.

Members of the society have already removed over six tons of refuse from the building and are planning to rehabilitate the house to the period when Horace Greeley lived there. A capital campaign to defray the $575,000 cost and to pay for the renovation has been launched.