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From Holland, Adrian Van der Donck received his grant of the Colony of Nepperhaem, also called Colon-Donck, from the Dutch West India Company. He built one of the first saw mills, in what later would be called the United States of America, at the Hudson and Nepperhan Rivers. Yonkers was founded in 1646 by Adrian, whose title "jonge heer" (Dutch for "young gentleman") became the city's name. Over the years, these titles evolved as did the titles of his lands from "The jonge heer's Land" to "The Younckers," then "The Yonkers," and finally to the present Yonkers.

Yonkers' strategic location on the he waterfront was important, providing pause for sloops and stagecoaches, and fostered its development into a major trading center. Early settlers including Native Americans, and English and Dutch people created a striking variety of languages and dialects, and a diverse community.

Yonkers was a small farm town in the 1700's but many businesses soon began to emerge: the saw mills and grist mills multiplied, land development increased, and blacksmith shops, taverns, and general stores came into being. The area acquired by Van der Donck passed into the hands of the Philipsburg family in the latter part of the 17th century, and Yonkers served as the administrative center for the large Philipse manor estate until the American Revolution.

A stone mill was built between 1805 & 1814 in the Tuckahoe area of Yonkers. It was used as a cotton factory until 1852 when the Hodgman Rubber Company bought it. Innovations in travel over land and sea aided the industrial development in Yonkers. The first railroad station was built in 1848 at the present Yonkers Station site. Yonkers innovators also improved carpet and hat production, and established the first sugar industry in 1862. The first elevated mass transit system in the world was created in Yonkers in 1867.

The 19th century Village of Yonkers first extended about two miles along the Hudson River, and was incorporated on April 12, 1872 when the population was around 7,500. On June 1, 1872, Governor Hoffman signed the charter establishing Yonkers as the first in Westchester County to be incorporated and designated as a city. The population had grown to about 20,000 by that time.

Yonkers location on the Hudson River ensured growth during the nineteenth century as a leading industrial area.

Yonkers is known for its residents Elisha Graves Otis who invented the safety elevator, Edwin Armstrong the FM radio, Leo Baekeland "bakelite," and Charles T. Harvey the first elevated train. Yonkers is also known as the "City of Gracious Living" for its fine neighborhoods. Yonkers population was 197,388 in the 2003 census estimate.

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The Dutch were the first settlers in New York, establishing Fort Orange near Albany in 1624 and New Amsterdam on the island of Manhattan a year later. After the English took over in the 1660s, the colony was renamed New York, after the Duke of York. One of the original 13 states to join the Union (it entered in 1788), New York is known as the "Empire State." The state includes everything from skyscrapers in Manhattan to rivers, mountains, and lakes in upstate New York. Today, New York has the third largest population (after California and Texas), and remains the financial center of the country. The state flower is the rose, and the capital is Albany.

From the Census Bureau: New York's year 2003 population was estimated at 19,190,115 persons. Covering an area of 47,214 square miles the density in the year 2000 was 401.9 persons per square mile. 15.9% of the population is Black or of African American origin, and 15.1% is of Hispanic or Latino origin.

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