Sleepy Hollow?

Question

My cousins are wondering about the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Is it actually true? Because there is a place in New York, where we live called Sleepy Hollow. We aren't scared of it, but we are just wondering. I mean, the headless Horseman doesn't really sound that true but has anything creepy happened since "the year of the Headless Horseman?" Like ghost sightings or murders or something? Do you know anything about this? Please help! We are all very interested. THANX!!!!!

Answer 1

It's just a story.

Answer 2

No, it's not true although Washington Irving, the author of the story, did set the story in Pennsylvania Dutch country and used events from actual history, namely the American Revolution.

Thanks to W. Irving there are "Sleepy Hollows" all over the country. There is even one here in Tulsa, Oklahoma!

Answer 3

Sleepy Hollow, is a village in the Town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about 30 miles north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line. To the south of Sleepy Hollow is the village of Tarrytown, and to the north and east are unincorporated parts of Mount Pleasant.

From the end of the American Revolution to its incorporation the area was a hamlet called Beekmantown, which incorporated in 1874 as "North Tarrytown", and then officially changed its name to "Sleepy Hollow" in March 1997. The population of the village at the 2000 census was 9,212, and the estimated population in 2006 was 10,124.[1]

Sleepy Hollow is the setting of the famous Washington Irving ghost story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and the location of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where Irving is buried, along with Andrew Carnegie, Walter P. Chrysler, Brooke Astor, Elizabeth Arden, Thomas J. Watson of IBM and many others. Philipsburg Manor and the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow are located in the village as well.

Until 1996 the village was the location of a General Motors Chevrolet assembly plant. The closing of the plant caused serious disruption to the economy of the area. The site is now being redeveloped for residential and retail use,[2] although the neighboring village of Tarrytown has sued over concerns about the traffic, parking and environmental impact of the project.[3]

Geography

Sleepy Hollow is located at 41°5′31″N, 73°51′52″W (41.091998, -73.864361)[4].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 5.1 square miles (13.2 km²), of which, 2.3 square miles (5.9 km²) of it is land and 2.8 square miles (7.4 km²) of it (55.58%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 9,212 people, 3,181 households, and 2,239 families residing in the village. The population density was 4,054.7 people per square mile (1,566.9/km²). There were 3,253 housing units at an average density of 1,431.8/sq mi (553.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 67.64% Caucasian American, 5.23% African American, 0.84% Native American, 1.87% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 18.82% from other races, and 5.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 45.08% of the population, many of whom are Ecuadorian, Dominican, and Puerto Rican.

There were 3,181 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.37.

In the village the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 36.7% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 103.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.9 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $54,201, and the median income for a family was $63,889. Males had a median income of $39,923 versus $32,146 for females. The per capita income for the village was $28,325. About 5.7% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.3% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Possible merger

Sleepy Hollow Mayor Philip Zegarelli, in March 2007 met with Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell and district superintendent Dr. Howard Smith to discuss forming a blue ribbon panel that would explore the pros and cons of an intermunicipal agreement.

The two villages have shared a school district for 55 years. The villages already shared some services to lower their expenses, but the greatest reductions, however, especially in school and property taxes, would come from merging the two villages

The problem, Zegarelli said, is that each village has its own assessment roll. “People complain about taxes overall. In particular, they’re talking about school taxes,” he said. “By definition it’s not equal. It’s very important to have a standardized assessment roll.” Zegarelli, who led an unsuccessful attempt in the mid-1970s to disaffiliate Sleepy Hollow from the town of Mount Pleasant, continues to advocate for secession — Sleepy Hollow from Mount Pleasant and Tarrytown from Greenburgh — as another way to save money. “If the idea is to save money, why have two levels of government?” he asked. The town of Mount Pleasant blocked Sleepy Hollow’s effort to secede, largely because it did not want to lose tax revenue from General Motors, Zegarelli said..[6]

Miscellany

The village of Sleepy Hollow has a Thoroughbred horse race run every year in its name at Belmont Park called the Sleepy Hollow Stakes.

WWE's Triple H and Stephanie McMahon had their wedding ceremony here.

The book Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin is set primarily in the Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown area.

Answer 4

That is the location that the fictional story took place in, yes.

And the headless horseman was actually a documented case, and one of the first serious paranormal investigations ever. However, the Johnny Depp/Christopher Walken movie kinda overdid the science part, and changed many things in the story to make it a little more accessible to the audience. But, more or less, I'd say it was more faithful by far than the cartoon.

Anyway, research in the area doesn't show any paranormal activity or a murder rate higher than average, though there was a missing persons issue around the time that the story was supposed to have taken place, people disappearing and either never being seen again or being found decapitated (their heads chopped off), thus the birth of the legendary story that's now a classic in American literature.

And yes, it's Sleepy Hollow, New York.