North Tarrytown Assembly

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North Tarrytown Assembly
Remnants of the former GM plant in 2014
Map
Operated1900 (1900) - 1996 (1996)
Coordinates41°5′3″N 73°52′11″W / 41.08417°N 73.86972°W / 41.08417; -73.86972
IndustryAutomotive
ProductsAutomobiles
OwnerGeneral Motors
Postcard of the Tarrytown plant, b. 1918

The North Tarrytown Assembly was an automobile factory in North Tarrytown, New York, United States, now known as Sleepy Hollow, situated on the Hudson River. The 90-acre (36 ha) plant was in operation, with short interruptions, from 1900 to 1996.

In 1899, John Brisben Walker acquired parts of the 225-acre former Ambrose Kingsland estate on North Tarrytown's waterfront. He hired McKim, Mead & White to design a purpose-built automobile factory at the foot of Beekman Avenue. Manufacturing machinery was purchased and the new Mobile Company of America produced its first "Mobile" steam carriage on March 7, 1900. Advertising claimed it to be the largest automobile factory in the world.[1][2] Walker soon realized that his steam-powered “Mobiles” had no future. In early 1903, the Mobile Company of America stopped production, having built only an estimated 600 steam carriages. Later in 1903, the equipped automobile plant was leased (and subsequently sold) to Maxwell-Briscoe, a gasoline-powered automobile manufacturer. In 1913 Maxwell-Briscoe was renamed Maxwell Automobile Company. Separate portions of the complex were acquired by Chevrolet in 1914 and 1915. At this time Chevrolet was an independent company and not yet part of General Motors. In 1918 Chevrolet was integrated into General Motors.

The plant at its peak employed over 4,000 workers. A range of General Motors products were assembled in North Tarrytown over the years; most were Chevrolet products, starting with the Chevrolet Series 490. North Tarrytown also produced the 50 millionth Chevrolet, a special gold-colored 1963 Impala SS with the 409 cubic-inch V8.[3][4] Its last vehicles produced were GM's second generation minivans. These were the Chevrolet Lumina APV, Pontiac Trans Sport, and Oldsmobile Silhouette, but sluggish sales spelled the end for GM's North Tarrytown operations with its then 2100 employees.[5] It was closed at the end of June 1996 when production of minivans was moved to Doraville Assembly in Georgia.[6] Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line runs through the property, and some of the siding tracks that used to serve the factory have been taken over by Metro-North as overflow storage tracks for maintenance of way equipment.

Wartime Production

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Grumman Wildcats (in line for takeoff) and Avengers (wings folded, at left) on the deck of the USS Kitkun Bay during the Battle off Samar, on October 25, 1944

During the Second World War, the North Tarrytown assembly line was temporarily shut down before being brought back online as part of General Motors's newly-formed Eastern Aircraft Division. Eastern Aircraft was dedicated to taking over the production of two carrier-based military aircraft designed by Grumman: the FM-2 Wildcat and the Avenger torpedo bomber. The North Tarrytown plant built the Avenger's wing assembly, its engine cowl, and later, its canopy and the center section of its fuselage. [7] The planes were then fully assembled at a plant in Trenton, New Jersey. Eastern Aircraft built over 7,500 Avengers – around 77% of the total craft made – before the model was discontinued.[8]

Environmental Impact

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1920s expansions of the plant involved land-filling Pocantico Bay and adjacent swamps. Pocantico River was rerouted south of the site.[9]

The plant was a noted polluter of the Hudson River. The plant used about 1 million gallons of water per day, which was returned to the river as waste. The plant's industrial waste (primarily lead chromate and other painting, cleaning, and soldering chemicals) would be emptied directly into the river. Domestic waste would be processed through the village's sewage treatment plant. Around 1971, the village's Sewer and Water Superintendent assured that the pollution reports were exaggerated, and that he and other residents would swim by a beach nearby, however Dominick Pirone, an ecologist and former director of the Hudson River Fishermen's Association (now Riverkeeper) was quoted as saying: "You can tell what color cars they are painting on a given day by what color the river is."[10]

The heavily polluted site underwent a lengthy decontamination, performed by GM under New York State's Brownfield Cleanup Program.[11] The site today is being developed, with the parcel west of the railroad becoming a mainly-residential Toll Brothers development named "Edge-on-Hudson" and the east parcel retained by the Village of Sleepy Hollow for a new Department of Public Works garage and other facilities for the public.


Models

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Some of the models produced at the plant included:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Miller, Richard (May 16, 2008). "Steam Starts the 1899 Auto Industry". River Journal North. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  2. ^ Kimes, Beverly Rae; Clark Jr., Henry Austin (1996). Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (3rd ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9.
  3. ^ "Nelson Rockefeller in 50 millionth Chevrolet automobile on assembly line". 10 June 1963.
  4. ^ Bogdan Popa (13 September 2022). "This 1963 Chevrolet Impala Likely Parked Since Forever Hopes Nobody Looks Inside".
  5. ^ Lueck, Thomas J (1996-06-27). "Auto Plant Closes And Developers See Opportunity; North Tarrytown Focuses On Its Future Instead of the Past". New York Times: B1.
  6. ^ Lueck, p. B6
  7. ^ A History of Eastern Aircraft Division, printed by William E. Rudge's Sons, 1944, pp. 17-31 and pp. 107-118
  8. ^ Charles L. Scrivner TBF/TBM Avenger in action - Squadron Signal publications, Aircraft Number 82, 1987, p 13
  9. ^ "General Motors Site Redevelopment, Sleepy Hollow". Riverkeeper. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
  10. ^ Greenhouse, Linda (January 12, 1971). "Pollution Accusations Against G.M. Dismay North Tarrytown". The New York Times. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  11. ^ "Former GM North Tarrytown West Parcel Cleanup Certified" (PDF). New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Fact Sheet. April 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)