Banksville

GREENWICH'S FORGOTTEN CORNER

Banksville is a historic community centered on North Street in northeastern Greenwich on the New York border.  It was named after Samuel Banks, who settled on the upper reaches of the Mianus River in the northeast comer of Greenwich in 1695.  Descendants of Samuel Banks can be found living in Banksville today.  For the next 200 years, Banksville was a quiet farming community.

In 1904, Edmund C. Converse, the founder of U.S. Steel,  purchased nearly 1,500 acres and consolidated 20 farms to establish Conyer’s Farm.  It was named after the Old English spelling of Converse’s name.

Converse was the sole owner of the property which comprised of a main house and approximately 40 other buildings that served as housing for the two hundred workers who maintained the farm.

When Converse purchased the property, much of the land needed a great deal of work because it had not been cultivated in a generation.  Converse made the necessary improvements.  Once it was up and running, the farm flourished.  It became a source of food and employment for Greenwich residents. Eggs, butter and milk were produce and cows, pigs and poultry were raised.

The farm sat unoccupied after Converse’s death in 1921.  As the first president of Bankers Trust,  the bank took ownership of the farm until 1927 when it was sold.  The new owner planned to renovate the property.  But when the Great Depression set in, the renovations were never done.  In 1936, Conyers Farm was sold to Lewis Rosenstiel, a liquor magnate.  He tried unsuccessfully to have the farm re-zoned so he could divided it into quarter acre parcels.  But after a legal battle, Rosenstiel decided to leave the property mostly untouched.

Farming operations continued up until 1960 and later sold to the Conyers Farm Partnership which subdivided the land into 60 lots.

Conyers Farm is the home of many well-known residents who can afford its magnificent ten-acre lots. It is also the locale for the Greenwich Polo Club, where many town residents go in the summer to enjoy the polo games on a Sunday afternoon.

Banksville’s small business center near the New York State line is reminiscent of a simpler time. Many of its residents refer to Banksville as the land that time has forgotten.

The Connecticut-New York state border runs along Banksville Avenue and through Banksville’s small commercial center.  On the New York side, Banksville is a hamlet in the town of North Castle.

Nestled on the border of Greenwich and Bedford, NY is the Grand Slam Tennis Club.  It is one of two tennis facilities owned by tennis icon Ivan Lendl.  It features five well-maintained indoor courts, five outdoor courts Har-Tru (soft) courts and three indoor Har-Tru courts for the winter season.