Tarrytown sits within the lands of the former Dutch Colony of New Netherland which fell under English rule in 1674 with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster.

André was traveling south through the village on the Albany Post Road when he was stopped and searched by three local militiamen David Williams, John Paulding, and Isaac Van Wart.

A circumstantial account of André's capture by militiamen was written in 1903 by the owner and publisher of the Tarrytown Argus, Marcius D.

Irving began his story, "In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators of the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port which by some is called Greenburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town.

[8] Kykuit was the intended target of at least two bombing attacks planned by anarchists associated with the radical journalists Alexander Berkman and Luigi Galleani.

[8] On November 19, 1915, a powerful dynamite bomb was discovered at Cedar Cliff, the Tarrytown estate of John D. Archbold, President of the Standard Oil Company.

[9][10] The bomb was discovered by a gardener, John Walquist, who found four sticks of dynamite, weighing a pound each, half hidden in a rut in a driveway 50 feet from the front entrance of the residence.

[9][10] The dynamite sticks were bound together by a length of wire, fitted with percussion caps, and wrapped with a piece of paper matching the color of the driveway, a path used by Archbold when going to or from his home by automobile.

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

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.

[12] In 2014, Tarrytown was ranked second in the list of the top 10 places to live in New York, according to the national online real estate brokerage Movoto.

Tarrytown has access to highways I-87 and I-287, and is the site of the eastern end of the New York State Thruway's Tappan Zee Bridge.

[30] Tarrytown's churches (many of which are located on Broadway,[31] the village's largest thoroughfare) cover all major denominations.

Tarrytown is served by Episcopalian, Baptist, Catholic, Christian Science, Methodist, Reformed, and Korean churches.

Temple Beth Abraham, located on Leroy Avenue, services both the Reform and Conservative communities.

The DoubleTree Inn features a Glatt Kosher kitchen, as well as an Orthodox prayer service (minyan) on the Jewish sabbath (Shabbat).

The local Jewish Community Center, JCC on the Hudson, features family programs, camps, and educational opportunities from a non-denominational approach.