Athens is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in Greene County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. The population was 3,916 at the 2020 census. The town of Athens has a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

also called

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. The town is near the eastern edge of the county.

History

The town of Athens was formed on February 25,1815 from parts of the towns of Catskill and Coxsackie. In 1890, the total population was 2,361.

Geography and climate

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the town has a total area of 28.8 square miles (74.7 km²), of which 26.2 square miles (67.8 km²) is land and 2.7 square miles (6.9 km², or 9.22%) is water. The eastern town line is defined by the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

and is the border of Columbia County.

U.S. Route 9W U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the states of New Jersey and New York. It begins in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as Fletcher Avenue crosses the US 1–9, US 46, and the Interstate 95 (I-95) approaches ...

and the

New York State Thruway {{Infobox road , state = NY , type = NYST , alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway , maint = NYSTA , map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...

( Interstate 87) pass through the town.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 3,991 people, 1,600 households, and 1,110 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 152.5 people per square mile (58.9/km²). There were 1,972 housing units, with an average density of 75.3 per square mile (29.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.87%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.98%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.85%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.65% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.33% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 1.70% of the population. There were 1,600 households, out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.6% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.96. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $39,719, and the median income for a family was $43,672. Males had a median income of $33,913 versus $22,316 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $20,910. About 7.0% of families and 8.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in the Town of Athens

– The village of Athens is on the eastern edge of the town. *Athens Station – A location south of West Athens. *Hollister Lake – A lake in the northwestern part of the town. *Lime Street – A hamlet in the northwestern part of the town. *Middle Ground Flats – An island in the Hudson River. * Sleepy Hollow Lake – A lake at the northern town line. *West Athens – A hamlet in the northeastern part of the town, located on Route 28. *The Orchards A subdivision in the northwestern corner of the village that gets no village services.

Electric power facilities

New Athens Generating

Pursuant to Article X of the Public Service Law, Athens Generating Company, L.P. (now operating as New Athens Generating Company, LLC) was granted a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for a 1,080-

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...

(MW)

combined cycle A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...

natural gas powered plant in 2000. It went into service in 2004. There are three combustion turbines whose exhaust creates steam to drive a

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

. All of the combustion turbines are manufactured by

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

. It uses an wet/dry (hybrid) cooling system consisting of three groups of six hybrid cooling units. It is located on a 150-acre area that was zoned as light industrial, to the west of the Village of Athens. In 2017, it injected 3,891

GWh A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...

of electric energy into the electric transmission system. This is equivalent to operating at full capacity for approximately 40.4% of the year. For comparison, the capital region consumed 11,823 GWh of electric energy in 2017. The plant has reorganized and transferred ownership several times since it was granted a certificate in 2000. As of 2018 it is owned by New Athens Generating Company, LLC, which is owned by New Mach Gen, LLC, which is owned by Mach Gen, LLC, which is owned by Talen Energy Supply, LLC, which is owned by Riverstone Holdings LLC. It was noted in a recent declaratory ruling that

Con Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...

has a bilateral agreement with New Athens Generating Company whereby Con Edison buys the plant's output and sells it in the

NYISO New York energy law is the statutory, regulatory, and common law of the state of New York concerning the policy, conservation, taxation, and utilities involved in energy. Secondary sources have also influenced the law of energy in the Empire Stat ...

wholesale market. In its 2017-2018 adopted budget, the Village of Athens noted a revenue of about $9,000 from

payments in lieu of taxes A payment in lieu of taxes (usually abbreviated as PILOT, or sometimes as PILT) is a payment made to compensate a government for some or all of the property tax revenue lost due to tax exempt ownership or use of real property. Canada The federal g ...

most of which can be assumed to come from New Athens Generating Company, LLC. For comparison, the Village of Athens noted a total budget of about $2.15 million for 2017-2018.

West Point Partners

A High Voltage Direct Current underground transmission line was proposed in an Article VII filing with the Public Service Commission in 2013. Its northern converter station would have been located adjacent to the New Athens Generating facility. The certification process was placed in limbo after the real estate for its planned southern converter station near the

Indian Point Energy Center Indian Point Energy Center (I.P.E.C.) is a three-unit nuclear power plant station located in Buchanan, just south of Peekskill, in Westchester County, New York. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of Midtown Manhattan. Th ...

was sold in private auction from Con Edison to the Town of Cortlandt.

In popular culture

A major plot point in ''

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' (2005) took place in Athens. In the movie, most of the town is shown being destroyed. These are the scenes where the flaming train passes by the cast and the crowd is going towards the ferry.

References

External links

Town of Athens official websiteD.R. Evarts Library (Athens)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athens (Town), New York Towns in Greene County, New York 1815 establishments in New York (state)