Bombay 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 Franklin 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 1,357 at the 2010 census. The town was named after a major port city in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, now known as

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, by an early landowner whose wife was from Byculla. Bombay is in the northwestern part of Franklin County.

History

Bombay is named for the wife of Michael Hogan, an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

ship captain who grew wealthy in the

East India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadh ...

trade. He came to the US in 1805 with his wife, whom Hogan said was an Indian princess.Hogan is documented as having married Frances Richardson, the natural daughter of British trader William Richardson, who was based in Bombay, and his mixed-race Anglo-Indian housekeeper. Hogan had a tendency to make grandiose claims; he also said that he gave his New York City estate the name Claremont because of having served as a midshipman with the future king

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

. Hogan bought north of the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...

, including the Town of Bombay, which was named in honour of his wife's birthplace. Their son, William Hogan, served as

town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only borou ...

, and was elected to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

in 1822. In 1829 he was appointed as a judge of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

for Franklin County, and in 1830 he was elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

. Settlement of the town began around 1805. The region was known as

Macomb's Purchase Macomb's Purchase is a large historical area of northern New York in the United States purchased from the state in 1791 by Alexander Macomb, a merchant who had become rich during the American Revolutionary War. He acted as a land speculator, sellin ...

, related to a massive purchase by a land speculator when New York first put up former

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

lands for sale. The town of Bombay was organized from part of the town of

Fort Covington Fort Covington ( moh, Kentsia’kowáhne) is a town in Franklin County, New York. The population was 1,676 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a War of 1812 fortification. The original name of the town was ''French Mills''. The town i ...

in 1833. In 1877, the town was devastated by a plague of

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

s, which consumed more than half of the field crops.

Geography

The town is in northwestern Franklin County, approximately south of the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

. The town's neighbors are the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation to the northwest, the town of

to the northeast and east, Bangor at the southeastern corner, Moira to the south, and the town of Brasher in St. Lawrence County to the west. 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 ...

, Bombay has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.35%, is water. The St. Regis River, a tributary of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

, forms the northwestern border of the town. The Little Salmon River meanders from the south to the north through the central part of Bombay.

New York State Route 95 New York State Route 95 (NY 95) is a north–south state highway located within Franklin County, New York, in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with U.S. Route 11 (US 11) in the town of Moira to a ju ...

is a north/south route, linking

New York State Route 37 New York State Route 37 (NY 37) is a state highway in the North Country of New York in the United States, extending for on a west–east axis. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 11 (US ...

in the north at Bradley's Corners with the town of Moira in the south, where Route 95 ends at U.S. Route 11.

is an east/west state highway through Bombay and the Mohawk Reservation, leading west to Massena and east to Fort Covington. New York State Route 37C intersects NY-37 at Hogansburg in the northwestern corner of Bombay and leads south to Helena.

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 1,192 people, 483 households, and 327 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 562 housing units at an average density of 15.7 per square mile (6.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 82.89%

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 ...

, 0.42%

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 ...

, 14.85% Native American, 0.08%

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 ...

, 0.50% 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 1.26% 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 0.92% of the population. There were 483 households. Out of these, 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.0% 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, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.97. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $28,000, and the median income for a family was $34,375. Males had a median income of $27,273 versus $26,029 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 $14,710. About 16.4% of families and 20.9% 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 29.3% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Bombay

*Bombay – A

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the center of the town on NY-95 near the junction of County Roads 1 and 4. *Hogansburg – A hamlet in the northwestern corner of the town at NY-37 on the bank of the St. Regis River. It was formerly called "St. Regis Mills" and "Grays Mills". *Pike Creek – a stream flowing north to the

. *South Bombay – A hamlet near the southern town line on County Road 32.

References

External links

Town of Bombay official website

Read and Listen to the Oral History of Bombay
{{authority control Towns in Franklin County, New York Towns in New York (state) 1833 establishments in New York (state)