Butler is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Wayne County,

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

, United States. The population was 2,064 at the 2010 census. It is also the town with the fewest

Registered Voters In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

in Wayne County with approximately 140 active voters. The Town of Butler is on the east border of the county and is west of

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. A post office is located in the Town of Butler although the area is covered by four postal districts. Only the immediate

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

of South Butler uses a ZIP Code of 13154 for South Butler.United States Postal Service (South Butler, New York Post Office)
Retrieved June 7, 2015. Addresses in the northern section have a ZIP Code of 14590 for Wolcott and a ZIP Code of 13143 for Red Creek, while the southern section has a ZIP Code of 13146 for

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

.United States Postal Service (Wolcott, New York Post Office)
Retrieved June 7, 2015.United States Postal Service (Savannah, New York Post Office)
Retrieved June 7, 2015. Government offices for the town are located in Butler Center.Wayne County, New York (Department Address Book)
, Retrieved January 19, 2015.

History

Settlement began in 1803. The Town of Butler was formed from the Town of Wolcott in 1826. Butler Correctional Facility was a New York State medium security prison. Butler Correctional Facility was located in the northeastern part of town near the hamlet of Westbury. It closed on July 26, 2014, under the Governor Andrew Cuomo's

Administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

.''The Auburn Citizen'', ''What does the future hold for now-closed Butler Correctional Facility in Wayne County?'' by Robert Harding, published August 3, 2014
Retrieved February 3, 2015. The Roe Cobblestone Schoolhouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2008.

Notable people

Antoinette Brown Blackwell Antoinette Louisa Brown, later Antoinette Brown Blackwell (May 20, 1825 – November 5, 1921), was the first woman to be ordained as a mainstream Protestant minister in the United States. She was a well-versed public speaker on the paramount iss ...

, first woman to be ordained as a minister in the United States *

Samuel Ringgold Ward Samuel Ringgold Ward (October 17, 1817 – ) was an African American who escaped enslavement to become an abolitionist, newspaper editor, labor leader, and Congregational church minister. He was author of the influential book ''Autobiograp ...

, African-American pastor and abolitionist, ordained a decade before Antoinette Blackwell

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (0.16%) is water. The eastern town line is the border of

Cayuga County Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Native American tribes in the Iroq ...

New York State Route 89 New York State Route 89 (NY 89) is a north–south state highway in central New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with New York State Route 13, NY 13, New York State Route 34, NY 34, and New York ...

is an important north–south highway in the town, intersecting

New York State Route 104 New York State Route 104 (NY 104) is a east–west state highway in Upstate New York in the United States. It spans six counties and enters the vicinity of four cities—Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, and Oswego—as it foll ...

in the northwestern section of the town. The western terminus of

New York State Route 370 New York State Route 370 (NY 370) is an east–west state highway in Central New York in the United States. It extends for about from an intersection with NY 104 and NY 104A south of the Wayne County village of Red Creek ...

is in the northeastern part of Butler.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 2,064 people, 723 households, and 525 families residing in the town. The population density was . The racial makeup of the town was 92.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.2%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 2.4% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.4% of the population. There were 723 households, out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.4% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.16. In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.2% under the age of 20, 4.7% from 20 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $42,643, and the median income for a family was $44,851. Males had a median income of $38,036 versus $25,000 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $15,403. About 9.8% of families and 17.7% 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 ...

, including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Housing

There were 785 housing units at an average density of ; a total of 7.9% of housing units were vacant. There were 723 occupied housing units in the town, of which 579 were owner-occupied units (80.1%), while 144 were renter-occupied (19.9%). The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% of total units. The rental unit vacancy rate was 2.0%.

Communities and locations in Butler

* Butler Center — a hamlet near the town center. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Butler was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. *Mill Pond — a small lake east of Butler Center. * South Butler (formerly "Harringtons Corner") — a hamlet near the south town line on NY-89. The village is the site in 1853 of the first ordination of a woman minister in the United States, Antoinette Brown. *West Butler — a hamlet near the west town line on Route 259. It was sometimes called "Cider Hill". * Westbury — a hamlet on the town line in the northeastern corner of the town on County Road 267. *Wolcott Creek — an important stream in the town.

References

External links

Butler Historical Preservation Society

{{authority control Rochester metropolitan area, New York Towns in Wayne County, New York Towns in New York (state) 1826 establishments in New York (state)