Harris Hill is a

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 ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) located in the town of Clarence in

Erie County, New York Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York (state), New York State. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 954,236. However, in the 2023 census, the Erie County population was 946,147 ...

, United States. The population was 5,508 at the 2010 census. It is part of the

Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area Buffalo Niagara may refer to a variety of places and things in the vicinity of Buffalo, New York, and Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border ...

. The region is named after Asa Harris, a former officer in the American Colonial Army, who established a tavern near the top of a low hill northeast of Buffalo.

Geography

Harris Hill is located at (42.967058, -78.677828). Harris Hill's ZIP code 14221 is shared with nearby Williamsville. 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 CDP has a total area of , all land. Harris Hill is located in the southwest corner of the town, just north of the northern Lancaster town line, and is centered on the intersection of Main Street ( NY Route 5) and Harris Hill Road. Just to the southeast of Harris Hill, is a large crushed stone

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

located in the town of Lancaster. The quarry plunges some 30 meters into the bedrock. The quarry, now owned by Buffalo Crushed Stone, was opened in 1904. Buffalo Crushed Stone is located on the south side of Wehrle Drive, just east of Harris Hill Road in Lancaster.

History

Asa Harris's Tavern was a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. Freed slaves would sneak under Main Street (present-day NY Route 5) through limestone caves and exit north at the bottom of the

Onondaga Formation The Onondaga Limestone is a group of hard limestones and dolomites of Devonian age that forms geographic features in some areas in which it outcrops; in others, especially its Southern Ontario portion, the formation can be less prominent as a lo ...

into a swampy forest. The tavern has since been re-purposed as the Home Town Cleaners. It has since been renamed Reed's Laundry and Dry cleaning.

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 2000, there were 4,881 people, 1,859 households, and 1,435 families residing in the community. The population density was . There were 1,992 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 97.38%

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 ...

, 0.51%

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 ...

, 0.14% Native American, 1.25% Asian, 0.06%

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 ...

, 0.39% from other races, and 0.27% 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 0.82% of the population. There were 1,859 households, out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.6% 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, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.8% were non-families. 19.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.04. In the community, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males. The median income for a household in the area was $62,500, and the median income for a family was $66,971. Males had a median income of $52,478 versus $31,910 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 CDP was $29,056. About 1.4% of families and 1.5% 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 0.7% of those under age 18 and 0.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Most of the CDP is served by the Clarence Central School District, while a portion is in Williamsville Central School District.
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References

{{authority control Hamlets in New York (state) Census-designated places in New York (state) Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area Census-designated places in Erie County, New York Hamlets in Erie County, New York