Henrietta 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 Monroe County, New York, United States, and a suburb of the city of Rochester. The population of Henrietta was 47,096 as of the 2020 census, up from 42,581 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Henrietta is home to the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

and to one of the largest retail shopping districts in Monroe County.

History

The first residents of the Henrietta area were Native Americans. Although no evidence of Native American villages has been found in Henrietta, numerous artifacts and skeletons have been unearthed by farmers and

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

s over the past 200 years. With the end of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, several resident tribes that had sided with the British were forced to leave

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. As a result, land became available for European settlers in the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York (state), New York, in the United States. This region straddles th ...

and Genesee Valley regions. The town of Henrietta was named after Henrietta Laura Pulteney, Countess of Bath in Great Britain. Her father Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, a major British investor from the Pulteney Association, owned the land that became the town. Henrietta Pulteney never visited the town. Pulteney eventually sold his holdings, which then passed through the hands of several American investors. The first European settlers in Henrietta were Major Ezekiel Scott and his wife Catherine, who purchased in 1790. Most of the original arriving settlers were English. Two villages, East and West Henrietta, arose in the area, both part of the town of Pittsford. In 1818, a dispute about the recording of deeds prompted residents of the two villages to secede from Pittsford and form the town of Henrietta. With the opening of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

in 1825, Henrietta farmers gained access to the New York City market for their crops and the town prospered. In 1826, the Monroe Academy opened in Henrietta, becoming the first incorporated school in Monroe County. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the population of Henrietta rose from 3,000 to approximately 14,000 in ten years as suburban development grew around the city of Rochester. The building of the New York State Thruway through Henrietta in the early 1950s made the town more desirable for commercial development. In 1968, the

moved from Rochester to a new campus in Henrietta. That same year, the

National Technical Institute for the Deaf The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is the first and largest technological college in the world for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. As one of nine colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Roches ...

opened in Henrietta. In the 1980s, with the completion of

Interstate 390 Interstate 390 (I-390) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway located entirely within New York (state), New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the Southern Tier Expressway (Interstate 86 in New Yor ...

and the building of the Marketplace Mall, Henrietta was developed into one of the major retail shopping destinations in Monroe County. Henrietta has the following listings 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 ...

: * Andrew Short House *

Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell Childhood Home The Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell Childhood Home is a historic home located at Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in Monroe County, New York. It is a vernacular Federal architecture, Federal style masonry residence constructed of random fieldsto ...

* Tinker Cobblestone Farmstead.

Geography

Henrietta is in southern Monroe County and is bounded by the following communities: * The western border of Henrietta is the

Genesee River The Genesee River ( ) is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. The river contains several waterfalls in New York at Letchworth State Park and Roch ...

. The west side of the river has the towns of Chili and Wheatland. * To the north of Henrietta is the town of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. The city of Rochester is north of Henrietta, but does not share a border with the town. Downtown Rochester is north of the center of Henrietta. * To the east are the towns of Pittsford and Mendon. * To the south is the town of Rush. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Henrietta has a total area of . Of this total, are land and , or 0.83%, are water. Most of the town drains westward to the Genesee River, but the northeast part of the town drains northeasterly toward Irondequoit Creek. Both streams are north-flowing tributaries of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. The New York State Thruway (

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

) and

run through Henrietta. A short section of the

passes through the northeastern side of the town.

Government

Henrietta's town government consists of a

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

and four town board members. Other boards and commissions in Henrietta include the zoning board, planning board, conservation board, youth board, recreation commission, historic site committee, assessment board, and library board.

Demographics

As of 2020, the population of Henrietta was 47,096. As of the 2005–2009

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, the racial makeup of the town was 81.5%

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 ...

, 7.9%

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 ...

, 0.27% Native American, 5.9% Asian, and 3.1%

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 and 1.4% other. The 2000 US census showed a population in Henrietta of 39,028 with 12,823

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s and 8,501 families. The population density was . There were 13,243 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 84.3%

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 ...

, 6.9%

, .27% Native American, 5.5% Asian, .03%

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 ...

, .97% from other races, and 17.3% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 3.03% of the population. There were 12,823 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.8% 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, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.09. In the town, the population was spread out, with 20.4% under the age of 18, 23.9% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The

median age A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...

was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.3 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in Henrietta was $51,081, and the median income for a family was $60,803. Males had a median income of $39,636 versus $30,271 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 $19,821. About 3.2% of families and 9.1% 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 6.3% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities in Henrietta

East Henrietta

The East Henrietta hamlet is located at the crossroads of East Henrietta ( New York State Route 15A) and Lehigh Station roads ( New York State Route 253). It was the site of the Monroe Academy, the first secondary school in the county, which later became Rush-Henrietta Senior High School. Also located at this intersection was the Kirby House, a nationally recognized example of

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

architecture. It has since been relocated to a residential neighborhood near Stone Road in Henrietta.

West Henrietta

The West Henrietta hamlet is located at the crossroads of West Henrietta (Route 15) and Erie Station roads. This crossroads has several historic buildings: * West Henrietta Baptist Church, constructed in 1838 * West Henrietta Post Office/West Henrietta Fire Department building, built in the 1920s as a school house * Former general store building, built in 1906 and now occupied by a pizza restaurant * Former Cartwright Inn building, built as a

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

in 1831

Riverton

Riverton was established in 1973 by the federal government as a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

Education

Universities

(RIT)

Schools

* Bryant & Stratton College * Rush-Henrietta Central School District *School of the Holy Childhood - a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

agency for people with

developmental disabilities Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

*The Norman Howard School - a day school for children with disabilities *Continental School of Beauty *Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute (part of the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

)

Notable people

* Joseph L. Biehler, U.S. Army major general * John Birdsell, inventor of the Birdsell Clover Huller and founder of the Birdsell Manufacturing Company * Antoinette Brown Blackwell, first ordained female minister in the United States *

Shenise Johnson Shenise Johnson (born December 8, 1990) is an American basketball player. She was born in Rochester, New York, Johnson went to Rush–Henrietta Senior High School in Henrietta and played college basketball for the Miami Hurricanes at the Univer ...

, professional WNBA basketball player * Samantha Watson, middle-distance runner

References

External links

* {{authority control New York (state) populated places on the Genesee River Rochester metropolitan area, New York Towns in Monroe County, New York Towns in New York (state) 1818 establishments in New York (state) Populated places established in 1818