Harford 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 ...

Cortland County Cortland County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Cortland County was 46,809. The county seat is Cortland, New York, C ...

, New York, United States. The population was 943 at the 2010 census. Harford is in the southwestern corner of Cortland County and is south of Cortland.

History

Harford was in the former

Central New York Military Tract The Military Tract of Central New York, also called the New Military Tract, consisted of nearly of bounty land set aside in Central New York to compensate New York's soldiers after their participation in the Revolutionary War. Establishment Th ...

in a tract called "Virgil". The area was first settled ''circa'' 1803. The town was established in 1845 from part of the town of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

. By 1865, the population was 888. In the 1970s,

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

bought extensive tracts of land for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

research.

Geography

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 , of which , or 0.09%, is water. The western town line is the border of Tompkins County, and the southern town boundary is the border of Tioga County.

New York State Route 38 New York State Route 38 (NY 38) is a north–south state highway in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with NY 96 in the town of Owego in Tioga County. The nort ...

runs diagonally across the southwestern corner of Harford.

New York State Route 200 New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

intersects

New York State Route 221 New York State Route 221 (NY 221) is a state highway in Cortland County, New York, in the United States. Its western terminus is at an intersection with NY 38 in the town of Harford. The eastern terminus is at a junction with NY&n ...

east of Harford village. The East Branch of Owego Creek, part of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

watershed, flows southward through the town. The northwest corner of the town drains northward to Virgil Creek, a tributary of Fall Creek, which flows west to

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is ...

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

and is thus part of the

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. The Canada–United States border sp ...

watershed. Because of the steep hills in the north of the town, the larger settlements are in the south part.

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 920 people, 341 households, and 246 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 38.1 people per square mile (14.7/km²). There were 363 housing units at an average density of 15.0 per square mile (5.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.72%

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 ...

, 1.30%

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 ...

, 0.22% Native American, 0.11%

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 ...

, and 0.65% 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 0.22% of the population. There were 341 households, out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.15. In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.0% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $33,750, and the median income for a family was $41,111. Males had a median income of $29,044 versus $20,673 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 $16,346. About 6.0% of families and 8.3% 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 4.5% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Harford

*Griggs Gulf – A small valley north of Harford Mills. *Harford – The

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 ...

of Harford, located on NY Route 38, is in the southwestern part of the town. *Harford Mills (formerly "South Harford") – A hamlet, southeast of Harford village, near the southern town line.

References

External links

Town of Harford

{{authority control Towns in Cortland County, New York