Kingston 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
Ulster County
Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster.
History
...
,
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 Town of Kingston is in the northeastern part of Ulster County, north of the
City of Kingston
The City of Kingston is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, its northern boundary lying approximately 15 km from the Melbourne city centre along the north-eastern shorelines of Port P ...
. Kingston is inside the
Catskill Park
The Catskill Park is in the Catskill Mountains in New York in the United States. It consists of of land inside a Blue Line in four counties: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster. As of 2005, or 41 percent of the land within, is owned by ...
. The population was 889 at the 2010 census.
History
The original Town of Kingston was settled ''circa'' 1611, primarily as a military post, but that part of the town is now the
City of Kingston
The City of Kingston is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, its northern boundary lying approximately 15 km from the Melbourne city centre along the north-eastern shorelines of Port P ...
. The town was formed by a patent granted in 1667 and its status as a town was reaffirmed in 1702. The current town does not border the city of Kingston.
In 1811, part of the Town of Kingston was used to form the Towns of
Esopus and
Saugerties. Additional parts of Kingston were used to set apart the City of Kingston in 1827 and the
Town of Woodstock in 1879.
The quarrying industry brought many immigrant laborers to the town, and these new arrivals established themselves in the few communities within this town.
Sawkill
The community takes its name from the sawmills plus “kill”, the Dutch word for creek.
["Where the Pastor Once spied on the Pub", ''The Kingston Daily Freeman'', June 7, 1969]
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On January 1, 1765, William Legg bought around 100 acres of land lying on both sides of the Saw Kill. This was one of the first purchases to be made in the present town of Kingston. Legg built a sawmill and a house. The Legg family lived there for 88 years. It was reported that they ground wheat in the mill for the Continental Army. Saw mill and grist mill construction were commonplace along the Saw Kill River by the end of the 18th century. Milling died down by the end of the 19th because of decreased profitability.
The next owner was James Gaddis. He continued the milling operations and denied requests of people to use the land for quarrying. However, in the 1880s a fire destroyed both the house and the mill. Gaddis, needing money to rebuild, gave permission for quarrying bluestone on the Saw Mill creek ledge. The extensive quarrying moved the falls that were located by the mill back 300 feet.
Howe’s Mill was another mill located on the Saw Kill. It was powered by a dam at Little Falls. The mill was used to make gunpowder and there were frequently explosions. The mill stayed mostly intact, however, and continued operating until the 1860s when it was hit by lightning.
Bluestone quarrying in the area increased in 1828 when the Delaware and Hudson Canal
The Delaware and Hudson Canal was the first venture of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which would later build the Delaware and Hudson Railway. Between 1828 and 1899, the canal's barges carried anthracite coal from the mines of northeaster ...
was being built. Bluestone was used to pave sidewalks in New York City, Albany, and Kingston and was shipped all over the world. Entrepreneurs bought up the rocky ground and brought unskilled immigrants, mostly Irish, upriver from Manhattan. Sawkill became a "quarry-town" with company-owned housing.
In the 1900s railroads helped spur tourism in the region. During the summers, many farmers would take in boarders from the city. The scenic beauty and trout fishing in the Saw Kill and other similar creeks is part of what attracted people to the area.
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 7.8 square miles (20.2 km2), of which 7.8 square miles (20.1 km2) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.1 km2) (0.64%) is water.
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 908 people, 356 households, and 249 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 117.1 people per square mile (45.2/km2). There were 398 housing units at an average density of 51.3 per square mile (19.8/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 95.59% 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 ...
, 1.76% Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
or 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, 0.44% 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 ...
, 0.11% 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 1.87% 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 ...
or 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 1.65% of the population.
There were 356 households, out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% 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, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.9% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 30.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $42,500, and the median income for a family was $48,182. Males had a median income of $32,391 versus $25,956 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 $18,472. About 6.2% of families and 7.6% 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 10.9% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.
As of the 2010 census, the population was 889. The racial makeup was 93.0% White, 3.9% African American, 0.3% Native American and 1.2% Asian. Hispanic of Latino people of any race were 3.1%.[American Fact Finder, U.S. Census, 2010, Kingston town, New York, https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=C]
/ref>
Communities and locations in the Town of Kingston
*Halihan Hill – A hamlet north of Sawkill.
*Jockey Hill – A hamlet west of Sawkill.
*Saw Kill a stream passing through the center of the town and tributary of the Esopus River.
*Sawkill – A hamlet near the center of the town on Route 30 and Saw Kill.
*Stony Hollow – formerly a hamlet on Route 28.
*Sweet Meadows – A hamlet near the western town line, on the south side of Saw Kill.
References
External links
Town of Kingston, NY
{{authority control
Kingston, New York,
Towns in Ulster County, New York
1667 establishments in the Province of New York