Ledyard 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 ...

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 Indian tribes in the Iroquois Confeder ...

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 population was 1,654 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is from General Benjamin Ledyard, an early settler of the town. Ledyard is on the western edge of the county and is southwest of

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Wells College Wells College is a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York. The college has cross-enrollment with Cornell University and Ithaca College. For much of its history it was a women's college. Wells College is located in the Finger Lakes reg ...

, founded as a college for women, is in the village of

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

History

The south part of Ledyard was in the

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 ...

, and the northern part was a reservation designated for the

Cayuga tribe The Cayuga ( Cayuga: Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ, "People of the Great Swamp") are one of the five original constituents of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), a confederacy of Native Americans in New York. The Cayuga homeland lies in the Finger Lakes regi ...

. The first settlers arrived around 1789. The town of Ledyard was founded in 1823 from part of the town of Scipio. The North Street Friends Meetinghouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005. Rose Marie Belforti, Ledyard's town clerk, refused in 2011 to issue

marriage licence A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdiction ...

s to

same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a Romance (love), romantic or Human sexuality, sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil ...

, claiming to do so would violate her "

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

", instead delegating the ministerial task to a deputy. She was re-elected in November of that year.

Notable person

Henry Wells Henry Wells (December 12, 1805 – December 10, 1878) was an American businessman important in the history of both the American Express Company and Wells Fargo & Company. Wells worked as a freight agent before joining the express business. Hi ...

, founder of

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

and

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

, was from Aurora.

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 is land and , or 25.67%, is water. The town is on the eastern shore of

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 a ...

, in the

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

region. The western town line is the border of Seneca County.

New York State Route 34B New York State Route 34B (NY 34B) is a north–south state highway located within Tompkins and Cayuga counties in Central New York in the United States. Its northern terminus is located at a junction with NY 34 by the hamlet of F ...

and

New York State Route 90 New York State Route 90 (NY 90) is a north–south state highway in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. All but five of the route's are located in Cayuga County, with the remaining situated in Cortland County. The ...

are north-south highways in Ledyard.

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 1,832 people, 608 households, and 423 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 50.4 people per square mile (19.5/km²). There were 886 housing units at an average density of 24.4 per square mile (9.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.96%

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 ...

, 0.71%

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 ...

, 0.38% Native American, 1.31%

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 ...

, 0.55% 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 1.09% 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 1.15% of the population. There were 608 households, out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% 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, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 24.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.03. In the town, the population was spread out, with 20.4% under the age of 18, 21.3% from 18 to 24, 22.2% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 71.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 65.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $42,857, and the median income for a family was $51,842. Males had a median income of $31,719 versus $24,750 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 $18,231. About 1.9% of families and 3.4% 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 1.6% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Ledyard

– The village of Aurora is on NY-90 and the shore of Cayuga Lake. *Barbers Corners – A location in the northeast of Ledyard. *Black Rock – A hamlet west of Ledyard. *Chapel Corners – A location southeast of Aurora. *Cooneys Corners – A location in the northern part of Ledyard. *Ellis Point – A projection into Cayuga Lake by Levanna. *Ledyard – The hamlet of Ledyard is on the town line in the southwest of the town on NY-34B. *Levanna – A hamlet on NY-90 by the shore of Cayuga Lake, north of Aurora. * Long Point State Park is south of Aurora village. *Prospect Corners – A location southeast of Aurora. *Stony Point – A projection into Cayuga Lake north of the state park. *Turney Corners – A location southeast of Aurora. *Willets – A hamlet on the shore of Cayuga Lake, south of the state park.

References

External links

Town of Ledyard official website
{{authority control Towns in Cayuga County, New York