Macedon 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 Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 9,148 at the 2010 census. The Town of Macedon is named after the birthplace of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

, in Ancient Macedonia. It is located in the southwest corner of Wayne County and contains a

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 ...

also named

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. Th ...

, formerly an incorporated

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

. The town is east of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

and west of Syracuse.

Etymology

Macedon took its name from the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

Kingdom of

. The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

Macedon is derived itself from the

adjective μακεδνός (''makednós''), meaning "tall", possibly descriptive of the inhabitants of Macedon.Liddell and Scott 1940. It has the same root as the adjective μακρός (''makros''), meaning "long" or "tall" in Ancient Greek. The name is originally believed to have meant either "highlanders", "the tall ones", or "high grown men".; ; Eugene N. Borza writes that the "highlanders" or "Makedones" of the mountainous regions of western Macedonia are derived from northwest Greek stock; they were akin both to those who at an earlier time may have migrated south to become the historical "Dorians".

History

Prior to early settlement, the area in and around Macedon was home to the Seneca Nation, a tribe member in the

Iroquois League The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

. The town land was acquired for settlement in 1788 from the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

as part of the

Phelps and Gorham Purchase The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 ( £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, and the pre-emptive right to th ...

. The first settlers, Webb and Hannah Harwood, arrived in 1789.
Brief History of Macedon - Office of the County Historian The construction and completion 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 navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

from 1817 to 1825 brought many new settlers to the area. The town of Macedon was incorporated during the canal construction in 1823, from what had been the western half of the Town of

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...

. The opening of the Erie Canal led to the forming of new port communities like Wayneport and the Village of Macedon, with the latter centered on Lock 30. Remnants of the former Enlarged

Lock 60 (also called the Lower Macedon Lock) are located along the canal trail off Quaker Road, just east of the Village of Macedon. It was built in 1841 as a single-chamber lock, but doubled in 1874. The lock had a lift of 10.02 feet (3.05 m) to the west. It was abandoned in 1914. The site is currently maintained as a park.The Erie Canal (Lock 60 - Lower Macedon Lock)
Retrieved Jan. 21, 2015. Nearby are the remains of Erie Canal Change Bridge #39 (also called Gallup's Bridge), located just west of the intersection of O'Neil and Quaker roads. A

change bridge A roving bridge, changeline bridge, turnover bridge, or snake bridgeWilliam George Victor Balchin, ed., ''The Country Life Book of the Living History of Britain'', 1983, , p. 109 is a bridge over a canal constructed to allow a horse towing a bo ...

allowed

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport w ...

s to switch from one side of the canal to the other. The bridge was constructed in 1881 and had an iron lattice truss with a wooden floor. Only the foundations are still in place.The Erie Canal (Change Bridge #39 - Gallup's Bridge)
Retrieved Jan. 21. 2015. The Macedon Academy, open from 1841 to 1902, set a standard for education excellence of the era. The Academy provided an intermediate level of education, between the district school level and college. Part of Company B, 160th New York Volunteer Infantry, was raised in Macedon during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. At the time, the town had a population of only a little over 2,500. The J. and E. Baker Cobblestone Farmstead and

Charles Bullis House Charles Bullis House is a historic home located at Macedon in Wayne County, New York. The Federal style, cobblestone house consists of a 2-story main block with a -story frame wing. It was built about 1839 and is constructed of irregular, rough ...

are 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 ...

. The town is part of the

Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor is a National Heritage Area in New York State. It has created signage in a wide area, including placing signs many miles away from any historic site of the Erie Canal. The corridor includes 34 Nationa ...

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 t ...

, the town has a total area of 38.9 square miles (100.6 km²), of which 38.7 square miles (100.2 km²) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.4 km²) (0.44%) is water. Macedon is bordered by the towns of

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

to the north,

to the east,

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia * Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States *Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California *Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia * ...

( Ontario County) to the south, and Perinton ( Monroe County) to the west. An East-West auxiliary branch of NY 31, New York State Route 31F and New York State Route 350 intersect east-west New York State Route 31 at Macedon hamlet.

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 in ...

of 2010,Macedon 2010 Demographic Profile Data
- American FactFinder there were 9,148 people, 3,650 households, and 2,583 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

was 235.2 people per square mile (91.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.9%

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 o ...

, 0.8%

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 ...

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 ...

, 0.2% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.4% 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 1.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race were 1.44% of the population. There were 3,650 households, out of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.95. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 20, 4.7% from 20 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 30.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $76,146, and the median income for a family was $85,181. Males had a median income of $64,392 versus $41,594 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 $29,551. About 1.0% of families and 2.7% 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 2.3% of those under age 18 and 0.8% of those age 65 or over.

Housing

There were 3,381 housing units at an average density of 86.9 per square mile (33.7/km²); a total of 6.0% of housing units were vacant. There were 3,650 occupied housing units in the town, of which 2,831 were owner-occupied units (77.6%), while 819 were renter-occupied (22.4%). The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% of total units. The rental unit vacancy rate was 10.8%.

Education

The only schools in Macedon are Palmyra-Macedon Intermediate School, which is part of the Palmyra-Macedon Central School District and the Gananda Central School District, serving households on the western edge of Macedon. The Macedon Public Library serves the public as a repository for books, magazines, CDs, and videos that may be loaned out or viewed. The library also offers free computer and internet access on site. The library is also home to the Bullis Estate Library, a large collection of rare books, personal journals, and letters from the Victorian era family.

Business

Most of the businesses in the town are concentrated in four areas. Small specialty shops and boutiques are available in the old village on Main Street and near Canandaigua Road. The West Wayne plaza on Route 31 between what was the Village of Macedon and the Village of Palmyra also has a selection of shops and restaurants. To the west, Lowe's and

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

Superstores, and the surrounding area near Wayneport has grown more attractive to other businesses and developers. Newer businesses in the area include The Purple Painted Lady®, Macedon Family Chiropractic, Twisted Rail Brewing, and Cherry Creek Siding & Windows L.L.C. The fourth area surrounds the Gananda planned community offering daily services and offices. Macedon is also home to the American regional headquarters of New Delhi-based Jindal Films.

Communities and locations in the Town of Macedon

*Cator Corners — A location north of Macedon hamlet on NY-31F. *Huddle — A

by the north town line on County Road 208. * Gananda — A "master planned community" and Title VII new town that is partially located in Macedon, along the north town line, between NY 350 and Hance Rd *

— The hamlet of Macedon, located in the south part of the town on NY-31 and the Erie Canal. It was formerly an incorporated village. * Macedon Center — A location northwest of Macedon hamlet, located on NY-31F. *North Macedon — A location north of Macedon hamlet on Route 31F. *Walworth Station — A location by the junction of County Roads 208 and 209 in the east part of the town. *Wayneport — A hamlet in the southeast part of the town is located on the Erie Canal and County Road 306. It was formerly called "West Macedon."Brief History of Macedon - Office of the County Historian
/ref> *Yellow Mills — A hamlet in the southeast part of the town, west of Village of Palmyra on NY-31.

Notable person

* John L. Bullis — decorated American soldier and real estate entrepreneur

References

External links

Town of Macedon, NY

Historical summary of the Town of Macedon, NY

Macedon Historical Society

{{authority control Rochester metropolitan area, New York Towns in Wayne County, New York 1823 establishments in New York (state)