Shawangunk 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 southwestern
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, United States. The population was 13,563 at the 2020 census. The town takes its name from its largest stream, the Shawangunk Kill. The name Shawangunk is from the language of the Lenape people. Kill is an abbreviation of the Dutch word for creek, ''Killitje.'' It is pronounced Shuh-Whan-Gung
History
Shawangunk was first settled by Europeans during the 1680s. The region was first designated a precinct about 1710, and became the township of Shawangunk in 1788. The town's name comes from the Dutch transliteration of the Munsee Lenape name or phrase. The approximate Lenape pronunciation was "Sha-WAN-gunk," probably meaning "in the smoky air." The name first appears in the 1682 Indian deed to Gertrude Bruyn. It is uncertain if this was the Indians' actual proper name for their nearby village and "New Fort," destroyed by the Dutch on Sept 5, 1663 during the Second Esopus War, or if the name was merely a phrase invented by the Indians in connection with the Bruyn land purchase, possibly describing some temporary feature of the landscape. Suggestions as to whether the name may have referred to smoky conditions on the day of Bruyn's first tour of the land with the Indians in the 1670s, or to the smoky ruins of the destroyed Indian village during the preceding decade, are purely speculative. Use of the name to designate the creek on which Bruyn settled (Shawangunk Kill), and the mountain range, came somewhat later. Locals pronounce the name "SHONG-gum," an obvious corruption or contraction of the original name, but one on record at least as far back as 1777 (Marc B. Fried, "Shawangunk Place-names" pp. ix-xi, 3-12, 96-97). Present-day citizens of Shawangunk often refer to themselves as living in particular hamlets such as Wallkill or Walker Valley rather than the town as a whole; this is due to the fact that many residents of the western part of the town are in the school district of Pine Bush (nearby across the county line) and have Pine Bush mailing addresses, also doing much of their shopping in that Orange County hamlet.
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 (0.55%) is water.
The southern town line and half of the eastern town boundary is the border of
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
,
New York.
The northeastward-flowing
Wallkill River
The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Oct ...
passes through the eastern half of town and lends its name to the hamlet, which lies along its east bank. The western part of the town, including Walker Valley, climbs the lower slopes of the eponymous mountains. The Shawangunk Kill, a major tributary of the Wallkill, divides the town approximately in half.
Government
The town of Shawangunk is led by a supervisor and a board of four council members. The current supervisor is John Valk, Jr., in office since 1998.
List of supervisors of Shawangunk:
Demographics
As of 2009, there were 12,652 people, 4,333 households, and 2,557 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 225 people per square mile . There were 3,754 housing units at an average density of 66.8 per square mile (25.8/km
2). The racial makeup of the town was 83%
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 ...
, 7.9%
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 ...
, .2%
Native American, .9%
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 ...
, .01%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 2.86% 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 1.32% 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 6.96% of the population.
There were 3,433 households, out of which 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were
married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.21.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.4% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 38.3% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 134.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 144.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $52,366, and the median income for a family was $59,975. Males had a median income of $40,967 versus $29,608 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 $19,402. About 4.4% of families and 13.4% 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 7.0% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
Housing
Statistics about housing in the town:
*Total: 4,333
*Occupied: 3,877
*Owner-occupied: 3,092
*Population in owner-occupied: 8,890
*Renter-occupied: 795
*Population in renter-occupied: 1,917
*Households with individuals under 18: 1,465
*Vacant: 446
*Vacant for rent: 87
*Vacant for sale: 66
Geology
The Shawangunk Mountains, primarily consisting of quartz, rise 2,000 feet above the town. The mountains were created over 10,000 years ago during the last ice age when retreating glacial ice carved them out as part the surrounding Catskills, drawing tourists and climbing enthusiasts from all over the world.
Communities and locations in Shawangunk
*Awosting – A hamlet in the northwestern part of the town.
*Bruynswick – A hamlet near the northern town line on County Route 7.
*Crawford – A hamlet in the northwestern section of the town, south of Awosting.
*Dwaarkill – A hamlet north of Red Mills, located on County Route 7.
*Galeville – A former hamlet in the eastern part of the town, north of Wallkill. Galeville is on the west bank of the
Wallkill River
The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Oct ...
. Once home to Galeville Army Air Base, now
Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge
The Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge located in Ulster County, New York, United States.
Formerly the Galeville Military Airport, it was decommissioned in 1994 and turned over to the United States Fish and Wildli ...
.
*New Hurley – A former hamlet on Route 208.
*Red Mills – A hamlet at the southern town line and north of Pine Bush.
*''Rutsonville
*
Shawangunk Kill
The Shawangunk Kill is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 stream that flows northward through Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties, New York, in the Unite ...
– A small stream in the town.
*
Ulsterville – Aest of Pine Bush, located on County Road 7.
*
Watchtower
A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...
– A census-designated-place (CDP) that is entirely made up of the residents of Watchtower Farms, a printing facility that draws tens of thousands of visitors every year. It is owned and operated by the
Watchtower Society (a legal entity of
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
) and has been in operation since 1963.
[The Watchtower, September 15, 1983, page 27]
*
Walker Valley – a hamlet in the southwest part of the town on Route 52. Walker Valley is west of Pine Bush.
*
Wallkill – a hamlet at the eastern town line.
*
Shawangunk Correctional Facility
Shawangunk Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison for males located in the Town of Shawangunk, Ulster County, New York in the United States. The facility lies just outside the Ulster County hamlet of Wallkill, whose post office serv ...
– a New York state prison, north of Wallkill.
*
Wallkill Correctional Facility
The Wallkill Correctional Facility is a medium security prison in New York state in the United States. The prison is located just north of the hamlet of Wallkill, in the Town of Shawangunk.
History
The prison opened in 1933, in the form of a ...
– a state prison north of Wallkill.
References
External links
Town website
{{authority control
Shawangunks
Wallkill River
Towns in Ulster County, New York
Populated places established in 1670
1670 establishments in the Province of New York
Towns in the New York metropolitan area