Stafford 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 Genesee County,

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 2,459 at the 2010 census. The town was named after a town of the same name in England. Stafford is one of only two interior towns in Genesee County, lying in the east central part of the county, east of

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

History

The town was first settled in 1798, one of the first of the towns in the

Holland 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 t ...

to be occupied. Stafford was formed in 1820 from parts of the towns of

and Le Roy. Part of Stafford was taken to form the town of

Pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

in 1842. The historic core at the hamlet of Stafford 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 ...

as the Stafford Village Four Corners Historic District in 1985.

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 0.35%, is water. The

New York State Thruway {{Infobox road , state = NY , type = NYST , alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway , maint = NYSTA , map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...

(

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

) runs through the northern part of the town. The southern terminus of New York State Route 237 is at

New York State Route 5 New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syr ...

in Stafford.

New York State Route 33 New York State Route 33 (NY 33) is an east–west state highway in western New York in the United States. The route extends for just under from NY 5 in Buffalo in the west to NY 31 in Rochester in the east. It is, in fact, t ...

crosses the northern part of the town, intersecting NY-237 north of the Thruway.

Oatka Creek Oatka Creek ( ) is the third longest tributary of the Genesee River, located entirely in the Western New York region of the U.S. state of New York. From southern Wyoming County, it flows to the Genesee near Scottsville, draining an area of th ...

, Black Creek, and Bigelow Creek cross the town.

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 2,409 people, 909 households, and 695 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 997 housing units at an average density of . 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 ...

, 1.08%

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 ...

, 0.33% Native American, 0.17%

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 ...

, 0.08%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.12% 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 0.50% 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 0.25% of the population. There were 909 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.3% 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, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.03. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $49,516, and the median income for a family was $54,667. Males had a median income of $35,548 versus $24,375 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 $19,775. About 3.0% of families and 3.7% 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 2.1% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Lafayette C. Baker Lafayette Curry Baker (October 13, 1826 – July 3, 1868) was a United States investigator and spy, serving the Union Army, during the American Civil War and under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Early life Baker was born in Staf ...

, notable investigator, spy *

Jason DiSalvo Jason DiSalvo is an American former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He was the planned rider of the Castrol Rocket streamliner built to challenge the motorcycle land speed record, before being replaced by Guy Martin Guy Martin ( ...

, motorcycle/sport bike racer * Harmon J. Fisk, former Wisconsin State Assemblyman *

Archie D. Sanders Archie Dovell Sanders (June 17, 1857 – July 15, 1941) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. Life Sanders was born in Stafford, New York in 1857. He was a member of the New York State Assembly ...

, former US congressman

Communities and locations in Stafford

* Black Creek – A stream in the northeast part of the town. * Godfrey Pond – A pond in the northwest corner of Stafford. * Horseshoe Lake – A small lake near the western town line. * Morganville – 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 ...

in the center of the town on Route 237, north of Stafford village. It was named after William Morgan. *

– A stream flowing through the southeast part of the town. * Roanoke (formerly "Orangeburgh") – A location in the southeast corner of the town, near Oatka Creek on the Betheny-Le Roy Road. * Stafford (once known as "Transit Store House") – A hamlet near the junction of Routes 5 and 237.

References

External links

Town of Stafford official website

{{authority control Towns in Genesee County, New York Towns in New York (state)