Windham 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
Greene 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 1,703 at the 2010 census.
The town was probably named for the
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 ...
or
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of Windham,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, as many of its earliest settlers came from that state as well as other parts of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. The town has two nicknames: "Land in the Sky" and "Gem of the Catskills".
Windham is in the west-central part of the county on the northern boundary of 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 ...
.
History
The region was first settled around 1780. The town was formed from the town of
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
in 1798 while still part of
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
...
. After the formation of Greene County, several other towns were formed from parts of Windham. These towns include
Hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
and
Lexington (1813),
Prattsville (1833), and part of
Ashland in 1848. In 1900, the town's population was 1,240.
In 1937, Camp Highland, a Nazi summer camp for German-American boys, ran at a site near Windham, NY.
The major source of income in Windham is the
Windham Mountain
Windham Mountain is a ski resort located in the town of Windham, New York (US), in the northern section of the Catskill Mountains, approximately 2.5 hours north of New York City. Windham Mountain is the closest big mountain skiing to the city. ...
ski resort, formerly called "Ski Windham". This ski area brings a lot of its skiers up from the New York City area as well as other areas in the
Northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
. In August 2010, Windham hosted the 2010 World Cup Mountain Bike Race, the first time its finals occurred on American soil in 20 years of competition. In August 2014, Windham again hosted the World Cup Mountain Bike Race, as the only US stop of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
In August 2011,
Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 At ...
dumped more than 10 inches of rain into the Batavia Kill creek in just a matter of a couple of hours in a devastating flood.
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 45.4 square miles (117.6 km
2), of which 45.3 square miles (117.3 km
2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km
2, or 0.22%) is water.
The town is in the
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...
and partly within the Catskill State Park. Batavia Kill, a tributary of
Schoharie Creek, flows to the west through Windham.
Climate
Demographics
![Union Chapel Windham NY 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Union_Chapel_Windham_NY_2013.jpg)
As of the census
of 2000, there were 1,660 people, 720 households, and 450 families residing in the town. The population density was 36.7 people per square mile (14.2/km
2). There were 2,002 housing units at an average density of 44.2 per square mile (17.1/km
2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.13%
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 ...
, 0.36%
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 ...
, 0.42%
Native American, 0.06%
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 ...
, 0.42% 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 0.60% 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 1.75% of the population.
There were 720 households, out of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $36,010, and the median income for a family was $42,961. Males had a median income of $31,726 versus $23,125 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,344. About 6.8% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.8% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.
Communities and locations in the Town of Windham
*Batavia Kill − A stream flowing through the southern part of the town past Maplecrest and Windham.
*Brooksburg − 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 Catskill Park.
*East Windham − A hamlet on the eastern town line on Route 23.
*
Hensonville − A hamlet in the southern part of the town and the location of the town government. It was named after John Henson, a postmaster, having been called previously "Baileys Four Corners."
*Mitchell Hollow − A location in the town.
*Nauvoo − A location in the town.
*North Settlement − A hamlet on the western town line, northwest of Windham village.
*Maplecrest − A hamlet in the Catskill Park near the southern town line, originally called "Big Hollow."
*
Windham − The hamlet of Windham in the southwestern part of the town on Route 23. It was originally called "Batavia" until that name was taken for a location in
Genesee County, New York
Genesee County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,388. Its county seat is Batavia. Its name is from Seneca word Gen-nis'-hee-yo, meaning "the Beautiful Valley".THE AMERICAN REVIEW; A WHI ...
''circa'' 1802. It was also called "Windham Centre" and "Osbornville."
Notable people
*
Scott Adams
Scott Raymond Adams (born June 8, 1957) is an American author and cartoonist. He is the creator of the syndicated ''Dilbert'' comic strip, and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, and business. ''Dilbert'' gained nation ...
, writer of the ''
Dilbert
''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title characte ...
'' comic strip, grew up in Windham and graduated as the valedictorian from Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School
*
Charles John Brown
Charles John Brown (born 13 October 1959) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an apostolic nuncio since 2012. He is currently the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines. Before entering the diplomatic se ...
, appointed archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church on November 26, 2011, and currently serving as apostolic nuncio to Ireland; moved to Windham at the age of 11 with his parents and five siblings
*
James K. Edsall, Illinois state senator and Illinois attorney general, born in Windham
*
Oscar Finch, Wisconsin state assemblyman born in Windham
*
Hiram P. Graham, Wisconsin state assemblyman born in Windham
*
Washington Hunt
Washington Hunt (August 5, 1811 – February 2, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician.
Life and career
Hunt was born in Windham, New York. He moved to Lockport, New York in 1828 to study law, was admitted to the bar in 1834, and opene ...
, governor of New York
In popular culture
* In 2018, Windham appeared in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
original series ''
Daredevil''. In the season 3 episode "Karen", it represented Fagan Corners, Vermont, the fictional hometown of
Karen Page
Karen Page is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She serves as the original love interest for Daredevil, under Matt Murdock's employ as his legal secretary. In 1999, Page was killed by Bullseye, a ...
(
Deborah Ann Woll
Deborah Ann Woll (born February 7, 1985) is an American actress and model. Woll played Jessica Hamby in the HBO drama series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), which earned her a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She subsequently starred a ...
). The Catskill Mountain Country Store on Route 23 was used as a diner owned by Karen's father (
Lee Tergesen
Lee Allen Tergesen (; born July 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Weird Science'', as Tobias Beecher in HBO's prison drama '' Oz'', and as Evan Wright in '' Generation Kill,'' as well as guest starring in many othe ...
), the town hall was rebranded with new signage, and additional filming was conducted at the nearby ski areas and country club.
References
External links
Town of Windham official websiteWindham-Ashland-Jewett Central SchoolWindham Public Library
{{Authority control
Towns in New York (state)
Towns in Greene County, New York