Willink, New York (sometimes "Willinck") is a former

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 ...

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY i ...

, United States. The name was derived from Willem Willink, one of the original investors of the

Holland Land Company The Holland Land Company was an unincorporated syndicate of thirteen Dutch investors from Amsterdam who in 1792 and 1793 purchased the western two-thirds of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, an area that afterward was known as the Holland Purchas ...

. Willink was originally formed in Genesee County, from the Town of Batavia in 1804, before becoming part of

Niagara County Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word ''Onguiaahra''; meaning ''the strait'' or ''thunder of waters''. Niaga ...

in 1808. When Erie County was formed from the south part of Niagara County, Willink became the south part of that new county. Willink already had been divided to form the towns of Cambria and

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

in 1808, Clarence forming the northern part of the yet created Erie County. New towns continued to be formed from Willink until 1818, when

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

were the last to be partitioned. The citizens of the remaining portion of Willink voted to change the town's name to

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 ...

, effective the same date as the formation of Holland and Wales. The village of Willink continued to exist and incorporated in 1849, but eventually was renamed East Aurora. In 1874 the village disincorporated, but a post office remained at the west end of the new village of East Aurora until 1913, when it was consolidated with the East Aurora Post Office.

Towns and villages derived from the Town of Willink

Towns

* Cambria (1808) ** Hartland (from Cambria, 1812) *** Royalton (from Hartland, 1817) ***

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

(from Hartland, 1823) ** Niagara (from Cambria, 1812) *** Pendleton (from Niagara, 1827) *** Wheatfield (from Niagara, 1836) **

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

(from Cambria, 1812) *** Wilson (from Porter, 1818) ** Lewiston (from Cambria, 1818) *

(1808) ** Lancaster (from Clarence, 1833) * Concord (1812) ** Collins (from Concord, 1821) *** North Collins (from Collins, 1852) **

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

(from Concord, 1821) * Eden (1812) **

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

(from Eden, 1817) ** Evans (from Eden, 1821) *

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

(1812) ** Ellicott (now Orchard Park) (from Hamburg, 1850) *

(1818) ** Collins (from Holland, 1827) *

(1818) ** Marilla (from Wales ''(part)'', 1853) *

(remaining part of Willink, renamed in 1818) Towns formed from multiple "children" towns of Willink include: * Lockport (from Cambria and Royalton, 1824) * Newfane (from Hartland, Somerset, and Wilson, 1824) * West Seneca (from Ellicott, Hamburg, Lancaster and

Cheektowaga Cheektowaga () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town has grown to a population of 89,877. The town is in the north-central part of the county, and is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. The town is the ...

, 1851) * Brandt (from Collins and Evans, 1852) * Elma (from Aurora and Lancaster, 1857)

Villages

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

* Blasdell * East Aurora * Farnham * Gowanda, in part *

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

* North Collins * Orchard Park * Springville

References

---- {{coord missing, New York (state) Geography of Erie County, New York Former towns in New York (state)