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
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, United States. The population was 12,646 at the 2020 census. Chester contains a
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 ...
, also called Chester.
Chester is the birthplace of Philadelphia-style
cream cheese
Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...
.
History
The Lenape people have settled in Orange County for over 5,000 years. Europeans first settled in the 1700s which were ethnic Dutch and English colonists.
The economy of the early town was based on dairy products, particularly milk. This industry flourished because completion of the
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...
in 1841, which ran through Chester, enabled local farmers to ship their products to New York City, where demand was high. For instance, local farmer Phil Gregory would ship 240 quarts () of milk by train to New York City. The railroad earned $1.20 ($ in modern dollars) in freight charges; Gregory's business eventually grew to 300,000 quarts () of milk per day, which in turn gave the railroad over $1,000 ($ in modern dollars) in daily profit.
Late 20th century to present
In 2018, the Town of Chester approved a large residential development. It learned that the development appeared to be targeted toward the
Satmar Hasidim
Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynasty ...
community, whose rapid growth in this area had caused tensions. The large families of the Orthodox created strains for the local public school system, and there were other tensions between the strict Kiryas Joel and neighboring communities. Town supervisor Alex Jamieson told a local newspaper that the town would be buying up areas of undeveloped open space, including around the planned development in Chester, in order "to keep the Hasidic out so that they can't control the Town Board." His comments were widely reported and criticized by ''
The Forward
''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...
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 25.2 square miles (65.4 km2), of which 25.2 square miles (65.2 km2) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km2) (0.24%) is water.
Conjoined
NY-17
New York's 17th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in Southern New York. It includes all of Rockland County and portions of central and northwestern Westchester County, incl ...
and US-6 pass through the northern part of Chester. NY-94 crosses NY-17 south of Chester village.
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 2017, there were 12,140 people, 3,848 households, and 3,016 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 482.2 people per square mile (186.2/km2). There were 3,984 housing units at an average density of 158.3 per square mile (61.1/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 76.7%
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 ...
, 9.8%
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
, and 3.2% 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
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 10.14% of the population.
There were 3,782 households, out of which 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.7% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. 16.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.31.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.4% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $69,280, and the median income for a family was $75,222. Males had a median income of $53,528 versus $36,673 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 $25,900. About 2.7% of families and 7.2% 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 4.9% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.
Communities and locations in Chester
* Camp Monroe – a multi-denominational Jewish sleep-away
summer camp
A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...
founded in 1941 near the southern border with the town of Monroe.
* Chester – a village located on NY-94.
* East Chester – 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 ...
southeast of Chester village.
* Greycourt – site of former major railroad intersection and depot on the Erie Main Line.
*
Glenmere Lake
Glenmere Lake is a colonial mill pond or reservoir located in Orange County, New York, United States. It is New York State's largest habitatGoose Pond Mountain State Park – a state park southeast of Chester village.
* Lake Hill Farms– a subdivision of about 175 homes in the southwestern corner of the town first developed in 1973.
* Sugar Loaf – the oldest community in the town, antedating Chester town by more than a century (1738). The hamlet is home to the harness-racing horse
Hambletonian 10
Hambletonian 10, or Rysdyk's Hambletonian, (May 5, 1849 – March 27, 1876) was an American trotter and a founding sire of the Standardbred horse breed. The stallion was born in Sugar Loaf, New York, on 5 May 1849. Hambletonian has been indu ...
.
* Surrey Meadows – a late 1960s subdivision north of Chester village. The elementary school is located in this area.
* Walton Park – a hamlet on the border of the towns of Chester and Monroe.
Education
The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encom ...
operates area Roman Catholic schools. St. Columba School in Chester closed in 1991.