Fair Haven is 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 ...

located on the southern shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

in Cayuga 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 724 at the 2020 census. Fair Haven is within the town of Sterling and is northwest of

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

. The village is on Little Sodus Bay, an arm of Lake Ontario.

History

The village first gained prominence as a port on the south shore of Lake Ontario. The openings in the

sand bar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

s on Little Sodus Bay were widened and protected by jetties in the middle of the 19th century, thus improving the shipping capabilities of Fair Haven. The west pier was later marked with a wooden outer lighthouse with a fourth order Fresnel lens and in 1873 a light keepers house was built on shore which still stands. Sometime later an inner

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...

was added. The

Southern Central Railroad The Southern Central Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of New York in the nineteenth century. The company's line ran from Fair Haven, New York, on the south shore of Lake Ontario, to Athens, Pennsylvania, in the Southern T ...

served Fair Haven, from 1872 until 1887 when it was absorbed by the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, ...

. Summer tourists arrived by rail from Auburn and other inland towns to enjoy the parks on the waterfront.which were known for having the very best sand beaches on Lake Ontario. The railroad also carried coal up from Athens,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

to a 1500 foot wooden trestle built on the east shore of Little Sodus Bay. The coal was then loaded and shipped by sail freighter to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and Ice was harvested from the bay and shipped back by rail to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The trestle was torn down in 1937, a year after the spur was abandoned. When its use as a port waned, the village continued to flourish as a prime recreational destination thanks to the new State Park. Fair Haven NY Presby PHS791

The Presbyterian church, whose brick building of 1882 replaced a former building destroyed by fire, was united with the local Methodist church in 1928.Per 1993 plaque written by Sterling Historical Society, which can be seen in :File:Fair Haven Community Church.jpeg It is now the Fair Haven Community Church. In the late 1920s land acquisitions had begun for creation of Fair Haven Beach State Park with construction starting around 1930 using labor provided by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a ...

. The Little Red School House Museum located at 1294 State Route 104A, Sterling, New York preserves Fair Haven's Railroad heritage with two floors of exhibits and a functioning railroad hand pump car that visitors are welcome to ride. Camping, swimming, fishing and recreational boating are popular now, and the bay is ringed with cottages and year-round residences. There has been an active

yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mar ...

on the west shore for over a century, and many sailboats are seen during the summer. The Pleasant Beach Hotel, located on the east shore, opened in 1910 and is still in operation today. The history of Fair Haven has been well documented by photographer Edna Williams (1883-1967) and several writers, most recently Robert Kolsters who has two books, ''Looking Back at Fair Haven'' (), loaded with historic pictures and other information. There is an active historical association in nearby Sterling that operates a museum in the Red Schoolhouse. Susan Peterson Gately (''Passages on Inland Waters'' ) has a section devoted to the work of Edna Williams containing a biography by June MacArthur, curator for the Edna Williams photographic collection. Cottage Farm, on Richmond Avenue next to the Community Church, 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 ...

in 2012.

Geography

Fair Haven is located at (43.324175, -76.705154). This is north of Auburn and southwest of Oswego.

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Tor ...

, Canada, is to the north across Lake Ontario. 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 th ...

, the village has a total area of , of which is land and , or 39.96%, is water. Fair Haven is located around Little Sodus Bay, a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

on the south shore of

. The bay is bounded on the west, east and south by

drumlin A drumlin, from the Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated ...

s and on the north by Lake Ontario. The lake level is above sea level, and the bay averages in depth with several protected coves and anchorages. One well marked reef hazard ("Grass Island"), approximately long (N-S) and wide (E-W) with a depth of only , is located in the northwest corner of the bay out of the main channel. There are two active marinas on the bay, Fair Point at the north end and Chinook Harbor at the south end. NY Route 104A passes through the village. Fair Haven Beach State Park is located on Lake Ontario at the northern edge of the 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 inc ...

of 2000, there were 884 people, 395 households, and 259 families residing in the village. 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 RosenberPopu ...

was 503.3 people per square mile (193.9/km²). There were 727 housing units at an average density of 413.9 per square mile (159.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.19%

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 ...

, 0.11%

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 ...

, 0.68% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.34% from other races, and 0.57% 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 for ...

or Latino of any race were 0.57% of the population. There were 395 households, out of which 21.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.7% 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 ...

living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.67. In the village, the population was spread out, with 20.2% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 29.6% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $36,382, and the median income for a family was $39,091. Males had a median income of $37,917 versus $26,250 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 village was $18,287. About 4.3% of families and 8.4% 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 ...

, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Village of Fair Haven official website

Sterling Renaissance Festival
northeast of the village
Fairhaven Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control * Villages in New York (state) Villages in Cayuga County, New York Populated places on Lake Ontario in the United States