Alfred is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located in the town of Alfred in

Allegany County, New York Allegany County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,456. Its county seat is Belmont. Its name derives from a Lenape word, applied by European-American settlers of Western New York State to ...

, United States. The population was 4,026 at the 2020 census. The village is home to both

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York, United States. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the statutory New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The In ...

and

Alfred State College Alfred State College (ASC, SUNY Alfred, SUNY Alfred State) is a public college in Alfred, New York, United States. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The college offers bachelor's and associate degree programs. It ...

. In 2023, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' named it "the collegiest college town in America" due to its high ratio of students to non-students. Due in part to the

New York State College of Ceramics The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (NYSCC) is a statutory college of the State University of New York located on the campus of Alfred University in Alfred, New York Alfred is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town ...

, Alfred has become a hub for ceramic artists and ceramic engineers.

History

19th century

The area around Alfred had historically been home to the

Seneca tribe The Seneca ( ; ) are a group of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthe ...

. In 1807, three

Seventh Day Baptists Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a theology common to Baptists, profess the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice, perform the conscious b ...

, Clark Crandall, Nathan Green, and Edward Green, moved to the area with their families, becoming the first of many members of that sect to move to the village and surrounding region. Alfred's name has traditionally been attributed to

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

, however that has never been definitively verified. For much of its early history the village of Alfred was known as Alfred Centre.Strong, "Alfred's Town Name" Alfred became home to an institution of higher education in 1832, when

was founded. The college was

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

from its inception and tried to provide practical as well as liberal education for students. This university was initially considered the principal seat of higher learning supported by the Seventh Day Baptists although it was not directly supported by the denomination. The village was a hotbed of support for the abolition movement and during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

nearly 150 residents fought for the union. In 1888 the Celadon Terra Cotta Company was founded after the discovery of high-quality clay in the area. The company grew over the next decade to become a leading producer of roof tile and architectural terra cotta. The presence of this and the nearby Alfred Clay Company helped to establish Alfred as a ceramics hub, and led to the local university being selected as the home of the

in 1900.

20th century

PostcardAlfredNYTerraCottaTileCoFactory1910

The new college recruited British ceramicist

Charles Fergus Binns Charles Fergus Binns (4 October 1857 in Worcester – 4 December 1934 in Alfred, New York) was an English-born studio potter.Ellen Paul Denker"Binns, Charles Fergus."In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, (accessed February 3, 2012; subscripti ...

as a director and professor. Binns was a proponent of the

Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

and considered it essential for a student of ceramics to understand both the artistic and technical aspects of their craft. Under his leadership the college grew into a leading institution of ceramic studies, eventually developing separate schools for

ceramic art Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is a visual art. While ...

and

ceramic engineering Ceramic engineering is the science and technology of creating objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials. This is done either by the action of heat, or at lower temperatures using precipitation reactions from high-purity chemical solutions ...

. As a result of the college's prominence, Alfred remained a hub for ceramics even after the burning of the Celadon Terra Cotta Company's local factory in 1909. A statutory agricultural school was formed at Alfred University in 1908, with a farm, livestock, and farm machinery for trade education. In 1937 a school of

Engineering Technology An engineering technologist is a professional trained in certain aspects of development and implementation of a respective area of technology. An education in engineering technology concentrates more on application and less on theory than ...

was formed at this college, and in 1948 the entire college was spun off from Alfred University to form

. From 1940 to 1957 the village was home to Glidden Pottery, a unique

stoneware Stoneware is a broad class of pottery fired at a relatively high temperature, to be impervious to water. A modern definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire ...

-bodied dinnerware with designs by founder Glidden Parker, Sergio Dello Strologo, Fong Chow, and others. These pieces were affordable for many, yet showcased unique midcentury modern styles and designs. They have become highly collectable in the years since the pottery's closing. On April 30, 1972, the village hosted the first Hot Dog Day, organized jointly by Alfred University and Alfred State College students.

Historic Structures

Alfred is home to numerous buildings and properties listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

: Alumni Hall, Fireman's Hall, Steinheim Castle and the Terra Cotta Building. Additionally, 55 properties in Alfred's downtown form the Alfred Village Historic District.

Geography

Alfred is approximately located at 42.3° north latitude, 77.8° west longitude. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , all land. A small stream, Kanakadea Creek, flows through the center of the village, then to the Canisteo River, part of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

watershed. The topography is steep hill country, part of the Allegheny Plateau, a physiographic region that is part of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. Alfred is located in the hills of

western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), 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 so ...

along the

Southern Tier The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York, Upstate region of New York (state), New York State, geographically situated along or very near the state border with Pennsylvania. Definitions of the region vary wide ...

. The layout of the valley is such that the lowest part contains the village, and upon the hills to the east and west are

and

, respectively. The valley was originally called ''Kanakadea'' (or ''Canakadea'', or other spellings) by Native Americans. The elevation of Alfred is about but rises to a high point of at the summit of Jericho Hill just south of the village. The hills greatly affect the weather in the region, which results in quick changes as well as different conditions in neighboring valleys.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 3,954 people, 530 households, and 169 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 576 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 90.21%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 4.40%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.33% Native American, 2.71% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 1.21% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.73% of the population. There were 530 households, out of which 12.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 68.1% were non-families. 38.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.73. In the village, the population was spread out, with 3.0% under the age of 18, 83.1% from 18 to 24, 5.9% from 25 to 44, 4.6% from 45 to 64, and 3.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 20 years. For every 100 females, there were 144.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 147.2 males. The median income for a household in the village was $21,313, and the median income for a family was $70,694. Males had a median income of $15,750 versus $39,375 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $8,224. About 2.0% of families and 37.7% 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 ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Village of Alfred official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfred (Village), New York Villages in New York (state) Villages in Allegany County, New York