Altmar is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

(and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

) in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 407 at the 2010 census. The former Village of Altmar (formerly "Sand Bank" and now dissolved) is in northern part of the Town of Albion at State Route 13 and County Route 22. Altmar is the seat of the town government.

History

The community was first settled in 1813 by Peter Henderson. The village was incorporated in 1876 as "Sand Bank." In 1890, the population was 551. On November 10, 2010, residents of Altmar voted to dissolve their village's government under Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

's Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act, becoming the first village to do so under the act; the margin was a mere six votes. The village board had until May 31, 2011 to draft a plan to dissolve the village's government. The village was dissolved on June 1, 2013 and remains an area within the Town of Albion.

Attractions

Located within Altmar is the Salmon River Fish Hatchery, operated by the

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protecti ...

to support the state's stocking program for

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 (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

and

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. The hatchery is a popular destination for visitors, many of whom come to watch egg collections from

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the Fish migration#Classification, anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout (''O. m. gairdneri'', also called redband steelhead). Steelhead are native to cold-wa ...

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon (or "silvers") and is often ...

and

Chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Oncorhynchus, Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, quinn ...

returning to the hatchery. Over three million young fish are raised at the hatchery each year.

Notable persons

Artist

Milton Avery Milton Clark Avery (; March 7, 1885 – January 3, 1965Haskell, B. (2003). "Avery, Milton". Grove Art Online.) was an American Modern art, modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City. He wa ...

was born in what was then Sand Bank in 1885.

Geography

Altmar is located at (43.511877, −76.000756). 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 , of which is land and 0.46% is water.

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 351 people, 119 households, and 84 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 131 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.01%

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 ...

, and 1.99% from two or more races. There were 119 households, out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% 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, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.35. In the village, the population was spread out, with 29.3% under the age of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $31,786, and the median income for a family was $33,750. Males had a median income of $25,250 versus $21,250 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 $19,333. About 15.9% of families and 21.4% 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 28.7% of those under age 18 and 29.4% of those age 65 or over.

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Altmar has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Altmar, New York
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References

External links

{{Authority control Former villages in New York (state) Syracuse metropolitan area Hamlets in Oswego County, New York Hamlets in New York (state) Populated places established in 1813 Populated places disestablished in 2013 1813 establishments in New York (state)