Angola 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 ...

in the town of Evans in Erie County, New York, United States. Located east of

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 village is southwest of downtown Buffalo. As of the 2010 Census, Angola had a population of 2,127. An unincorporated community known as Angola on the Lake, with a population of 1,675, lies between Angola village and Lake Erie.

History

The community was previously called "Evans Station". ''Circa'' 1854 or 1855, the earliest recorded reference to Angola is in an 1824 publication, when it was one of 3 townships divided from Collin’s. A Post Office was established there in 1823 bearing the name "Angola". The first postmaster was John H. Andrus, who later became county clerk. The new name was apparently chosen because, at that time, local residents (primarily

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

) were supporting missionary efforts in the Portuguese colony of

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

in Africa. The economy of the village improved with the arrival of a railroad line in 1852. The Village of Angola was incorporated in 1873. In June 2004, an attempt to dissolve the village was thwarted by a judicial ruling that the petitions for a referendum were invalid. In 2007, the village agreed to dissolve its police department and contract with the Town of Evans for police services. Angola officers would be hired by Evans. In February 2008, local officials rejected the urging of local politician Kevin Gaughan to reduce the size of the village board, stating that no financial savings would result. Gaughan, a proponent of reducing the number of government entities in Erie County, is also a proponent of metro government. The US Post Office—Angola was 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 ...

in 1988. The Friends of the Village of Angola is a non-profit group of volunteer members whose purpose is to bring more foot traffic to the village. They work to improve and maintain many behind-the-scenes things in Angola. The Friends are responsible for organizing the annual Christmas in the Village, funded by the annual summer Drifters Car Cruise and Donations from individuals and local businesses.

Angola Horror train wreck

On December 18, 1867, just after 3 pm, the last coach of the Buffalo-bound ''New York Express'' of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway derailed. It plunged off a truss bridge into Big Sister Creek just after passing Angola. The next car was also pulled from the track and rolled down the far embankment. Stoves set both coaches on fire. Sixty-nine people were killed, with an additional forty being injured.

Geography

Angola is located in southwestern Erie County at (42.639109, -79.030709), near the geographic center of the town of Evans. 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. Angola is east of the shore of

and is west of the New York State Thruway ( Interstate 90). It is on the New York-Buffalo-Chicago Main Line of CSXT and on the Jersey City-Buffalo-Chicago Main Line of the Norfolk Southern Railway. From 1907 to 1932 Angola was on the Buffalo-to-Erie (Pa.) Main Line of the Buffalo & Lake Erie Traction Company (B&LET) and its successor, the Buffalo & Erie Railway (B&E), a high speed interurban electric railway. The B&E was abandoned with the approval of the New York State Public Service Commission to promote the growth and development of highway transportation.

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 2,266 people, 844 households, and 618 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 903 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.60%

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 ...

, 0.44%

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 ...

, 1.32% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.40% from other races, and 0.88% 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 1.46% of the population. There were 844 households, out of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% 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, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.13. In the village, the population was spread out, with 29.5% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males. The median income for a household in the village was $40,050, and the median income for a family was $48,352. Males had a median income of $37,931 versus $27,298 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 $17,598. About 7.6% of families and 11.2% 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 ...

, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Goya Foods has its Great Lakes division in Angola.Contact Us
" Goya Foods. Retrieved on March 26, 2016. "275 South Main Street Angola, NY 14006"

Notable people

* Willis Carrier, engineer and inventor of air conditioning * Patrick Kaleta, NHL hockey player * Christian Laettner, basketball player; 1992 Olympic Gold Medal basketball winner, former NBA basketball player * Monroe Salisbury, silent film actor * Pius Louis Schwert, former Major League Baseball player and U.S. congressman * Patchy Mix, professional MMA fighter and grappler

Footnotes

External links

*
Village of Angola official website
{{authority control Villages in New York (state) Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area Villages in Erie County, New York