Avon 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 Avon, Livingston County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. The village population was 3,394 at the 2010 census, out of 7,146 people in the entire town. The village and town are named after the River Avon in England.

History

Avon was founded by European Americans along the

Genesee River The Genesee River ( ) is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. The river contains several waterfalls in New York at Letchworth State Park and Roch ...

, across from the historic Seneca village known as Conawagus (in a transliterated spelling; also spelled as Ca-noh-wa-gas, Conewaugus, or Canawaugus, and as ''Ga:non'wagês'' in the

Seneca language Seneca (; in Seneca, , or ) is the language of the Seneca people, one of the Six Nations of the (Iroquois League); it is an Iroquoian language, spoken at the time of contact in the western part of New York. While the name ''Seneca'', attested ...

). The Seneca were among the original Five Nations of the

Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

and had occupied this territory for many hundreds of years prior to European encounter. The Seneca village was located on the east side of the

, "about a mile above the ford". ''Ga:non'wagês'' was an important village to the Seneca during the eighteenth century. Their religious leader

Handsome Lake Handsome Lake () (1735 – 10 August 1815) was a Seneca religious leader of the Iroquois people. He was a half-brother to Cornplanter (), a Seneca war chief. Handsome Lake, a leader and prophet, played a major role in reviving traditional re ...

was born here about 1735. One of his nephews, later known as Governor Blacksnake, moved here with his family shortly after his birth. He was an important war chief who allied with the British during the Revolutionary War; later he became one of the first Native Americans to publish his memoirs, aided by a fellow Seneca who translated them into English. An edited version of this memoir was published in 2005, with explanations of material about his people. The leader

Cornplanter John Abeel III (–February 18, 1836) known as Gaiänt'wakê (''Gyantwachia'' – "the planter") or Kaiiontwa'kon (''Kaintwakon'' – "By What One Plants") in the Seneca language and thus generally known as Cornplanter, was a Dutch- Seneca ch ...

, a maternal uncle of Chainbreaker, was born in this village around 1750. European-American (white) settlers did not reach any number until about 1785, after the Americans had gained independence in the Revolutionary War and forced the Iroquois nations who had been allied with the British to cede their lands in the region. Many of these new settlers were from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and eastern New York. They organized the town in 1789 as "Hartford", and changed the name in 1808 to "Avon". In the early 19th century, the village was noted as a spa and resort destination because of its nearby

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage un ...

s. The village was incorporated in 1858. The Avon station on the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...

opened in 1865; railroads had superseded the Erie and related canals as the chief means of transportation of freight and passengers in the state. Avon was known historically in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

at the Avon Driving Park. The Aaron Barber Memorial Building, Avon Inn, First Methodist Episcopal Church of Avon, Hall's Opera Block, and J. Francis Kellogg House are 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 ...

Geography

Avon is located at (42.91029, -77.747687). 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. The

forms the western boundary of the village. Avon is in the north part of Livingston County, near the border of Monroe County. U.S. Route 20,

New York State Route 5 New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Sy ...

, and

New York State Route 39 New York State Route 39 (NY 39) is an east–west state highway in the western New York, western portion of New York (state), New York in the United States. It begins and ends at intersections with U.S. Route 20 in New York, U.S ...

all were constructed to pass through the village or follow existing routes. Two miles to the east is

Interstate 390 Interstate 390 (I-390) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway located entirely within New York (state), New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the Southern Tier Expressway (Interstate 86 in New Yor ...

. Rochester is to the north,

Canandaigua Canandaigua () is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,576 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex in the adjacent town of Hopewell. ...

is to the east, Geneseo, the Livingston

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, is to the south, and Batavia is to the northwest.

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 2,977 people, 1,151 households, and 749 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,215 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 95.70%

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 ...

, 1.85%

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 ...

, 0.24% Native American, 0.81% 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 ...

, 0.24% from other races, and 1.14% 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 0.97% of the population. There were 1,151 households, out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.2% 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, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.20. In the village, the population was spread out, with 27.8% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.4 males. The median income for a household in the village was $40,109, and the median income for a family was $53,105. Males had a median income of $40,156 versus $27,470 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 $22,758. About 6.4% of families and 7.5% 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 8.7% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

* * , partial preview available online {{authority control Villages in New York (state) Rochester metropolitan area, New York Villages in Livingston County, New York Populated places established in 1789