Batavia is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Genesee 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 population was 6,293 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

name for part of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The Town of Batavia was formed in 1802 along with the county. Batavia is centrally located in the county. The City of Batavia is surrounded by the town, but not part of the town.

History

The town was settled at the end of the 18th century. When Genesee County was created in 1802, it was created with one town: the Town of Batavia. At that time the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and its coterminous town encompassed most of western

. The regional office of the

Holland Land Company The Holland Land Company was an unincorporated syndicate of thirteen Dutch investors from Amsterdam,Kirby, C.D. (1976). ''The Early History of Gowanda and The Beautiful Land of the Cattaraugus''. Gowanda, NY: Niagara Frontier Publishing Company ...

, the owner of all this territory, was located in the town, in the Village of Batavia, founded by

Joseph Ellicott Joseph Ellicott (November 1, 1760 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania – August 19, 1826 in New York City) was an American surveyor, city planner, land office agent, lawyer and politician of the Quaker faith. Life Ellicott was born in Bucks C ...

, the company's land agent. As other counties and towns were created, the territory of both the county and Town of Batavia shrank to its current size.

Geography

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 town has a total area of 48.4 square miles (125.4 km²), of which 48.2 square miles (124.8 km²) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.6 km²) (0.45%) is water. The

Tonawanda Creek Tonawanda Creek is a small tributary of the Niagara River in Western New York, United States. After rising in Wyoming County, the stream flows through Genesee County before forming part of the boundary between Erie County and Niagara County ...

flows westward through the town, and the

New York State Thruway The New York State Thruway (officially the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway and colloquially "the Thruway") is a system of controlled-access toll roads spanning within the U.S. state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Thruway ...

(

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

) passes across the town.

Adjacent towns and areas

To the north of the Town of Batavia are the Towns of Oakfield and

Elba Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, a ...

. The Town of Pembroke is on the west side, and the Town of Stafford is on the east side. The south border is shared by the Towns of

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

and

Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba,

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

of Lazarus (name), L ...

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 5,915 people, 2,334 households, and 1,645 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,447 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.80%

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 ...

, 0.85%

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 ...

, 0.39% Native American, 0.85% 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 ...

, 0.34% from other races, and 0.74% 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 0.66% of the population. There were 2,334 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% 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, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.99. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $38,449, and the median income for a family was $43,425. Males had a median income of $32,098 versus $24,404 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 town was $19,563. About 7.3% of families and 9.6% 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 10.3% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in the Town of Batavia

*Bushville – 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 ...

west of the City of Batavia on Route 5, located on the Tonawanda Creek. *Daws Corners (also called Daws) – A location at the intersection of Quaker Hill Road (Route 98) and Town line Road, north of the City of Batavia on the northern town line. *East Pembroke – A part of this community is located at the west town line on Route 5. *Five Corners ("Newkirk") – A hamlet on the Batavia-Elba town line in the northeast corner of the town. *

Genesee Community College Genesee Community College (GCC) is a public community college with its main campus in Batavia, New York. It has campus centers in Medina, Warsaw, Dansville, and Arcade, New York. The college serves areas not only inside of Genesee County but a ...

– The two-year college is northeast of the City of Batavia. *Genesee County Airport (GVQ) – A general aviation

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

north of the City of Batavia. The airport also accommodates corporate and government aircraft. * The Dirt Track at Genesee– An automobile racetrack *Putnam Settlement – A location on the Batavia-Bethany town line. *West Batavia – A hamlet in the southwest corner of the town on Route 33.

Notable person

* David Buckel, LGBT rights lawyer

References

External links

Town of Batavia webpage

{{authority control Towns in Genesee County, New York Towns in New York (state)