Blooming Grove 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 Orange 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 18,811 at the 2020 census. It is located in the central part of the county, southwest of Newburgh.

History

Vincent Mathews was likely the earliest settler who purchased the Rip Van Dam

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

in 1721, built a grist mill and named his settlement "Mathewsfield." He is the father of David Mathews, a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

who was

Mayor of New York In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and Fletcher Mathews, also a Loyalist and alleged abettor to schemes against the newly forming republic. The town of Blooming Grove was formed from the town of

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

in 1799. In 1830, the town of Hamptonburgh was established from part of Blooming Grove. Another part of Blooming Grove was taken to form the town of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

in 1845. The village of South Blooming Grove was incorporated in July 2006.

Andrew Jackson Davis Andrew Jackson Davis (August 11, 1826January 13, 1910) was an American Spiritualist, born in Blooming Grove, New York. Early years Davis was the son of a shoemaker and had little education. From age 14, Davis claimed to be able to diagnose i ...

, the "Poughkeepsie Seer", was born in Blooming Grove in 1826. The

Brotherhood Winery Brotherhood Winery is a winery located in Washingtonville, New York, in the Hudson River Valley approximately 50 miles northwest of New York City. It was founded in 1816 by a French immigrant, Jean Jacques, and produced its first commercial vintag ...

in Washingtonville is the oldest continuously operating

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

in the United States, having been established in 1839.

Geography

According to

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 ...

data, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (1.42%) is water. The concurrent

New York State Route 17 New York State Route 17 (NY 17) is a major state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate New York, Downstate regions of New York (state), New York in the United States. It begins at the New York–Pennsylvani ...

and U.S. Route 6 pass through the south of Blooming Grove.

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 2010, there were 18,028 people, 6,284 households, and 4,750 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 6,954 housing units at an average density of 197 per square mile (76/km). The racial makeup of the town was 84.5%

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 ...

, 6.2%

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 ...

, .5% Native American, 2.2% Asian, .02%

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 ...

, 3.8% from other races, and 2.6% 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 15% of the population. Of the town's 6,284 households, 39.5% contained children under the age of 18, 62% 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, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.4% were non-families. Nearly 20% of households had only one member and 6.4% of households consisted only of someone 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.33. The town's population has a wide age distribution, with 25.3% under the age of 18 and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.8 years. The population was 49.3% male and 50.7% female. According to the 2013

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, the median income for a household in the town was $89,327, and the median income for a family was $100,142. Full-time, year-round male workers had a median income of $65,685 versus $50,835 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 $34,472. About 3.2% of families and 6.2% 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 8.8% of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those age 65 or over. For people 5 years of age and older, an estimated 83.7% spoke only English, 12.1% could speak

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and 21.9% spoke English less than "very well." An estimated 93.4% of people aged five years and older were born in the United States while 1.8% are not citizens. The most common ancestry groups were overwhelmingly estimated to be Irish,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and " American."

Communities and locations within the town of Blooming Grove

* Beaver Dam Lake – A hamlet that is partially located in the towns of New Windsor and

. * Beaverdam Lake – A lake that is surrounded by the hamlet of Beaver Dam Lake. * Blooming Grove – The

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 ...

of Blooming Grove, located on state route 94, south of Washingtonville. * Bull Mine – A hamlet in the southern part of town on state route 208. * Craigville – A hamlet south of Blooming Grove village on state route 94. * Mountain Lodge Park – a former summer community located on Schunemunk Mountain. * Oxford – a hamlet in the south part of town by state route 17. * Salisbury Mills – a hamlet by the eastern town line on NY-94. The hamlet is also located in the town of Cornwall. * Schunnemunk Mountain – the highest mountain in the county is at the eastern town line. * The village of South Blooming Grove. * Tomahawk Lake – a lake by the western boundary of the town. * Washingtonville – the village of Washingtonville is located at the junction of state highways 94 and 208.

References

External links

Town of Blooming Grove
{{authority control Towns in Orange County, New York Towns in New York (state) Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area Towns in the New York metropolitan area