Busti ( ) 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 ...

Chautauqua County, New York Chautauqua County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 127,657. Its county seat is Mayville, and its largest city is Jamestown. Its name is believed to be the lone surviving rem ...

, United States. The population was 7,521 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Paul Busti, an official of the Holland Land Company, but its pronunciation uses a

long i Long i ( or '' itterai longa''), written , is a variant of the letter i found in ancient and early medieval forms of the Latin script. History In inscriptions dating to the early Roman Empire, it is used frequently but inconsistently to transc ...

sound at the end, a frequent alteration in the names of several

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

towns. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. The town of Busti is located at the south end of Chautauqua Lake, southwest of Jamestown.

History

Settlement began circa 1811. The town of Busti was founded in 1823 from parts of the towns of

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

and Ellicott. In 1900, the population was 2,192. The Busti Mill 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 1976. The Dr. John Lord House was listed in 1991.

Notable people

* Lorin Blodget, born in Busti in 1823, physicist, statistician and author of ''Climatology of the United States'' (1857). * Lewis Clarke, ex-slave and writer * Enoch A. Curtis, Fredonia architect * Ralph Plumb, former US congressman from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

* George Stoneman, born in Busti in 1822, graduated from

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

and was a major general of cavalry in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. He later became governor of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 , of which , or 0.03%, is water. The south town line is the border of Warren County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. New York State Route 474 intersects New York State Route 394 in the northwest corner of the town near Cottage Park. The lakefront of northern Busti comprises a continuous line of hamlets, originally begun as vacation homes.

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 7,760 people, 3,210 households, and 2,240 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 3,876 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.96%

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 ...

, 0.52%

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 ...

, 0.08% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.44% from other races, and 0.57% 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 0.71% of the population. There were 3,210 households, out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.4% 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, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.92. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $41,450, and the median income for a family was $47,798. Males had a median income of $38,750 versus $26,148 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 $22,602. About 4.5% 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 8.4% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations

* Ashville – 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 ...

near the northwest part of the town on Route 474. *Ashville Bay – A lakeside hamlet on the shore of Chautauqua Lake. *Boomertown – A hamlet south of Ashville, located on County Road 30. * Busti – The hamlet of Busti at the junction of County Roads 28 and 45 near the center of the town. *Cottage Park – A hamlet near the shore of Chautauqua Lake in the northwest part of the town. * Lakewood – The village of Lakewood and the location of the town government is on the shore of Chautauqua Lake. *Loomises – A lakeside hamlet on Chautauqua Lake. *Maple Point – A lakeside hamlet on the shore of Chautauqua Lake. *Shermans Bay – A hamlet on the shore of Chautauqua Lake and Route 394. *Vukote – A lakeside hamlet on the shore of Chautauqua Lake. * Stateline Speedway – A historic 1/3-mile-long dirt track, located on Kortwright Road

References

External links

*
Early history of Busti, NY
{{Coord, 42, 4, N, 79, 18, W, type:city_region:US-NY, display=title Populated places established in 1811 Towns in Chautauqua County, New York Towns in New York (state) 1811 establishments in New York (state)