. Cameron 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 Steuben 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 is 898 as of 2020. The town is named after Dugald Cameron, an early settler and land agent of the Pulteney Estate. The Town of Cameron is centrally located in the county, west of the City of Corning.

History

Around 1800, the first settler arrived near the present community of Cameron. The town was formed from the Town of Addison in 1822. Parts of Cameron were lost on the founding of the cities of Thurston (1844) and Rathbone (1856). The New York and Erie Railroad line through Cameron opened in September 1850. The line, recently owned by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

, with trains operated by NS and Canadian Pacific (the latter under haulage arrangements), was destroyed by

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes was the List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, ...

in 1972 and had to be rebuilt afterward. The population of Cameron in 1905 was 1,217.

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 is land and (0.04%) is water. The Canisteo River flows through the town. Route 119 parallels the river.

Demographics

At the 2020

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 ...

, there were 899 people and 386 households. The population density was . There were 434 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 92.7%

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, 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 ...

, 1.56%

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, and 1.45% from other unspecified races. 5.23% of the population belongs to more than one race. There were 365 occupied

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s, of which 51.5% were married-couple families, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 65.5% were non-families. The average household and family size was 2.84. At the time of the census, 57.9% of the population was married, 4.5% widowed, 12.6% divorced, and 2.4% separated. 22.6% were never married. 26.0% of the population was under the age of 18, with 7.6% under the age of 5. 74.0% were over 18, and 15% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.1 years. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $50,833. Among families, the median family income was $61,667, while among nonfamily households, it was $37,500. 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 ...

was $15,455. About 23.6% of the population was 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 38.7% of those under age 18, 20.9% of those between the ages of 18 and 64, and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in the Town of Cameron

*Bonny Hill – A location in the northeast part of the town, and northeast of North Cameron. *Boyd's Corner – A location south of South Cameron on Jackson Hill Road. *Cameron – 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 Cameron is by the junction of County Roads 10 and 119 by the Canisteo River. *Cameron Mills – A hamlet by the town line in the southeast part of the town. *North Cameron – A hamlet near the north town line on County Road 10A. *South Cameron – A hamlet southwest of Cameron hamlet, located on Jackson Hill Road. *West Cameron – A hamlet northwest of Cameron hamlet on Route 119.

Notable person

* William W. Averell(1832–1900), born in Cameron,

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer and patentee of

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

pavement

References

External links

Cameron information

{{authority control Populated places established in 1800 Towns in Steuben County, New York Towns in New York (state) 1800 establishments in New York (state)