Chester 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 Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,993 at the 2020 census. It was named after the City 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 the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

region of northwest

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Chester is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York– Newark– Bridgeport, NY- NJ- CT- PA Combined Statistical Area.

History

The village of Chester was incorporated in 1892. The first Mayor of Chester was William A. Lawrence, the inventor of modern day cream cheese. At the center of a dairy industry, the village claims Philadelphia Cream Cheese was founded here. Other brands produced in Chester were Clover Brand, Cow Brand, D’isigny, Fromage De Brie, Neufchatel, Star Brand and World Brand. The village of Chester contains a historic section called Downtown Historic Chester. The Orange Heritage rail trail begins here at the site of the former

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 ...

train station. Image:Main St Chester NY 1914.jpg, Main Street, 1914 Image:High Street Chester NY.jpg, High Street looking towards Washingtonville, ca 1880

Geography

The village of Chester is located in northern part of the Town of Chester, and has a total area of 2.1 square miles (5.5 km²), all land. Highway access is provided by NY-94. Goose Pond Mountain State Park is southeast of the village.

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 3,445 people, 1,396 households, and 901 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,455 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 83.45%

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 ...

, 7.72%

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 ...

, 0.93% Native American, 2.96% Asian, 2.61% from other races, and 2.32% 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 10.16% of the population. There were 1,396 households, out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% 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, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.04. In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 36.7% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males. The median income for a household in the village was $55,417, and the median income for a family was $65,321. Males had a median income of $47,386 versus $31,957 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 $24,960. About 4.2% of families and 6.0% 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 7.7% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The school district is Chester Union Free School District.
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Notable people

* William Terry Jackson, former US Congressman * Andy Grammer, singer/songwriter

References

External links

*
Chester Historical Society Digital Collections
{{authority control Villages in Orange County, New York Villages in New York (state) Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area Chester, Orange County, New York