Dunkirk is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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. It was settled around 1805 and incorporated in 1880. The population was 12,743 as of the 2020 census. Dunkirk is bordered on the north by

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. It shares a border with the

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 ...

of Fredonia to the south, and with the

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 ...

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

to the east and west. Dunkirk is the westernmost city in the state of New York.

History

The

Iroquoian languages The Iroquoian languages () are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving I ...

-speaking

Erie people The Erie people were an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian-speaking tribe, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio b ...

occupied this area of the forested lakefront along the southern shore of

well into the 1600s, when Europeans, mostly French, started trading around the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

. They were pushed out by the

Seneca people The Seneca ( ; ) are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois Leag ...

, one of the Five Nations of the powerful Iroquois League, based here and further east in New York. The European-American demarcation and settlement of Chadwick Bay began in 1826. and later the town was named after

in France

The Dunkirk Lighthouse at Point Gratiot was built soon after and still stands. Dunkirk served as a minor railroad hub and steamship port on Lake Erie into the early 1900s. Both freight and passenger ships traveled the lakes. The Chautauqua County Fair, which had been held sporadically over the years starting in 1821, was first held regularly in Dunkirk in 1881 on land acquired for its permanent use. A major employer in Dunkirk in the second half of the 19th century was Brooks Locomotive Works, founded in 1869 by Horatio G. Brooks. The Brooks plant built almost 4,000

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s, for which they won several awards at international exhibitions, and a few of their locomotives were hailed as the fastest and largest locomotives in the world. Brooks Locomotive Works was merged into

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

in 1901. The homestead of Horatio G. Brooks became the Brooks Memorial Hospital following a donation by Brooks's daughter in 1898. The city thrived as a steel town for Roebling and others through the 1950s. In addition, it was a manufacturing leader with Plymouth Tube and Ralston Purina. Its coal-burning

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation was a New York State utility company, which was acquired in 2000 by National Grid plc. The Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation designation was retired, using variations of NationalGridUS (such as National Grid Buffa ...

plant provided power for the region. The plant was mothballed in 2016, negatively impacting Dunkirk's tax base. NRG Energy acquired the plant and proceeded with plans to convert it from coal-burning to run on natural gas. Since the 1970s, population has declined following a regional drop in manufacturing as the steel industry and other restructured. Overall employment has declined in the area. Dunkirk gained international recognition in 1946 for the Dunkirk-to-Dunkerque campaign. It was a humanitarian assistance program for its namesake and sister city, Dunkerque, France, which had been devastated in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Dunkirk-to-Dunkerque became the model for similar relief efforts in cities elsewhere in the United States. Beginning in the 1980s, the city refocused its economic efforts on revitalizing its pier and fishing, to improve the quality of life for residents and attract more tourists. In addition, in 2016 it attracted a high-tech drug manufacturing project as part of business related to the state project of area investment called the " Buffalo Billion." In 2016, Willie Rosas, a former law enforcement officer, became the first Hispanic to be elected mayor in the State of New York.

Geography

Dunkirk lies on the southeastern shore of Lake Erie and is southwest of Buffalo. 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 city has an area of , of which is land and , or 1.10%, is water.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system using 1991-2020 data, Dunkirk has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb'') closely bordering on both a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') and a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa''/''Dfb''), owing to the significant moderating influence of Lake Erie that prevails especially during the summer months. The plant hardiness zone is 7a, accommodating for plants that can withstand an average minimum air temperature between and .

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 12,563 people, 5,477 households, and 3,690 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 2,774.6 people per square mile (1,119.2 per km²). There were 6,071 housing units at an average density of 1,340.6 per square mile (517.4 per km²). The city's racial makeup of the city was 65.70%

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 ...

, 5.1%

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 ...

, 0.52% Native American, 0.50 Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 9.14% from other races, and 1.8% 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 26.40% of the population. There were 5,477 households, out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.4% 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, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.1% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.02. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,313, and the median income for a family was $35,058. Males had a median income of $29,462 versus $21,682 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 city was $15,482. About 18.5% of families and 22.3% 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 38.0% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

* A branch of Jamestown Community College is in Dunkirk. * Dunkirk High School, home of the Marauders, is part of the public Dunkirk City School District. * Northern Chautauqua Catholic School is a K-8th grade school under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

Media

* ''The Observer'' newspaper is published in Dunkirk. * WDOE AM radio station in Dunkirk, co-owned with Fredonia FM sister station, WBKX.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The Chautauqua County/Dunkirk Airport, in the town of Dunkirk, provides training facilities and charter services. Freight railroad service in Dunkirk is provided by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

(via the Buffalo-Cleveland-Willard (Ohio)-Chicago Main Line) and

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 ...

(Buffalo-Cleveland-Fort Wayne-Chicago Main Line). The ''

Lake Shore Limited The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an Amtrak Long Distance, overnight passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the Northeastern United States, with sections to New York City and Boston. The central segment of the route runs along the s ...

'' daily

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

passenger train passes through the city but does not stop.

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 ...

and

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

trains stopped at one station. Nickel Plate and

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

trains stopped at another station. As recently as 1968 the New York Central operated a Buffalo-Chicago daytime train, #51, the former '' Empire State Express,'' that made a stop westbound in Dunkirk. Two other daily trains eastbound stopped in Dunkirk, #64 and #90, the former ''Chicagoan.'' In the late 1990s Amtrak considered adding the city as a stop between Buffalo and Erie. Dunkirk was listed as a stop with service "to commence on a date to be announced" on several timetables, but the stop was never added. 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 through the southern edge of the city, with access from Exit 59 ( NY Route 60) just east of the city limits. The Thruway leads northeast to the outskirts of Buffalo and southwest to the

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 ...

border.

New York State Route 5 New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Sy ...

runs through the center of the city, leading northeast to Silver Creek and southwest to Westfield. New York State Route 60 runs from Dunkirk south, heading toward

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...

Public safety

The city of Dunkirk has its own police force and a paid fire department with three stations in the city.

Notable people

Samuel Hopkins Adams Samuel Hopkins Adams (January 26, 1871 – November 16, 1958) was an American writer who was an investigative journalist and muckraker. Background Adams was born in Dunkirk, New York. Adams was a muckraker, known for exposing public-health in ...

, author * Edna A. Boorady, lawyer and diplomat * Mark Brazill, creator of ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from 197 ...

'' * Horatio G. Brooks founder of Brooks Locomotive Works * June Card, operatic soprano and stage director * William L. Carpenter, U.S. Army officer, geologist * Richard H. Cosgriff, Union Army soldier who received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

* Dave Criscione, retired Major League Baseball catcher * Celestine Damiano, former Bishop of Camden * Katharine Bement Davis, social reformer * Mike DiMuro, MLB umpire * Ray DiMuro, retired MLB umpire * Francis S. Edwards, former US congressman * Mike Friedman, pro-racing cyclist * Daniel G. Garnsey, former US congressman * Dave Graf, retired NFL linebacker *

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

, guitarist and songwriter for seminal alternative rock band Mercury Rev * Ross Graves, former New York politician * Chad Green, former minor league baseball player * H. B. Halicki, director of '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' and '' The Junkman''; born in Dunkirk *

Norm Hitzges Norm Hitzges (born July 5, 1944) is an American author and sports talk radio host. He is a member of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. Career Hitzges hosts at KTCK (AM), KTCK (1310 AM broadcasting, AM / 96.7 FM, "SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket") in D ...

, host on Sportsradio 1310 AM and 96.7 FM the Ticket in the Dallas-Fort-Worth area and Texas Radio Hall of Famer * Thomas Horan, a Medal of Honor Recipient at the

battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

(1863) during 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 ...

, was born in Dunkirk in 1839 and died 1902. His grave is at Saint Mary's Cemetery in Dunkirk. * Jerry Interval, portrait photographer * Teresa Jordan, geologist at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

* Richard P. Klocko, Air Force lieutenant general, command pilot, director of Defense Communications Agency * John T. McDonough, former Secretary of State of New York * Sean Patrick McGraw, country music artist * Jim McGuire, former MLB player * Mark Merchant, retired minor league baseball player * Cindy Miller, pro golfer * Van Miller, play-by-play announcer for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and

WIVB-TV WIVB-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside The CW, CW owned-and-operated station WNLO (TV), WNLO (channel 23). WIVB-TV and WNLO share studios ...

sportscaster * Chris Poland, former guitarist of thrash metal band

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

* Gar Samuelson, former drummer of thrash metal band

* William J. Scheyer, Major general in the Marine Corps during

* Murray Shelton, member of the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

* Wendy Corsi Staub, New York Times best selling author * Grace Hyde Trine, writer, lecturer, dramatic reader * Elisha Ward, former New York state senator * Cory Wells, One of three lead singers of the band

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, founded by vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sn ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in New York (state) New York (state) populated places on Lake Erie Cities in Chautauqua County, New York 1805 establishments in New York (state)