Ellenburg 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 ...

Clinton County Clinton County may refer to: *Counties named for George Clinton, first and third Governor of New York, and later the fourth Vice President of the United States: **Clinton County, New York ** Clinton County, Ohio *Counties named for DeWitt Clinton, ...

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 1,842 at the 2020 census. The town is named after the daughter of the principal proprietor. Ellenburg is on the western border of the county and is northwest of Plattsburgh. The southern part of the town is situated in the

Adirondack Park The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York (state), New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At , ...

History

The area was first settled around 1800. Ellenburg is named for Ellen Murray, the daughter of John R. Murray, a landowner. The town was formed from part of the town of Mooers in 1830. In 1845, part of the town was used to make the town of Clinton. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Ellenburg was the location of two of the twelve

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

missile silos under the 556th Strategic Missile Squadron based out of the

Plattsburgh Air Force Base Plattsburgh Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air Command (SAC) base covering 3,447 acres (13.7 km) in the extreme northeast corner of New York, located on the western shore of Lake Champlain opposite Burl ...

. These silos were operational from 1962 to 1965. In late 2004, a

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

was proposed by Noble Environmental Power for the northern part of the town. Construction was expected to be completed by early 2007, but due to delays it began in the spring of 2008. Noble has also built wind farms in the neighboring towns of Altona and Chateaugay. Construction of the wind farms caused some controversy within the towns, as many residents felt it would subtract from the natural beauty of the area. The wind farm includes 54 turbines producing a total output of 81 megawatts.

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 , or 0.83%, is water. The western town line is the border of Franklin County.

U.S. Route 11 U.S. Route 11 or U.S. Highway 11 (US 11) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway extending across the eastern U.S. The southern terminus of the route is at US 90 in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refu ...

passes through the northeastern part of the town. New York State Route 190 (Military Turnpike) is an east-west highway, intersecting US-11 at Ellenburg village.

New York State Route 374 New York State Route 374 (NY 374) is a state highway in the North Country, New York, North Country of New York (state), New York in the United States. The route follows a generally northwest to southeast progression; however, the porti ...

crosses the southwestern corner of the town.

Climate

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 2020, there were 1,842 people, 893 households, and 546 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,050 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.25%

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 ...

, 0.11%

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% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.65% from other races, and 4.51% 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 1.90% of the population. There were 893 households, of which 21.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% 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, and 38.9% were non-families. 14.1% of all households had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.78. In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.7% under the age of 20, 29.3% from 20 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 20 and over, there were 87.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $63,417, and the median income for a family was $70,724. About 14.2% 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 21.6% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Ellenburg

*Dannemora Crossing – A location at the eastern town line, east of Ellenburg village. *Ellenburg – The hamlet of Ellenburg is in the northern part of the town on US-11. *Ellenburg Center – 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 ...

in the northern part of the town, southwest of Ellenburg hamlet. *Ellenburg Depot – A hamlet east of Ellenburg on US-11, named for the former train depot. *Ellenburg Mountain – A mountain in the southeastern corner of the town. *Gibson Corners – A location on the northern town line in the northeastern corner of Ellenburg. *Hammonds Corners – A location on the eastern town line, on NY-190. *Harrigan – A hamlet in the northwestern corner of the town inside the Adirondack Park. *Lake Roxanne – A small man-made lake east of Ellenburg village. *Merrill – A hamlet in the southwestern corner on NY-374 of the town by Upper Chateaugay Lake. *Point Bluff – A peninsula in Upper Chateaugay Lake. *Upper Chateaugay Lake – Part of the lake is in the southwestern corner of the town.

References

External links

Town of Ellenburg official website

Noble Ellenburg Windpark
{{authority control Towns in Clinton County, New York Towns in New York (state)