Geneseo 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 and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States, south of Rochester. The name "Geneseo" is an

anglicization Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English languag ...

of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

name for the earlier Iroquois town there, ''Gen-nis-he-yo'', which means "beautiful valley". The village of Geneseo lies within the western part of the town of Geneseo at the junction of State Routes 39 and 63 with U.S. Route 20A. The village's population was 8,031 at the 2010 census, out of 10,483 in the town. The

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

designated part of the village—the Geneseo Historic District—a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1991.

History

The town of Geneseo was established in 1789, before the formation of Livingston County. Settlement began shortly after James and William Wadsworth arrived in 1790. The brothers came to the Genesee Valley from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

as agents of their uncle, Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, to care for and sell the land he purchased. The Wadsworths were participants in the negotiations of the Treaty of Big Tree between Robert Morris and the Senecas at the site of Geneseo in 1797. Geneseo, as well as nearby Mount Morris, were part of the Morris Reserve that Morris held back from his sale of much of western New York to the Holland Land Company. The village of Geneseo became the county seat of Livingston County in 1821 and was incorporated in 1832. The State Normal School, now SUNY Geneseo, opened in 1871. A portion of the village was designated a

by the

in 1991. By 1835, the village consisted of 83 families, and the streets were Main, Second, North, South, Center and Temple Hill. The village grew steadily, and in the 1850s Elm Street was opened. The advent of the State Normal School in 1871 brought a surge of development, and Oak Street opened in the late 1880s. The private Temple Hill Academy, part of which still stands on Temple Hill Road, educated Chester A. Arthur among others. 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 ...

, Union soldiers trained at Camp Union, located at what is now the corner of Lima Road and Rorbach Lane. During World War II, a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

was built in Geneseo; it housed mostly Italian soldiers.

Present day

In its addition of Geneseo to 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 1991, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

said, The valley of the Genesee is wide and fertile, with some of the best

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

land in New York, but it was prone to flooding, and Geneseo suffered several bad floods until the Army Corps of Engineers' construction of the Mount Morris Dam upstream of the community in the 1950s. Agriculture is still a large contributor to Geneseo's economy, but many use the area as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for jobs in the Rochester area to the north. The village of Geneseo is governed by a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

and four trustees. The Association for the Preservation of Geneseo (APOG) is a civic organization dedicated to preserving, improving, and restoring the places of civic, architectural, and historic interest to Geneseo and to educate members of the community to their architectural and historical heritage. Additional aims and purposes are to encourage others to contribute their knowledge, advice, and financial assistance. In July 2007, ''Money'' magazine ranked Geneseo 10th of 25 on its places with the highest percentage of singles, with 65.1% of the 7,500 inhabitants reported to be single. In addition to the Geneseo Historic District, one individual building, The Homestead, is listed on the

. One of the village's landmarks, a fountain in the middle of Main Street built in the 1880s, was damaged when a tractor trailer crashed into it on April 7, 2016.

Education

The Geneseo Central School District encompasses Geneseo and Groveland, and consists of Geneseo Central School, which graduates approximately 75 students each year. The school mascot is the Blue Devils and teams wear blue and white, with a gray accent color. Past accent colors included red and black. The school was located on Temple Hill from about 1830 to 1871 when it moved to Center Street. In 1933 it moved to its own building on School Street and in 1963 added a wing. In 1974 it moved into a new building at its present location on Avon Road. The State University of New York at Geneseo has approximately 5,000 undergraduate students. It is a four-year public liberal arts college, which is one of the top SUNY schools.

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 village has a total area of , all land. The

Genesee River The Genesee River ( ) is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. The river contains several waterfalls in New York at Letchworth State Park and Roch ...

defines the western village line. U.S. Route 20A passes through the village from east to west, while New York State Routes 39 and 63 pass through the village running north to south. Interstate 390 passes south and east of the village, with Exit 8 east of the village on US 20A, and Exit 7 to the south via NY 63. Geneseo is southwest of Rochester, southeast of Batavia, and northwest of Dansville.

Climate

Geneseo has a mild climate; summers typically bring temperatures between , while winters average .

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 7,579 people, 1,718 households, and 730 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,780 housing units at an average density of 638.4 per sq mi (246.5 per km²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.7%

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 ...

, 1.8%

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 ...

, 0.1% Native American, 3.3% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.2% 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 2.6% of the population. There were 1,718 households, out of which 19.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.8% 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, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 57.5% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.86. In the village, the population was spread out, with 8.6% under the age of 18, 63.5% from 18 to 24, 10.9% from 25 to 44, 9.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 21.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 65.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 62.5 males. The

median 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 unde ...

for a household in the village was $30,438, and the median income for a family was $59,500. Males had a median income of $40,915 versus $26,382 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 $12,239. About 14.1% of families and 41.7% 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 19.4% of those under the age of 18 and 7.0% ages 65 or older.

Popular culture

The '' Person of Interest'' TV series (2011–2016) featured a three-second clip of Geneseo's Main Street. The clip appeared in the 21st episode of Season 1, entitled "Many Happy Returns". It originally aired on May 3, 2012.

Notable people

* Philo C. Fuller, US congressman * Gregg "Opie" Hughes, radio talk show host * William H. Kelsey, US congressman * James S. Wadsworth, Union general in the American Civil War * James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr., US congressman * Orange Jacobs, American judge

References

External links

Town and Village of Geneseo official website

Wadsworth Library

Geneseo Central School District

Promote Geneseo website

Association for the Preservation of Geneseo

State University of New York, College at Geneseo
{{authority control County seats in New York (state) New York (state) populated places on the Genesee River Villages in New York (state) Rochester metropolitan area, New York Populated places established in 1832 Villages in Livingston County, New York 1832 establishments in New York (state)