Greene 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 Chenango 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 was 5,604 at the 2010 census. The town is named after General

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

. It is located in the southwestern corner of the county and contains 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 ...

, also named Greene. The town and village are northeast of

Binghamton Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the con ...

. Greene was founded in 1792, but commenced in 1798 (though this is hotly disputed).

History

Part of modern Greene was from land purchased in 1785 from the

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida N ...

and

Tuscarora people The Tuscarora (in Tuscarora language, Tuscarora ''Skarù:ręˀ'') are an indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands in Canada and the United States. They are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian Native Americans in the United States, Native Amer ...

, but many of the Oneida remained in the area until ''circa'' 1812. In 1792, the first outside settler arrived and established himself at Greene village. The town was originally known as Hornby, but was changed to Greene in honor of General Nathanael Greene, a hero of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. The town was formed from the towns of Bainbridge and Union ( Broome County) in 1798. More was added to Greene from Bainbridge (then "Jericho") in 1799. The town was later reduced by the formation of new towns:

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

(1806) and Smithville (1808). More of Greene was taken to form part of the town of Barker in 1840, and another part of Greene was added to Coventry in 1843. In 1842, the village of Greene was incorporated within the town. About two dozen men from Greene enlisted during the Civil War. The former

Chenango Canal The Chenango Canal was a towpath canal in central New York in the United States which linked the Susquehanna River to the Erie Canal. Built and operated in the mid-19th century, it was 97 miles long and for much of its course followed the Che ...

(1837) helped build the town's commerce until replaced by the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, which was in turn replaced by Route 12 and State Highway 206. In 1945 the Gross Flat flying field was purchased by Robert Barrows and the Greene Airport was established. The airport is still in operation and is located on 173 Airport Road. Boasting one of the longest and widest grass strips in the area, it is frequented by pilots in training. It is open to the public and has a local CFII instructor and a certified A&P. The Greene Airport also has a live updating weather station that sends data to the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

. The Chenango River Theatre was founded in Greene in 2006 by a committee dedicated to the concept of establishing a professional, non-profit theatre to help attract tourists to Greene and Chenango County. That committee evolved into a Board of Directors, who selected Bill Lelbach as the company's initial Artistic and Managing Director. They are now in their 15th season (2021), with Zach Curtis taking over for 2022 as Producing Artistic Director from the retiring Lelbach. They are still one of the relatively few Equity theatres in the country able to survive in a strictly rural environment. The landmark Sherwood Hotel, recently reopened, is claimed to be haunted , due to the ever-present ghost of Viola, a wartime widow who hung herself with rope from the upper balcony. In 1910, then 20-year-old Viola, daughter of a local cattle rancher, had married the son of the wealthy Juliand family, Donovan. The couple had thirteen children together, until, in 1917, Donovan Juliand shipped out for the European theater of World War One. Though Donovan allegedly wrote Viola each day for every day of 1917, always proclaiming his longing to return to her and their children, he never made it home, and Viola, heartbroken and lovesick, eventually took her own life by hanging herself where she worked.

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 0.72%, is water. The

Chenango River The Chenango River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in central New York in the United States. It drains a dissec ...

, a tributary of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

, flows southward through the town. The western and southern town lines form the border with Broome County.

New York State Route 206 New York State Route 206 (NY 206) is a state highway in the Southern Tier of New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs through some lightly populated regions along the state's southern border, from Central New York to t ...

, an east-west highway, intersects

New York State Route 12 New York State Route 12 (NY 12) is a state highway extending for through central and northern New York (state), New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 11 in New York, U.S. Route 11 (U ...

in Greene 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 5,729 people, 2,275 households, and 1,540 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,550 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.53%

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 ...

, 0.24%

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 ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.26% 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 ...

, 0.07% from other races, and 0.59% 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 0.58% of the population. There were 2,275 households, out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.8% 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, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.01. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $38,333, and the median income for a family was $41,943. Males had a median income of $33,487 versus $22,881 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 town was $17,640. About 8.3% of families and 10.1% 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 14.8% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in the Town of Greene

*Crestmont – A residential development off NY-206 atop Juliand Hill. *Fickles Corner – A hamlet in the southwestern corner of Greene on NY-12. *Genegantslet – A hamlet northwest of Greene village on NY-206. * Greene – The village of Greene, located on NY-12 and NY-206. *Lower Genegantslet Corner – A hamlet southwest of Greene village on NY-12. *Quinneville – A hamlet by the southern town line on County Road 9.

References

External links

Town and Village of Greene official website

{{authority control Towns in Chenango County, New York Towns in New York (state)