Hamilton, New York

Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,379 at the 2020 census. The town is named after American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and is a college town, with Colgate University dominating the town's employment, culture and population.

The town of Hamilton contains a village also named Hamilton.

History

The location was formerly called "Payne's Corners". The town of Hamilton was established in 1795, before the county was formed, from the town of Paris in Oneida County. The original town was reduced to create new towns in the county.

The Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm, an appendant body in Freemasonry, was founded in Hamilton in 1890.

Geography

The southern town line is the border of Chenango County. The village of Hamilton is in the northwest corner of the town, and the village of Earlville sits on the county line, with half of the village in the southwest corner of the town. New York State Route 12 crosses the southern and eastern parts of the town, leading northeast to Utica and south to Norwich. State Route 12B runs along the western edge of the town, connecting Earlville in the south with Hamilton village in the north; it continues south from Earlville to State Route 12 in Sherburne and north from Hamilton village to Madison.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town of Hamilton has a total area of , of which , or 0.28%, is water. The town is within the watershed of the Chenango River, which briefly enters the town near its southwest corner. The Sangerfield River crosses the town from northeast to southwest and joins the Chenango south of Earlville. Pleasant Brook, another tributary of the Chenango, crosses the southeast part of the town.

Demographics

At the 2000 census there were 5,733 people, 1,546 households, and 935 families in the town. The population density was . There were 1,725 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 93.65% White, 1.99% Black or African American, 0.07% Native American, 2.46% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 1.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.83%.

Of the 1,546 households, 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 29.6% of households were one person and 12.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.96.

The age distribution was 15.7% under the age of 18, 40.8% from 18 to 24, 16.8% from 25 to 44, 15.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% 65 or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.

The median household income was $38,917 and the median family income was $50,565. Males had a median income of $31,500 versus $26,643 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,564. About 5.1% of families and 14.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Hamilton

*Beekman Corners – A location between Hamilton village and East Hamilton.
*Brooks Corners – A hamletThough the term "hamlet" is not defined under the Administrative divisions of New York law, many people in the state use the term hamlet to refer to a community within a town that is not incorporated as a village. Because a hamlet has no government of its own, it depends upon the town that contains it for municipal services and government. Hamlets often have names corresponding to the names of a local school district, post office, or fire district - though the boundaries are often not identical. Many hamlets are served, at least in part, by post offices and school districts with the names of adjacent hamlets, villages, towns, or cities. Though hamlets do not have official boundaries, the New York State Department of Transportation does put hamlet names on rectangular green signs with white lettering at locations of its choosing. The NYSDOT also provides community identification signs on some scenic byways to be placed at the boundaries of hamlets, as decided by the byway. in the south part of the town on Route 12.
*Colgate University is in the northwest part of the town, on a hill in the southeast corner of Hamilton village.
*Darts Corner – A location between Hamilton village and East Hamilton.
* Earlville – Part of the village of Earlville is located on the southern town line.
*East Hamilton – A hamlet on Route 12, east of Hamilton village.
*Excell Corners – A location northeast of South Hamilton.
*Hamilton – The village of Hamilton is in the northwestern part of the town.
*Hamilton Center – A hamlet southeast of Hamilton village.
*Hubbardsville – A hamlet north of East Hamilton village.
*Loomis Corners – A location northwest of South Hamilton.
*Poolville – A hamlet north of Brooks Corners.
*Shores Corners – A location between Hamilton village and East Hamilton.
*South Hamilton – A hamlet in the southeastern part of the town.

Notable people

*John Vincent Atanasoff (1903-1995), inventor of the first digital computer
* Cordelia Throop Cole (1833–1900), social reformer
* Charles Josiah Galpin (1864-1947), academic and early researcher into rural sociology
* Harold O. Whitnall (1877–1945), geology professor at Colgate University and member of the New York State Assembly

References

External links

*

Hamilton Public Library & Hamilton Historical Commission on New York Heritage Digital Collections


from ''History of Madison County, State of New York'' by L. M. Hammond (Syracuse NY, 1872)

{{authority control

Syracuse metropolitan area
1795 establishments in New York (state)
Towns in Madison County, New York
Towns in New York (state)
Populated places established in 1795