LaFayette 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 ...

Onondaga County Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse. The county is part of the Central New York region of the state. Onondaga County is the core of the ...

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. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 4,910. The town is named after the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

, a key figure in the French and American revolutions, and widely considered a national hero of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the United States. LaFayette is in the southern part of Onondaga County, south of

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

History

The town is located within the former

Central New York Military Tract The Military Tract of Central New York, also called the New Military Tract, consisted of nearly of bounty land set aside in Central New York to compensate New York's soldiers after their participation in the Revolutionary War. Establishment ...

and is partly in an area reserved for members of the Onondaga tribe. The first settler arrived circa 1797. The land was purchased from the Onondagas in 1817 and resold to settlers. The

of LaFayette was formed and organized on April 15, 1825, from parts of the Towns of

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

and

Onondaga Onondaga may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League * Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capit ...

after the Marquis de Lafayette famously toured the United States in 1824/1825. Every year, the town holds an Apple Festival on the Saturday and Sunday before

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. He went ashore at ...

. This is in part because most of the

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 west of the town has historically held

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

orchards An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of lar ...

. There are a total of four apple orchards in LaFayette today.

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 (0.88%) is water. North-south highways

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...

and

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 ...

intersect U.S. Route 20 by LaFayette

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 ...

. New York State Route 11A is a north-south highway in the town that parallels US-11.

Demographics

As of the 2000

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 ...

, there were ,833 people, 1,826 households, and 1,338 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,925 housing units at an average density of . The

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

makeup of the town was 95.28%

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 ...

, 0.37%

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 ...

, 2.32% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.10%

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 ...

, 0.12% from other races, and 1.22% 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 0.43% of the population. There were 1,826 households, out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% 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, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.09. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 92.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $50,179, and the median income for a family was $60,523. Males had a median income of $40,341 versus $30,435 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 $24,591. About 3.3% of families and 5.1% 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 4.6% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those aged 65 or over.

Attractions

LaFayette has a post office, gas station, optometrists, a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and a Byrne Dairy. It is also home to the Lafayette Junior/Senior High School and Grimshaw Elementary School.

Communities and other locations in the Town of LaFayette

* Baileys Settlement – A hamlet west of Lafayette hamlet. * Big Bend – A hamlet southeast of LaFayette hamlet on US-20. *

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

– A hamlet west of LaFayette hamlet on US-20. * Collingwood – A hamlet southwest of Big Bend. * LaFayette – The town's largest hamlet, located at the intersection of US-11 and US-20. Sometimes referred to as "the village", though it never was incorporated as such. *

Jamesville Beach Park Jamesville Beach Park is an Onondaga County park in LaFayette, New York, just south of the hamlet of Jamesville. A lifeguard oversees the 100 yards of waterfront that includes both shallow and deep areas. Activities Jamesville Beach Park offers ...

– a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

park at the Jamesville Reservoir, south of Jamesville. * Jamesville Reservoir – A lake located by the Jamesville Beach Park. * Onativia – A hamlet east of LaFayette hamlet. * Tully Valley – A location on NY-11A in the southwest part of LaFayette. * Webb Hollow – A location on Webb Road, around the intersection with Shute Road, northwest of the LaFayette hamlet. It is so named for the hollow in the creek that runs alongside Webb Road, the true name of which is Webb Hollow Road.

Notable person

Gerrit T. Thorn Gerrit Tunis Thorn (July 20, 1832February 3, 1900) was an American lawyer and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician. He represented Jefferson County, Wisconsin, Jefferson County in the Wisconsin State Senate in 20th Wisconsin Le ...

, Wisconsin legislator and lawyer, was born in Lafayette.'Wisconsin Blue Book 1871,' Biographical Sketch of Gerrit T. Thorn, p. 376.

References

External links

Town of LaFayette, New York

LaFayette historical links
{{authority control Syracuse metropolitan area Towns in Onondaga County, New York Towns in New York (state)