Lansing 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 Tompkins 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 11,565 at the 2020 census. The Town of Lansing has within it 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 ...

named

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

. The town is located on the northern border of Tompkins County and is located just north of the City of Ithaca.

History

The Town of Lansing is located on the Eastern shore of Cayuga Lake in the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York (state), New York, in the United States. This region straddles th ...

region of

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. The area was formerly within the territory of the Cayuga tribe and, in 1780, became part of the Central New York Military Tract to compensate New York's soldiers after they participated in the Revolutionary War. The first settlers came in 1781, and John Lemming Jr., secretary to general

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 20, 1733 - November 18, 1804) was an American general in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and a United States Senate, United States Senator from New York (state), New York. He is usually known as ...

, was charged with granting the land. The Town of Lansing was formed in 1817 from the Town of Genoa, Cayuga County, when Tompkins County was founded. The town is named after John Lansing. People from the Town of Lansing were early settlers of

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, and named it after their hometown; it later became the capital of Michigan. The Watchtower Bible School of Gilead for

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

was in South Lansing from 1943 until 1960. The Rogues' Harbor Inn was listed on 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 2009. In December 2014, the Lansing Town Board unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing freedom from

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

as a fundamental human right.

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 69.9 square miles (181.1 km²), of which 60.5 square miles (156.7 km²) of it is land and 9.5 square miles (24.5 km²) of it (13.17%) is water. The north town line is the border of Cayuga County, and the west town line is delineated by Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. Salmon Creek flows into the lake near Myers.

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 10,521 people, 4,374 households, and 2,668 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 4,634 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 84.09%

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 ...

, 4.09%

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 ...

, 0.19% Native American, 8.86% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 0.73% from other races, and 2.01% 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 2.35% of the population. There were 4,374 households, out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% 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, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33, and the average family size was 2.95. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $48,250, and the median income for a family was $59,758. Males had a median income of $38,146 versus $31,250 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 $25,634. About 4.2% of families and 6.7% 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 5.1% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Lansing Central School District encompasses the town and its surrounding area. It has approximately 1,200 students in one elementary school (R.C. Buckley Elementary School), one middle school (Lansing Middle School), and one high school (Lansing High School). Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (TST BOCES) supports education in the region.

Communities and locations in the Town of Lansing

*Asbury – 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 ...

north of the Village of Lansing. *Buck Corners – A location south of Lansingville. *Dublin Corners – A location north of South Lansing. *East Lansing – A location near the east town line. *Head Corners – A hamlet east of Asbury. *Howland Corners – A hamlet on the east town line. *Howser Corners – A location south of North Lansing. *Ithaca-Tompkins Regional Airport (ITH) – The airport serving the Ithaca area lies partially in the eastern part of the Village of Lansing and the south part of the town. *Lake Ridge – A hamlet on NY-34B in the northwest part of the town. *Lake Ridge Point – A projection into Cayuga Lake in the northwest part of the town. *

– The Village of Lansing is near the south town line on NY-13. *Lansing Residential Center – A medium security correctional facility for girls operated by the State of New York. * Lansing Station – A location near the shore of Cayuga Lake. *Lansingville – A hamlet in the northwest part of the town. *Ludlowville – A hamlet northwest of South Lansing. *McKinneys – A hamlet near the shore of Cayuga Lake and on NY-34 in the southwest corner of the town. *Midway – A hamlet on NY-34 north of Terpening Corners. *Munson Corners – A location near the east town line. *Myers – A hamlet west of South Lansing. *Norten – A hamlet on the shore of Cayuga Lake north of Portland. *North Lansing – A hamlet on NY-34 in the northeast corner of the town. *Portland – A hamlet on the shore of Cayuga Lake by Portland Point. *Portland Point – A projection into Cayuga Lake in the southwest part of the town. *Rogues Harbor – A former section of the town known for thievery and misbehavior. *Smith Corners – A location on the east town line. * South Lansing – A hamlet and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

at the junction of NY-34 and NY-34B in the western part of the town. *Terpening Corners – A hamlet east of South Lansing by NY-34.

Notable people

* Robert C. Baker – professor at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, inventor of the chicken nugget, and creator of the Cornell chicken recipe * Kyle Dake – four-time World Champion

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

and bronze medalist at the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Summer Olympics * Tim DeKay – actor and star of the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

comedy-drama ''White Collar'' * Jessica Ettinger – award-winning broadcast journalist with

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

* Joseph B. Hamilton – lawyer and judge who served in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

* Daniel D. Minier – major general in the NY Militia who constructed the Central Exchange Hotel * Joey Sindelar – professional golfer who played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

References

External links

Town of Lansing, NY
{{authority control Towns in Tompkins County, New York Towns in New York (state) Populated places established in 1817 1817 establishments in New York (state)