Lockport 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 ...

Niagara County Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word ''Onguiaahra''; meaning ''the strait'' or ''thunder of ...

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 20,529 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from the series of canal locks on the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

. The locks lift boats from the lowland of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

past the

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is an approximately discontinuous, arc-shaped but generally northward-facing escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States. The escarpment begins south of Lake Ontario and circumscribes the top of the Great Lake ...

. The Town of Lockport is in the south-central part of the county and surrounds the City of Lockport.

History

Many early settlers were

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

and helped make the area a bastion of anti-slavery. The Town of Lockport was established in 1824 from

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity) or the early medieval period. After the ...

and Royalton, the same year the canal was completed up to the City of Lockport. Cold Springs Cemetery 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 2004.

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 44.7 square miles (115.8 km²), of which 44.6 square miles (115.6 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km²) (0.18%) is water. The south border of the town is formed by

Tonawanda Creek Tonawanda Creek is a small tributary of the Niagara River in Western New York, United States. After rising in Wyoming County, the stream flows through Genesee County before forming part of the boundary between Erie County and Niagara County ...

. The

passes through the north part of the town and the City of Lockport. New York State Route 78 marks the west town line of Lockport.

Adjacent cities and towns

* Town of Cambria - west * Erie County, Town of Clarence - south * Town of Pendleton - southwest * Town of Royalton - east * Town of Newfane - north * Town of Hartland - northeast * City of Lockport - Town surrounds the City of Lockport.

Major highways in the Town of Lockport

New York State Route 31 New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York (state), New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with New York State Route 104, NY ...

(Saunders Settlement Rd., Chesnut Ridge Rd., Rochester Rd.), east–west highway through the town from the Cambria town line through the City of Lockport to the Royalton town line. * New York State Route 77 (Chesnut Ridge Rd.), north–south roadway that begins at Chesnut Ridge Rd./Rochester Rd. intersection just outside the City of Lockport and continues through the town for a short distance before entering the Town of Royalton. * New York State Route 78 (Transit Rd., Lake Ave.), north-south Highway through the town from the Amherst town line through the City of Lockport north to the Newfane town line. * New York State Route 93 (Dysinger Rd., Robinson Rd., Lockport Bypass, Saunders Settlement Rd., Town Line Rd.), east–west roadway from the Royalton town line, through the town south of the city. The route then travels north on the western outskirts of the City of Lockport by the way of the Lockport Bypass onto Saunders Settlement Rd. (NY 31). The route then runs concurrently with NY 31 until NY 31's intersection with NY 270 where that route has its northern terminus. NY 93 then travels north at that intersection and onward into the Town of Cambria when NY 93 reaches NY 104.

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 2010, there were 20,529 people, 8,293 households, and 5,482 families residing in the town. There were 8,680 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 91.1%

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 ...

, 4.8%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.6% from other races, and 2.1% 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 people of any race were 2.6% of the population. (2000 Census) There were 7,537 households, out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.4% 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, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.3% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% 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 3.03. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $45,977, and the median income for a family was $55,414. Males had a median income of $41,166 versus $25,810 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 $22,194. About 6.5% of families and 7.7% 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 10.8% of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Most of Lockport Town is in the Lockport City School District. Small portions of the town are in Akron Central School District, Newfane Central School District, Royalton-Hartland Central School District, and Starpoint Central School District.

Notable natives

:''See City of Lockport''

Communities and locations in the Town of Lockport

*Carlisle Gardens () – A community bordering the east side of Lockport; primarily a residential neighborhood of detached, single family homes built in the 1920s. A typical neighborhood home is about 3 bedrooms, 1-1/2 baths approximately 1,500 sq. ft. Median age ca. 1925. Entry into the neighborhood is from Chestnut Ridge Road or Davison Road onto Windermere Road. *County Fair Grounds – North of the City of Lockport *Highland Park – A location north of the City of Lockport, next to the fair grounds * Nottingham Estates – A location east of the City of Lockport, and north of Route 31 *

Rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

– A hamlet on the south border of the town *Raymond () – A location northwest of Rapids *Ridge Lea – A location north of the City of Lockport *Shooktown () – A location east of the City of Lockport. The stretch of Akron Road from Lincoln Avenue northwest to the Lockport city line was settled by the Shook family approximately in the 1830s. The name began appearing on local maps in 1927, long after the last Shook owned property there, and was printed as late as 1978. * South Lockport – A community bordering the south side of the City of Lockport *Wrights Corners () – 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 ...

on the north town line, located at the junction of NY 78 (Lockport-Olcott Road / Lake Avenue) and NY 104 (Ridge Road), partly in the Town of Newfane * City of Lockport – Located in the north-central part of the town *

Lockport Mall Lockport Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in South Lockport, New York located on Transit Road ( NY 78). It opened in 1971 and included three anchor stores as well as a movie theater. The mall closed in 2006 except for the Bon-Ton department ...

– A former

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

located on

Transit Road New York State Route 78 (NY 78) is a state highway in western New York in the United States. While it is signed north–south, the southern portion runs in an east–west direction across Wyoming County, New York, Wyoming and Erie ...

in South Lockport. As of 2007, the mall was all but vacant, and demolition began in April 2011. Demolition had been mostly completed but was halted on June 9, 2011, after finding a number of federally protected baby seagulls had been nesting the roof. All that remains of the former mall is

The Bon-Ton Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton () was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. It operated in Western New York, Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and throughout the Midwestern United States. The former York, Pennsy ...

department store building, which was turned into a VA Clinic and storage cubes. A new

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

supercenter now lies on part of the former footprint of the mall.

References

External links

Town of Lockport webpage

"For Lockportians Anywhere In The World...It's The Road Home"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockport (Town), New York Erie Canal Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area Towns in Niagara County, New York Towns in New York (state) 1824 establishments in New York (state)