Olive, New York
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Olive 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
Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. The count ...
, New York, United States. The town is west of
Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...
, and is inside the Catskill Park. The population was 4,226 at the 2020 census.


History

The town was settled ''circa'' 1740. The town of Olive was established in 1823 from parts of the towns of Hurley, Marbletown, and Shandaken. A limited edition 1973 commemorative plate, shown below, includes this text on the back:
The town of Olive, Ulster County, New York, was taken from Shandaken, Marbletown, and Hurley and erected by law on April 15, 1823. At that time a name was suggested for the new town by quoting the following verse from the Bible: 'and Noah sent out a Dove from the Ark and when the waters subsided she returned with an Olive leaf in her mouth.' 'Let us call it the Town of Olive.' The first town meeting was held on the second Tuesday in May 1824. The seal was adopted by the Olive Town Board on November 9, 1971. It was suggested by the Town Historian, Vera Sickler, and designed and executed by Mrs. Tisanne Gardner of Boiceville, N.Y.
The creation of the Ashokan Reservoir in 1917 covered some of the communities of Olive. The reservoir is owned by
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and is part of the city's water system.


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 (9.93%) is water.


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 4,579 people, 1,869 households, and 1,263 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,306 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.68%
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 ...
, .61%
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 ...
, .17% Native American, .92% Asian, .17%
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 ...
, .48% from other races, and 0.96% 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 2.51% of the population. There were 1,869 households, out of which 29.8% 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, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.91. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.2% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 31.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $45,409, and the median income for a family was $50,931. Males had a median income of $33,125 versus $27,008 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 $21,569. About 3.5% of families and 5.0% 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 3.6% of those age 65 or over.


Communities and locations in Olive

The Nine Hamlets are: *Ashokan – north of the reservoir on Route 28, bordering the towns of Hurley and
Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
. *Brodhead – a remnant of a pre-reservoir hamlet located southwest of the reservoir, between West Shokan and Olivebridge. * Boiceville – at the northwestern end of the reservoir on Route 28. * Brown's Station – on the eastern border of Olive, now mostly submerged under the reservoir. * Krumville – southeastern corner of Olive, bordering Samsonville, Olivebridge and the town of Marbletown. * Olivebridge – south of the reservoir on Route 213. Relocated from its pre-reservoir site on Esopus Creek. The area now called Olivebridge was formerly known as Tongore. * Samsonville – the southwestern corner of Olive, bordering the town of Rochester. * Shokan – north of the reservoir on Route 28, west of Ashokan. * West Shokan – south of Boiceville at the western end of the reservoir, bordering the towns of Shandaken and Denning to the west. Other locations * Ashokan Reservoir – the western end of the reservoir is inside the town. *Brodhead's Bridge – a former railroad station submerged by the reservoir. *Cold Brook – a former railroad station in Boiceville. *Davis Corners – part of Olivebridge, at the intersection of Ulster County routes 2A and 4. *Olive City – a now-submerged hamlet between the original sites of Shokan and Ashton (a former hamlet in the town of Hurley, site of the Olive Branch station on the Ulster & Delaware railroad). *Winchell – now part of Olivebridge, bordering Samsonville and Krumville. Former site of a schoolhouse.


See also

* Olive and Hurley Old School Baptist Church * Ashokan Center


Further reading

* McHugh, Melissa. ''Town of Olive (Images of America)''. Arcadia Publishing, 2024


References


External links


Town of Olive, NY

The Catskill Archive - history of the Catskill Mtns.

Olive Free Library

Ashokan Center
{{authority control Towns in New York (state) Towns in Ulster County, New York Catskills Populated places established in 1740 1823 establishments in New York (state)