Ovid is 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 ...

in Seneca 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 602 at the 2010 census. The town was named by a clerk interested in the

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

(see

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

). The Village of Ovid is within the Town of Ovid, but a small portion is in the Town of Romulus, and is southeast of

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

History

Ovid and the surrounding area was part the lands controlled by the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

. The

Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign) was a United States military campaign under the command of General John Sullivan (general), John Sullivan duri ...

of 1779 drove away or killed many of these natives to reduce their raiding in support of the British. After the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

the village was in the

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 ...

, used to compensate soldiers. Ovid was the first county seat of Seneca County, and a courthouse was erected in 1806. When adjacent towns were created from Ovid and placed in other counties, Ovid was seen as being too far from the county center, and Waterloo became the county seat. Later, Waterloo itself became located on the northern fringe of the county when new towns created there were assigned to new counties. The ultimate solution was to make both Ovid and Waterloo county seats. The village was incorporated in 1816, but dissolved in 1849, and then re-incorporated in 1852. The David and Mary Kinne Farmstead, Seneca County Courthouse Complex at Ovid, Edith B. Ford Memorial Library and Aaron Wilson House are 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 ...

. On 21 January 2025, a massive fire broke out in an apartment above the Big M Market on the village's Main Street. Over 200 firefighters responded to the fire and were on scene for more than nine hours. Authorities later determined that a charging device plugged into an electrical outlet in an apartment above the Big M store was the cause of the fire. Five businesses were destroyed along with 60 associated jobs, and 15 to 20 people in 10 apartments lost their homes.

Geography

Ovid is located at (42.6775, -76.8243). 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 village has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²), none of which is covered with water. The village is 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 ...

District, lying between

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (, or ) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and i ...

and Seneca Lake. New York State Route 96,

New York State Route 96A New York State Route 96A (NY 96A) is a state highway in Seneca County, New York, in the United States. It is a north–south road between Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake, two of the Finger Lakes. NY 96A is two ...

, and

New York State Route 414 New York State Route 414 (NY 414) is a north–south state highway in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions of New York (state), New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with New York State Route 352, N ...

, along with County Road 139, converge at the village. Simpson Creek flows through the village to Seneca Lake. Image:Three Bears Ovid.jpg, Seneca County Courthouse Complex at Ovid

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 602 people, 251 households, and 145 families residing in the village. The population density was . The racial makeup of the village was 93.7%

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 ...

, 1.7%

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 ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.0%

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 ...

, 1.2% from other races, and 2.5% 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 2.3% of the population. There were 251 households, out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.9% 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, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.02. In the village, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 20, 7.6% from 20 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $43,750, and the median income for a family was $42,955. Males had a median income of $35,625 versus $36,477 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 village was $20,255. About 4.0% of families and 8.5% 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 1.3% of those under age 18 and 18.8% of those age 65 or over.

Housing

There were 283 housing units at an average density of . 11.3% of housing units were vacant. There were 251 occupied housing units in the village. 153 were owner-occupied units (61.0%), while 98 were renter-occupied (39.0%). The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5% of total units. The rental unit vacancy rate was 8.3%.

Notable people

* Silas M. Burroughs (politician), former US Congressman * Silas Halsey, former US Congressman

References

External links

Ovid and Waterloo courthouses
{{authority control Villages in New York (state) 1816 establishments in New York (state) Villages in Seneca County, New York