Philadelphia 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 Jefferson 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 1,964 at the 2020 census. The town contains a village also called

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Both are in the northeastern part of Jefferson County.

History

The area was first settled by europeans ''circa'' 1804. A grist mill was built in 1804 on the Indian River, adjacent to the north side of the large waterfall in the village. The town was formed in 1821 from part of the town of Le Ray. In 1872, the community of Philadelphia set itself off from the town by incorporating as a village. In 1959, the

Indian River Central High School Indian River High School is a high school in the Indian River Central School District in Philadelphia, New York. The High School opened in 1959 as a grade 7–12 facility; currently it serves grades 9–12. The school's students live in several ...

opened, serving students from the towns of Philadelphia, Theresa, Antwerp, Leray, and Pamelia. The Sterlingville Archeological District 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 1995.

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 , or 0.06%, are water.

Transportation

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 ...

is a northeast–southwest highway that crosses the center of the town. New York Route 26 progresses north from Philadelphia towards

Alexandria Bay Alexandria Bay is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, within the town of Alexandria. It is located in the Thousand Islands region of northern New York. The population of the village was 1,078 at the 2010 United States census. ...

, and south to Vestal. The town had been the junction for several branches of the

Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad The Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad that grew, in stages, from Rome, New York to Watertown and then to Ogdensburg, New York and Massena, New York. The original Rome and Watertown Railroad terminated in Cape Vincent, NY o ...

. Branches went north to Clayton, Ogdensburg and Massena Springs, and they went south to Niagara Falls, Syracuse, Rome and Utica. The successor railroad, the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

, last ran passenger trains through the town from Massena to

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 ...

in 1964. The New York Central's successor,

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

still transports freight by rail through Philadelphia.

Climate

Philadelphia holds the all-time December record low temperature for New York state at .

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,140 people, 759 households, and 582 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 823 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 88.93%

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 ...

, 4.91%

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 ...

, 0.61% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.09%

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 ...

, 2.06% from other races, and 2.24% 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 4.16% of the population. There were 759 households, out of which 45.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.2% were non-families. 19.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.20. In the town, the population was spread out, with 33.7% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 15.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $31,250, and the median income for a family was $35,909. Males had a median income of $29,605 versus $21,121 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,555. About 12.2% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.2% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.

Notable person

* Cassius Marcellus Coolidge (1844-1934), known today for his famous paintings of

Dogs Playing Poker ''Dogs Playing Poker'', by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, refers collectively to an 1894 painting, a 1903 series of sixteen oil paintings commissioned by Brown & Bigelow to advertise cigars, and a 1910 painting. All eighteen paintings in the overall ...

, was born in Philadelphia and lived there or in nearby

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

for much of his adult life.

Philadelphia cream cheese

When

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neuf ...

first appeared in the United States around 1870, it was produced in small batches by many farmers in New York. Because of its origin, it eventually became legend that Philadelphia brand cream cheese was named for Philadelphia, New York. In actuality, Philadelphia Cream Cheese was named for

, Pennsylvania, because at the time the city was associated with high-quality dairy products.

Communities within Philadelphia

Fort Drum Fort Drum is a U.S. Army military reservation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, near the western border of northern New York, United States. The population of the CDP portion of the base was 12,955 at the 2010 census. ...

– The military reservation occupies the southeastern third of Philadelphia. *

(originally "Quaker Settlement") – A village near the center of the town on US-11. *Pine Plains – A location in the southern part of the town, near Sterlingville. *Rogers – A location in the southern corner of the town, south of Strickland Corners on County Road 30. *Shurtleff Corners – A location on the northwestern town line, northwest of Philadelphia village on NY-26. *Sterlingville – A former hamlet in the southern corner of the town. *Strickland Corners – A location in the southern corner of the town on County Road 30, northwest of Sterlingville. *Whitney Corners – A location on County Road 20, west of Philadelphia village.

External links

Town of Philadelphia official website

References

{{authority control Towns in Jefferson County, New York Towns in New York (state) Populated places established in the 1800s