Port Dickinson 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 Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 1,641 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village lies within the town of Dickinson and is north of Binghamton.

History

The village of Port Dickinson was incorporated in 1876. It takes its name from having once been a prosperous port on the now-extinct Chenango Canal, and in honor of

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Daniel S. Dickinson. It is now a residential

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Binghamton. Port Dickinson is the only incorporated community within the town of Dickinson. The Bevier-Wright House 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 2008.

Geography

Port Dickinson is located at (42.137175, -75.894321). 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 , of which is land and , or 10.92%, is water.

New York State Route 7 New York State Route 7 (NY 7) is a state highway in New York (state), New York in the United States. The highway runs from the New York–Pennsylvania border, Pennsylvania state line south of Binghamton (city), New York, Binghamton ...

is a major highway through the village. Port Dickinson is near the junctions of major highways, including

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...

, Interstate 88, and

New York State Route 17 New York State Route 17 (NY 17) is a major state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate New York, Downstate regions of New York (state), New York in the United States. It begins at the New York–Pennsylvani ...

Adjacent towns and areas

The town of Fenton and its neighborhood of Hillcrest border Port Dickinson on the north, while the city of Binghamton borders it on the south. It is bordered on the west by the

Chenango River The Chenango River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in central New York in the United States. It drains a dissec ...

, a tributary of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

, and on the east by the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

, beyond which is additional unincorporated land in the town of Dickinson.

Flooding history

Several major

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

s have occurred in the area. An earth levee along the Chenango River and Phelps Creek and the channel excavation of Phelps Creek in 1943 by the US Army Corps of Engineers helped reduce the devastation that was brought on by earlier floods of the Susquehanna River basin. These floods included ones in 1810, 1865, 1889, 1894, 1935, 1936, 2006, and most recently, 2011. In 1949, the US Army Corps of Engineers excavated a pilot channel and removed foundation pilings along the Chenango River. Minor floods have occurred since then about once every 10 years, although the average length between floods is 20 years for the Chenango River in general.

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 1,697 people, 734 households, and 438 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 799 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.70%

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 ...

, 1.24%

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 ...

, 0.12% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.41% from other races, and 1.18% 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 0.53% of the population. There were 734 households, out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% 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, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 3.00. In the village, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.9 males. The median income for a household in the village was $38,393, and the median income for a family was $44,779. Males had a median income of $35,870 versus $25,726 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 $19,667. About 3.4% of families and 5.7% 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 5.8% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Recreation

There are a few recreational facilities in the village. The Jeanne and John D. Wilfley Community Park is a reclaimed flood plain adjacent to the

. It was named, at first, the Port Dickinson Community Park. However, in 2000, with the news of Mayor Wilfley retiring, the village renamed the park in his honor. The park is accessible from Chenango Street, which is above the filled-in Chenango Canal. Interstate 88 passes over the park. There is a walking trail along the perimeter of the park. The park has a pavilion with picnic tables and several charcoal grills, two tennis courts, a basketball court, two squash courts, two baseball fields, a soccer field, and restroom facilities. The park also has an extension at the intersection of Chenango Street and Beacon Street which provides several picnic tables. On Chenango Street there's a gift shop called The Black Sheep: Gifts & Home Decor. The King Avenue park and Wayne Avenue Field are not official village parks but are treated as such by residents. The Wayne Avenue park has a baseball field. The King Avenue park features the Port Dickinson Community Association's headquarters, restroom facilities, two baseball fields, and a softball field.

References

External links

Village of Port Dickinson official website
{{authority control Villages in New York (state) Binghamton metropolitan area Villages in Broome County, New York