Richburg 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 Allegany 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 450 at the 2010 census. The village is partly within the boundaries of the towns of Wirt and Bolivar. The community is east of Olean.

History

Richburg was incorporated in 1881 and was for a time a

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

"boom town".

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...

, later the author of ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...

'' and other stories, was manager of a theater, Baum's Opera House, in Richburg from 1881 to 1882. Baum's Opera House was built by Baum's father, an oil executive. Unfortunately, the theater burned in March 1882.Hearn, Michael Patrick. "L(yman) Frank Baum." American Writers for Children, 1900-1960. Ed. John Cech. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 22. Literature Resource Center. Web. February 18, 2014.

Geography

Richburg is located in the southern part of Wirt and the northern part of Bolivar in southwestern Allegany County, at (42.087226, -78.156080). Little Genesee Creek, part of the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

watershed, flows through the village, which is located at the junction of New York State Route 275 and County Road 40. Richburg was served (1881–1890 and c.1906-1946) by the Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern Railroad (PS&N) and predecessors, and (1881–1885) by the Bradford, Eldred & Cuba Railroad System (BE&C). The early PS&N predecessors and the BE&C were narrow-gauge railroads, while the PS&N was a standard-gauge railroad. The Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern Railroad embargoed operation through Richburg in 1946 and was abandoned by order of the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

in 1946 to further promote highway motor truck transportation. 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 , all land.

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 448 people, 161 households, and 121 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 191 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.88%

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 ...

, 0.45%

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 ...

, 0.22% Native American, 0.22% Asian, and 0.22% from two or more races. There are no

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 ...

s or Latinos of any race. There were 161 households, out of which 41.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% 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, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.23. In the village, the population was spread out, with 31.0% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $21,750, and the median income for a family was $26,875. Males had a median income of $30,156 versus $15,938 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 $10,515. About 16.9% of families and 16.6% 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 18.8% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

Richburg is home to the Elementary Campus of the Bolivar-Richburg Central School District. Enrolling students in grades K - 5, the Bolivar-Richburg Elementary School provides an education for all students.

References

External links

Village of Richburg official website

{{authority control Villages in New York (state) 1881 establishments in New York (state) Villages in Allegany County, New York