Richfield Springs 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 ...

located in the Town of Richfield, on the north-central border of

Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The county's population center is Oneonta. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word m ...

, United States. The population was 1,050 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from local

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

springs.

Geography

The village is at the northern end of Canadarago Lake and is at the border of Herkimer County. Richfield Springs is located at (42.853065, -74.987623). 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. U.S. Highway 20, New York State Route 28, and New York State Route 167 converge in Richfield Springs. US 20 and NY 28 intersect outside the western end of the village limits and

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * Ove ...

for a brief time inside the village, while NY 167 has its southern terminus at US 20 in the center of the village.

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 1,255 people, 536 households, and 324 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 619 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.02%

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 ...

, 0.56%

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 ...

, 0.56% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.64%

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 ...

, and 1.35% 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 0.56% of the population. There were 536 households, out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% 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, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.93. In the village, the population was spread out, with 20.7% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $30,170, and the median income for a family was $40,956. Males had a median income of $29,097 versus $20,455 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 $16,865. About 7.1% of families and 12.2% 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 16.1% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

History

The area of Richfield Springs was called Ga-no-wan-ges by the Oneida Indians which translated to "stinking water". The village was once served by the Southern New York Railroad, an electric trolley line that ran from Oneonta to Mohawk. It began service through Richfield Springs in the summer of 1902.

Noted architecture

The village is home to three national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

s: Individual properties:

Notable people

* Gaylord Graves, former Wisconsin State Assemblyman * Martha D. Lincoln, author and journalist * Benjamin Pringle, former US Congressman *

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer ( ; January 26, 1929 – January 17, 2025) was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Pulitzer Prize for Editori ...

, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist

References

External links

Official Village of Richfield Springs web site
{{authority control Villages in New York (state) Villages in Otsego County, New York