Rossie 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 St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 877 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the sister of an early land owner. The Town of Rossie is located on the southwestern border of the county and is west of Gouverneur.

History

The first settler arrived ''circa'' 1807. The town was formed in 1813 from a section of the Town of Russell. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, residents constructed a block house in the southern part of Rossie. The

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

industry was important to the early town economy, and the Rossie Furnace of 1815 was the first to be built in northern New York. Lead mining was also important. The Rossie Shot Tower is still standing.

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 is land and (2.53%) is water. The southwestern town line is the border of Jefferson County. The

Oswegatchie River The Oswegatchie River is a river in northern New York (state), New York that flows from the Adirondack Mountains north to the Saint Lawrence River. The Oswegatchie River begins at Partlow Lake in Hamilton County, New York. The river continues t ...

, looping back, flows in two directions in the south of Rossie.

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 ...

crosses the town.

Yellow Lake Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

and Grass Lake are partly in the town. A very small southern bay of Black Lake is at the north end of Rossie.

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 787 people, 298 households, and 214 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 482 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.59%

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 ...

, 0.89%

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 ...

, 0.25% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.25% from other races, and 0.76% 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 0.38% of the population. There were 298 households, out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% 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, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.09. In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.5% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $27,566, and the median income for a family was $35,893. Males had a median income of $29,167 versus $19,028 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 town was $14,205. About 16.1% of families and 20.6% 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 27.7% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Rossie

*Keenes – A

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

on the western town line in the south part of the town. *Nelson Corner – A location in the northern part of the town, west of Rossie village. *Pikes Corner – A hamlet in the southern part of the town on County Road 9. *Rossie – The hamlet of Rossie is on County Road 3 at the junction of County Road 8 in the northern part of the town. *Sommerville – A hamlet in the southern part of the town on US-11. *Spragueville – a hamlet formerly called "Spragues Corners," located on County Road 9 at the county line in the southern part of the town. *Wegatchie – A hamlet in the southern part of the town on County Road 12.

References

External links

Early Rossie history
{{authority control Towns in St. Lawrence County, New York Towns in New York (state)