Shandaken 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 ...

on the northern border of

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. The count ...

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, northwest of

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 2,866.2020 US Census, Shandaken, Ulster County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Shandaken%20town,%20Ulster%20County,%20New%20York The name is believed to be from an Esopus phrase for "land of rapid waters."

History

The town was first settled around the time of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Shandaken was established as a town in 1804 from part of the Town of Woodstock. In 1809, the town was increased by territory from the Town of Neversink (in Sullivan County). Later, some of Shandaken was used to help form the Towns of Denning, Hardenburgh, and

Olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

. By the final years of the 19th Century, Shandaken had developed the tourist industry which is still the most important part of its economy. The population of Shandaken in 1900 was 4,053. An alternate translation of the native word "shandaken" is the "place of the hemlocks." The Mount Tremper Fire Observation Station 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 2001.

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 is

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

. The total area is 0.02% water. The town is inside the

Catskill Park The Catskill Park is in the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. It consists of of land inside a Blue Line in four counties: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster. As of 2005, or 41 percent of the land within, is owned by ...

, and is entirely mountainous. Within it lies Slide Mountain, the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

' highest peak at , and several of the other Catskill High Peaks over in elevation. The northern town line is the border of Greene County, and the western town boundary is the border of Delaware County. The

Esopus Creek Esopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River that drains the east-central Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. From its source at Winnisook Lake on the slopes of Slide Mountain, the Catskills' highest peak, it flows across Ul ...

flows across the town.

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 2020, there were 2,866 people and 1,473 households and 654 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,666 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.65%

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 ...

, 1.21%

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 ...

, 0.40% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.12%

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 ...

, 0.56% from other races, and 1.89% 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 3.06% of the population. There were 1,473 households, out of which 149 had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.0% 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, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.3% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.82. In the town, the population was spread out, with 20.2% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 32.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $55,139, and the median income for a family was $80,372. Families had a median income of $97,500, married-couple families of $104,005 and nonfamily households of $34,806. 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 $21,121. About 20.5% of the population was 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 ...

compared to 17.7% in

, including 13.0% of those under age 18 and 17.6% of those age 65 or over.

Services

The town paramedic ambulance service is also provided to residents of the towns of

, Lexington, and Westkill. The town also has a police department located at 64 SR 42 in the hamlet of Shandaken; it was originally established as a

constabulary Constabulary may have several definitions: *A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in the United Kingdom, in which all county police forces once bore the title (and s ...

, and became a police department in the early 1990s. The police department consists of four full-time and nine part-time members, and is dispatched by through the

sheriff's office. The sheriff's office has a post located within the town offices located on Route 28, which is not staffed continuously. There are two emergency call boxes located in the town, one on the north-facing side of the town hall (SR 28) and the other on the south-facing side of the town police department (located on SR 42) The Shandaken Justice Court is a part-time court, housed within the town offices on SR 28; it handles all traffic violations, misdemeanor criminal cases, and civil cases. Traffic court is held every Tuesday with few exceptions.

Communities and locations in Shandaken

*Allaben – 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 ...

east of Shandaken village on Route 28. It is the seat of town government. *Beechford – a hamlet in the southeastern corner of the town. * Big Indian – a hamlet southwest of Shandaken village on Route 28 in the Big Indian Valley. *Bushnellsville – a hamlet by the northern town line on Route 42. *

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

– a hamlet in the eastern part of the town, north of Phoenicia on Route 214. Its roots lay in the manufacture of furniture until the Depression destroyed the business. It was founded in 1863. *Highmount – a location northwest of Pine Hill. It was originally called "Summit". It was also known as "Grand Hotel Station". * Mt. Pleasant – a hamlet in the eastern part of the town on Route 28 south of Phoenicia. This community was previously called "Longyear" and "Riseley's". * Mt. Tremper – a hamlet near the eastern town line. It was previously called "Ladew Corners" and "The Corner". The Camp Wapanachki was listed on the

in 1994. * Oliverea – a hamlet, founded in 1886, in the southern part of the town on Route 47. It is home to the Winnisook Club, which is located at the base of Slide Mountain next to

Winnisook Lake Winnisook Lake is an artificial lake located in Oliverea, New York, Oliverea, New York, United States. It is the source of Esopus Creek and the highest lake in the Catskill Mountains at above sea level. The lake is the private property of the W ...

. * Panther Mountain – a roughly circular mountain ridge in the center of the town that is believed to be the result of a meteor impact. *

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

– a hamlet in the eastern part of the town. It was the first community to be connected to the outside world by a railroad (the Ulster and Delaware Railroad) and the first to begin hotel construction for the tourist industry. * Pine Hill – a hamlet in the western part of the town. *Shandaken – the hamlet of Shandaken is in the north central part of the town on Route 28. * Slide Mountain – Slide Mountain is the highest point in the

. *Woodland Valley – a hamlet in the southeastern part of the town, south of Phoenicia. It is still home to the Roxmor Colony.

References

External links

Town of Shandaken, NY
{{authority control Catskills Towns in Ulster County, New York Towns in New York (state) Towns in the New York metropolitan area