Springport 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 ...

Cayuga County Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Native American tribes in the Iroq ...

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 2,367 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from the local

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

s and lakeports. Springport is on the western border of the county and is southwest of Auburn.

History

The town lies in the former territory of the

Cayuga tribe The Cayuga ( Cayuga: Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ, "People of the Great Swamp") are one of the five original constituents of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), a confederacy of Native Americans in New York. The Cayuga homeland lies in the Finger Lakes regio ...

. A mission to the tribe by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

was established in 1688. The

Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign) was a United States military campaign under the command of General John Sullivan (general), John Sullivan duri ...

destroyed the Cayuga villages in 1779. The town was excluded from the

Central New York Military Tract The Military Tract of Central New York, also called the New Military Tract, consisted of nearly of bounty land set aside in Central New York to compensate New York's soldiers after their participation in the Revolutionary War. Establishment ...

and set apart as a reservation for the Cayugas who returned after 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 ...

. In 1789, they gave up this land to New York, thus opening it to settlers. The first settlers were occasionally asked to leave due to disputes with the tribal members, but eventually the population of outsiders grew. By 1799, most of the Cayuga, including a few

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

, had sold out and departed the area. The town of Springport was formed in 1823 from parts of the towns of Scipio and

Aurelius The gens Aurelia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which flourished from the third century BC to the latest period of the Empire. The first of the Aurelian gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 252 BC. From then to the ...

. The presence of

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage un ...

s and

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

proved important in the early economy of Springport. The village of Union Springs was incorporated in 1848.

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 ...

, Springport has a total area of , of which is land and , or 20.24%, is water.

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (, or ) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and i ...

defines the western town line, the border of Seneca County. Great Gully Creek flows into the lake south of Farleys, forming the southern town boundary. New York State Route 90 runs north-south along Cayuga Lake and intersects New York State Route 326 north of Union Springs. One of the few Finger Lakes islands, Frontenac Island, is located near Union Springs.

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 2,256 people, 865 households, and 629 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,157 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.87%

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 ...

, 0.75%

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 ...

, 0.13% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 0.75% 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 0.71% of the population. There were 865 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.9% 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, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.04. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.4% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $44,792, and the median income for a family was $51,842. Males had a median income of $32,266 versus $26,051 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 $20,370. About 6.3% of families and 8.6% 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 13.0% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Springport

*Cayuga Junction – A hamlet north of Union Springs by Cayuga Lake. *Crossroads – A hamlet north of Union Springs. *Farleys – A hamlet south of Union Springs by Cayuga Lake. *Farley Point – A projection into Cayuga Lake by Farleys. *Frontenac Island – A small island in Cayuga Lake near Union Springs. The island was of great ceremonial importance to the Cayuga. It is now part of the Union Springs village. *Gwau-gwah A former principal Cayuga village once located north of Union Springs. *Howland Point – A projection into Cayuga Lake north of Union Springs. *Oakwood – A hamlet in the northeastern part of Springport on NY-326. *Powers Corner – A hamlet northeast of Union Springs on NY-326. * Union Springs – The village of Union Springs is located near the center of the town, on NY-90 and the shore of Cayuga Lake.

References

External links

Town of Springport official website

Springport History, Old Newspaper Articles, Genealogy
{{authority control Towns in Cayuga County, New York Towns in New York (state) Springport, New York