Stafford 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 Genesee 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 2,424 at the 2020 census. The town was named after a town of the same name in England. Stafford is one of only two interior towns in Genesee County, lying in the east central part of the county, east of Batavia.

History

The town was first settled in 1798, one of the first of the towns in the

Holland Purchase The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the sale, in 1788, of a portion of a large tract of land in western New York State owned by the Seneca nation of the Iroquois Confederacy to a syndicate of land developers led by Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel G ...

to be occupied. Stafford was formed in 1820 from parts of the towns of Batavia and Le Roy. Part of Stafford was taken to form the town of

Pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

in 1842. The historic core at the hamlet of Stafford 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 ...

as the Stafford Village Four Corners Historic District in 1985.

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 , or 0.35%, is water. The

New York State Thruway The New York State Thruway (officially the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway and colloquially "the Thruway") is a system of controlled-access toll roads spanning within the U.S. state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Thruway ...

(

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

) runs through the northern part of the town. The southern terminus of New York State Route 237 is at

New York State Route 5 New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Sy ...

in Stafford.

New York State Route 33 New York State Route 33 (NY 33) is an east–west state highway in western New York in the United States. The route extends for just under from NY 5 in Buffalo in the west to NY 31 in Rochester in the east. It is the on ...

crosses the northern part of the town, intersecting NY-237 north of the Thruway.

Oatka Creek Oatka Creek ( ) is the third longest tributary of the Genesee River, located entirely in the Western New York region of the U.S. state of New York. From southern Wyoming County, New York, Wyoming County, it flows to the Genesee near Scottsville, ...

, Black Creek, and Bigelow Creek cross 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 2000, there were 2,409 people, 909 households, and 695 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 997 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.72%

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 ...

, 1.08%

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 ...

, 0.33% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.08%

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 ...

, 0.12% from other races, and 0.50% 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 0.25% of the population. There were 909 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.3% 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, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.03. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $49,516, and the median income for a family was $54,667. Males had a median income of $35,548 versus $24,375 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 $19,775. About 3.0% of families and 3.7% 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 2.1% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Lafayette C. Baker, notable investigator, spy * Jason DiSalvo, motorcycle/sport bike racer * Harmon J. Fisk, former Wisconsin State Assemblyman * Archie D. Sanders, former US congressman

Communities and locations in Stafford

* Black Creek – A stream in the northeast part of the town. * Godfrey Pond – A pond in the northwest corner of Stafford. * Horseshoe Lake – A small lake near the western town line. * Morganville – 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 ...

in the center of the town on Route 237, north of Stafford village. It was named after William Morgan. *

– A stream flowing through the southeast part of the town. * Roanoke (formerly "Orangeburgh") – A location in the southeast corner of the town, near Oatka Creek on the Betheny-Le Roy Road. * Stafford (once known as "Transit Store House") – A hamlet near the junction of Routes 5 and 237.

References

External links

Town of Stafford official website

{{authority control Towns in Genesee County, New York Towns in New York (state)