Ulysses 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 ...

located in northwest Tompkins 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 * ...

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

The population was 4,940 at the 2020 census. The town was named after the hero of the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

''. The Town of Ulysses is northwest of the city of Ithaca and is in the northwest part of Tompkins County. Taughannock Falls, the highest waterfall in the state, is in Ulysses in Taughannock Falls State Park. The falls drop , farther than

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

, making Taughannock Falls one of the highest waterfalls east of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. Much of the town is devoted to dairy farms and fruit orchards, but the proximity to Ithaca has also brought a large number of professionals, academics and artists to the town.

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 ...

, Ulysses has a total area of , of which is land and , or 10.48%, is water. The eastern town line is at

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 ...

, one of the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York (state), New York, in the United States. This region straddles th ...

. The town's northern boundary line is the border of Seneca County.

New York State Route 89 New York State Route 89 (NY 89) is a north–south state highway in central New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with New York State Route 13, NY 13, New York State Route 34, NY 34, and New York ...

is a north-south highway near Cayuga Lake.

New York State Route 96 New York State Route 96 (NY 96) is a northwest–southeast state highway in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an interchange with Interstate 86 (Pe ...

is a northwest to southeast highway through the town.

History

Ulysses is located in the former

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 ...

, which was used to pay soldiers 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 ...

. It was named by Robert Harpur in 1790 for the hero of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

''. The town was first settled around 1790. The town once contained the towns of Dryden (est. 1803), Enfield (est. 1821) and Ithaca (est. 1821 and named for Ulysses' home in ancient Greece). Ulysses was organized in 1794 while still a part of

Onondaga County Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse. The county is part of the Central New York region of the state. Onondaga County is the core of the ...

. The village of Trumansburg, the main settlement in Ulysses, was started by Abner Treman in 1792.

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 4,775 people, 1,986 households, and 1,314 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,198 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.50%

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 ...

, 1.11%

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 ...

, 0.10% Native American, 0.77% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.38% from other races, and 1.11% 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 1.17% of the population. There were 1,986 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% 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, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.89. Age demographics show that 24.7% are under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $45,066, and the median income for a family was $54,167. Males had a median income of $36,313 versus $26,810 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 $22,516. About 4.3% of families and 7.0% 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 7.8% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Hannibal Goodwin Hannibal Williston Goodwin (April 30, 1822 – December 31, 1900), patented a method for making transparent, flexible roll film out of nitrocellulose film base, which was used in Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope, an early machine for viewing m ...

, inventor who patented an early method for making

film stock Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent pl ...

* Nicoll Halsey, politician who served in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from 1833 to 1835 * J. G. Hertzler, actor in the

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

franchise; member of the Ulysses Town Board from 2016 to 2020

Communities and locations in the Town of Ulysses

*Christian Hill – A location on the south town line by the southeast corner of Ulysses. *DuBoise Corner – 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 ...

near Cayuga Lake in the southeast part of the town. *Halseyville – A hamlet, named after the Halsey family, early settlers, southeast of Trumansburg. The

Nicoll Halsey House and Halseyville Archeological Sites Nicoll Halsey House and Halseyville Archeological Sites is a national Historic district (United States), historic district and archaeological site located at Ulysses, New York, Halseyville in Tompkins County, New York. It was listed on the Na ...

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 1993. *Jacksonville – A hamlet previously named "Harlows Corners" and "Van Cortland Village," prior to being renamed after

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

. It is southeast of Trumansburg on NY-96. *Krum's Corner – A hamlet, named after the Krum family, early settlers, in the southeast part of the town on NY-96. *Perry City – A hamlet founded by The

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

(Quakers), and still home to the original Quaker Meeting House. The community is just past the west town line. *

Podunk The terms ''podunk'' and ''Podunk Hollow'' in American English denote or describe an insignificant, out-of-the-way, or even completely fictitious town.Nick Bacon. "Podunk After Pratt: Place and Placelessness in East Hartford, CT." In ''Confront ...

– A hamlet named after the sound of water passing over a mill wheel. It is located south of Trumansburg. *Taughannock Creek – A stream flowing through the state park and forming a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

. *Taughannock Falls – (1) One of the highest single-drop waterfalls East of the

, (2) A hamlet southeast of Trumansburg. * Taughannock Falls State Park – A

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

in the northeast corner of the town. *Taughannock Point – A projection into Cayuga Lake in the northeast corner of the town. * Trumansburg – The Village of Trumansburg is in the northwest part of the town on NY-96. *Waterburg – A hamlet south of Trumansburg. *Willow Creek – An area surrounding Willow Creek (A stream flowing into Cayuga Lake), which feeds into Cayuga Lake at Goodwin's Point (current site of Taughannock Falls State Park). The 'neighborhood' consists of the entirety of Gorge Road, Kraft Road, Garrett Road, Houghton Road, Albrectson Road, and Willow Creek Road. Also, portions of Duboise Road (from Perry City to Kraft Roads), Krums Corners Road (from Duboise Road to Smith Farm), Agard Road (from Taughannock Blvd. to Jacksonville Road), Jacksonville Road (from Kraft Road to Gorge Road), and Taughannock Blvd (from Garrett Road to Gorge Road). Residents in the neighborhood have held an annual community picnic at Taughannock Falls State Park since 1950.

References

External links

Town of Ulysses official website

Historical map of the town {{authority control Towns in Tompkins County, New York Towns in New York (state) Populated places established in 1790 1790 establishments in New York (state)