Waterloo is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and primary county seat of Seneca 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 5,171 at the 2010 census and is now the most populated village in Seneca County. The village is named after Waterloo,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, where

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

was defeated. It is the primary

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Seneca County, with the other being

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

as part of a two-shire system established in 1822.Seneca County, New York – ''The County Seat Story''
, Retrieved May 27, 2015.Office of the Seneca County Historian, ''Written History of Seneca County, New York'' – Unit Three: Establishment of Seneca County & Townships, Chapter 3: History of the Towns of Seneca County
, Retrieved May 27, 2015. Most of the county administrative offices are located in the village.Seneca County, New York Departments
Retrieved May 27, 2015. Therefore, many political sources only list Waterloo as the county seat. The Village of Waterloo is mostly in the Town of Waterloo, but the part south of the Cayuga-Seneca Canal of the village is in the Town of Fayette and a small area in the southeast of the village is in Town of Seneca Falls. Waterloo is east of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and is located in between the two main Finger Lakes, Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake.

History

The area was within the realm of the Cayuga nation, one of several bands to form the

Iroquois League The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of Native Americans and First Nations peopl ...

. The current site of the village was the location of the former Cayuga village "Skoiyase" (or Skoi-Yase), meaning "flowing water", which was established around 1500. They were visited by

Jesuit 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 ...

missionaries in the 17th century. After 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 ...

of 1779 destroyed Skoiyase, many natives left the area. The land then became part of the Central New York Military Tract, reserved for veterans. The first new settler, Jabez Gorham, arrived on the site of the village around 1795. The early village was known as "New Hudson". It was also known as "Scoys", based on the name of the former Indian village. Because the original county seat in

was deemed too close to the south county line after land was lost from Seneca County, Waterloo became the county seat in 1819. A similar fate befell Waterloo, when much of the north of Seneca County was lost, leaving the village close to the northern county line. The outcome was that both villages were made joint county seats, even though some of the lost towns were later returned to the county. Seneca County remains a two-shire county, although nearly all government activity now occurs in Waterloo. In honor of the two-shire history, the County Board of Supervisors will at least once a year hold a meeting in

at the buildings locally called the " Three Bears". Planning for the Women's Rights Convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls took place in Waterloo. The Village of Waterloo was incorporated in 1824 and again in 1866, the same year it celebrated the first

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

. Waterloo was officially designated as the birthplace of

in 1966 by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

. The Memorial Day Museum is in the village. However, in 2014, Bellware and Gardiner challenged this designation in ''The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America''. They uncovered evidence that the origin story is a hoax including information ignored by the Centennial Committee backing the proclamation. This includes a report in a New York newspaper that predates by several years any of the sources used by the committee. It describes, in detail, Waterloo's first Memorial Day and places it in 1868. They also note other inconsistencies between the historical record and the story compiled by the Centennial Committee and the lack of discussion or debate in Congress prior to the resolution recognizing Waterloo as the birthplace of the holiday.

Geography

Waterloo is located at (42.903697, -76.859517). 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 village has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.6 km²), of which, 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (3.24%) is water. The Seneca River/ Cayuga-Seneca Canal pass through the village, linking the area to the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

system. US Route 20, conjoined with

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 ...

, intersects New York State Route 96 in the village. The largest active landfill in New York State, Seneca Meadows, is northeast of Waterloo in the town of Seneca Falls.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Waterloo

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 2010, there were 5,171 people, 2,039 households, and 1,323 families residing in the village. The population density was . The racial makeup of the village was 96.6%

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 ...

, 1.1%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.0% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.0%

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 ...

, 0.2% from other races, and 1.6% 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 2.2% of the population. There were 2,039 households, out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% 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, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.88. In the village, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 20, 6.1% from 20 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males. The median income for a household in the village was $48,214, and the median income for a family was $65,709. Males had a median income of $43,393 versus $27,328 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 village was $23,777. About 5.5% of families and 10.6% 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 11.3% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Housing

There were 2,164 housing units at an average density of . 5.8% of housing units were vacant. There were 2,039 occupied housing units in the village. 1,424 were owner-occupied units (69.8%), while 615 were renter-occupied (30.2%). The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% of total units. The rental unit vacancy rate was 7.5%.

Notable people

* Tom Coughlin, two time NFL Super Bowl Champion

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

' coach was born in Waterloo in 1946. * George Bradshaw Kelly, U.S. Representative for New York's 38th congressional district, from 1937 to 1939. * Mike McLaughlin, former NASCAR driver * Charles E. Stuart, U.S. Representative and Senator from

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. * Kevin Sylvester – radio host on WGR for the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

References

External links

Village of Waterloo

Waterloo Library & Historical Society

Waterloo Volunteer Fire Department
{{authority control Waterloo, New York Villages in New York (state) County seats in New York (state) 1824 establishments in New York (state) Villages in Seneca County, New York Populated places established in 1824