Windham (town), New York
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Windham 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 Greene 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 1,708 at the 2020 census. The town was probably named for the
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 ...
or
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
of Windham,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, as many of its earliest settlers came from that state as well as other parts of
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. The town has two nicknames: "Land in the Sky" and "Gem of the Catskills". Windham is in the west-central part of the county on the northern boundary of 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 ...
.


History

The region was first settled around 1780. The town was formed from the town of
Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
in 1798 while still part 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 ...
. After the formation of Greene County, several other towns were formed from parts of Windham. These towns include
Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...
and Lexington (1813), Prattsville (1833), and part of Ashland in 1848. In 1900, the town's population was 1,240. In 1937, Camp Highland, a Nazi summer camp for German-American boys, ran at a site near Windham, NY. The major source of income in Windham is the
Windham Mountain Windham Mountain Club (formerly known as Windham Mountain) is a ski resort located in the town of Windham, New York (US), in the northern section of the Catskill Mountains, approximately 2.5 hours north of New York City. It has 54 trails and 11 ...
ski resort, formerly called "Ski Windham". This ski area brings a lot of its skiers up from the New York City area as well as other areas in the
Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...
. In August 2010, Windham hosted the 2010 World Cup Mountain Bike Race, the first time its finals occurred on American soil in 20 years of competition. In August 2014, Windham again hosted the World Cup Mountain Bike Race, as the only US stop of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. In August 2011,
Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth tropical cyclone naming, named storm, first hurricane, and first major ...
dumped more than 10 inches of rain into the Batavia Kill creek in just a matter of a couple of hours in a devastating flood.


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 45.4 square miles (117.6 km2), of which 45.3 square miles (117.3 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km2, or 0.22%) is water. The town is in 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 ...
and partly within the Catskill State Park. Batavia Kill, a tributary of
Schoharie Creek Schoharie Creek is a river in New York (state), New York that flows north from the foot of Indian Head Mountain (New York), Indian Head Mountain in the Catskill Mountains, Catskills through the Schoharie Valley to the Mohawk River. It is twice ...
, flows to the west through Windham.


Climate


Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,660 people, 720 households, and 450 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,002 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.13%
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 ...
, 0.36%
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 ...
or
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 ...
, 0.42% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.42% from other races, and 0.60% 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 1.75% of the population. There were 720 households, out of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.94. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $36,010, and the median income for a family was $42,961. Males had a median income of $31,726 versus $23,125 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,344. About 6.8% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.8% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.


Communities and locations in the Town of Windham

*Batavia Kill − A stream flowing through the southern part of the town past Maplecrest and Windham. *Brooksburg − 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 Catskill Park. *East Windham − A hamlet on the eastern town line on Route 23. * Hensonville − A hamlet in the southern part of the town and the location of the town government. It was named after John Henson, a postmaster, having been called previously "Baileys Four Corners." *Mitchell Hollow − A location in the town. *Nauvoo − A location in the town. *North Settlement − A hamlet on the western town line, northwest of Windham village. * Maplecrest − A hamlet in the Catskill Park near the southern town line, originally called "Big Hollow." * Windham − The hamlet of Windham in the southwestern part of the town on Route 23. It was originally called "Batavia" until that name was taken for a location in
Genesee County, New York Genesee County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,388. Its county seat is Batavia. Its name is from the Seneca word Gen-nis'-hee-yo, meaning "the Beautiful Valley".THE AMERICAN REVIEW; ...
''circa'' 1802. It was also called "Windham Centre" and "Osbornville."


Notable people

*
Scott Adams Scott Raymond Adams (born June 8, 1957) is an American author and cartoonist. He is the creator of the ''Dilbert'' comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of business, commentary, and satire. Adams worked in various corporate r ...
, writer of the ''
Dilbert ''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satire, satirical office humor about a White-collar worker, white-collar, micromanagement, micromanaged offic ...
'' comic strip, grew up in Windham and graduated as the valedictorian from Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School *
Charles John Brown Charles John Brown (born 13 October 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as an apostolic nuncio since 2012. He is currently the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines. Before entering the diplomatic service of ...
, appointed archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church on November 26, 2011, and currently serving as apostolic nuncio to Ireland; moved to Windham at the age of 11 with his parents and five siblings * James K. Edsall, Illinois state senator and Illinois attorney general, born in Windham * Oscar Finch, Wisconsin state assemblyman born in Windham * Hiram P. Graham, Wisconsin state assemblyman born in Windham *
Washington Hunt Washington Hunt (August 5, 1811 – February 2, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician. Life and career Hunt was born in Windham, New York. He moved to Lockport, New York in 1828 to study law, was admitted to the bar in 1834, and opene ...
, governor of New York, born in Windham


In popular culture

* In 2018, Windham appeared in the
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
original series '' Daredevil''. In the season 3 episode "Karen", it represented Fagan Corners, Vermont, the fictional hometown of
Karen Page Karen Page is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett. She served as the original love interest for Daredevil, working as an office manager for him and Foggy Nelson ...
(
Deborah Ann Woll Deborah Ann Woll (born February 7, 1985) is an American actress. She played Jessica Hamby in the HBO drama series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), which earned her a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She portrayed Karen Page in four tele ...
). The town hall was rebranded with new signage, a local diner was used as a diner owned by Karen's father (
Lee Tergesen Lee Allen Tergesen (; born July 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayals of Chett Donnelly on USA Network's '' Weird Science'' (1994–1998), Tobias Beecher on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003), Peter McMillan on the second seas ...
), and additional filming was conducted at the nearby ski areas and country club.


References


External links


Town of Windham official website

Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School

Windham Public Library
{{Authority control Towns in New York (state) Towns in Greene County, New York