Village in New York, United States
Waterloo
is a
village
and primary county seat of
Seneca County
,
New York
, United States.
[6]
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
, where
Napoleon
was defeated.
[
citation needed
]
It is the primary
county seat
of Seneca County, with the other being
Ovid
as part of a two-shire system established in 1822.
[7]
[8]
Most of the county administrative offices are located in the village.
[9]
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
and is located in between the two main Finger Lakes,
Seneca Lake
and
Cayuga Lake
.
History
[
edit
]
The area was within the realm of the
Cayuga nation
, one of several bands to form the
Iroquois League
. 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.
[10]
They were visited by
Jesuit
missionaries in the 17th century. After the
Sullivan Expedition
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.
[11]
Because the original county seat in
Ovid
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.
[6]
In honor of the two-shire history, the County Board of Supervisors will at least once a year hold a meeting in
Ovid
at the buildings locally called the "
Three Bears
".
Planning for the Women's Rights Convention in 1848 in
Seneca Falls
took place in Waterloo.
[12]
The Village of Waterloo was incorporated in 1824 and again in 1866, the same year it celebrated the first
Memorial Day
. Waterloo was officially designated as the birthplace of
Memorial Day
in 1966 by President
Lyndon B. Johnson
.
[13]
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.
[14]
Geography
[
edit
]
Waterloo is located at
42°54′13″N
76°51′34″W
/
42.90361°N 76.85944°W
/
42.90361; -76.85944
(42.903697, -76.859517).
[15]
According to the
United States Census Bureau
, the village has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.6 km
2
), of which, 2.1 square miles (5.4 km
2
) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km
2
) of it (3.24%) is water.
The
Seneca River
/
Cayuga-Seneca Canal
pass through the village, linking the area to the
Erie Canal
system.
US Route 20
, conjoined with
New York State Route 5
, 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
[
edit
]
Landmark name
|
Image
|
Date listed
|
Location
|
Summary
|
William H. Burton House
|
|
June 14, 1996
|
35 E. Main St.
42°54′16″N
76°51′41″W
/
42.90444°N 76.86139°W
/
42.90444; -76.86139
(
Burton, William H., House
)
|
|
First Presbyterian Church
|
|
November 29, 1996
|
E. Main St., E of jct. with
NY 96
42°54′14″N
76°51′39″W
/
42.90389°N 76.86083°W
/
42.90389; -76.86083
(
First Presbyterian Church
)
|
|
Hunt House
|
|
August 29, 1980
|
401 E. Main St.
42°54′22″N
76°50′40″W
/
42.90611°N 76.84444°W
/
42.90611; -76.84444
(
Hunt House
)
|
Historic home, c. 1830.
|
M'Clintock House
|
|
August 29, 1980
|
14 E. Williams
42°54′19″N
76°51′42″W
/
42.90528°N 76.86167°W
/
42.90528; -76.86167
(
M'Clintock House
)
|
Historic home, important to the first
Women's Rights Convention
.
|
Saint Paul's Church
|
|
March 9, 1997
|
101 E. Williams St.
42°54′20″N
76°51′35″W
/
42.90556°N 76.85972°W
/
42.90556; -76.85972
(
Saint Paul's Church
)
|
|
United Methodist Church
|
|
September 24, 2004
|
21 E. Williams St.
42°54′28″N
76°51′40″W
/
42.90778°N 76.86111°W
/
42.90778; -76.86111
(
United Methodist Church
)
|
|
U.S. Post Office
|
|
May 11, 1989
|
2 E. Main St.
42°54′15″N
76°51′46″W
/
42.90417°N 76.86278°W
/
42.90417; -76.86278
(
US Post Office--Waterloo
)
|
|
Waterloo Library
|
|
June 14, 1996
|
31 E. Williams St.
42°54′20″N
76°51′40″W
/
42.90556°N 76.86111°W
/
42.90556; -76.86111
(
Waterloo Library
)
|
|
James Russell Webster House
|
|
December 11, 2007
|
115 E. Main St.
42°54′23″N
76°51′33″W
/
42.90639°N 76.85917°W
/
42.90639; -76.85917
(
James Russell Webster House
)
|
Historic home, c. 1850?1855.
|
Demographics
[
edit
]
Historical population
Census
| Pop.
| Note
| %±
|
1860
| 3,375
| | ?
|
---|
1870
| 4,086
| | 21.1%
|
---|
1880
| 3,893
| | ?4.7%
|
---|
1890
| 4,350
| | 11.7%
|
---|
1900
| 4,256
| | ?2.2%
|
---|
1910
| 3,931
| | ?7.6%
|
---|
1920
| 3,809
| | ?3.1%
|
---|
1930
| 4,047
| | 6.2%
|
---|
1940
| 4,010
| | ?0.9%
|
---|
1950
| 4,438
| | 10.7%
|
---|
1960
| 5,098
| | 14.9%
|
---|
1970
| 5,418
| | 6.3%
|
---|
1980
| 5,303
| | ?2.1%
|
---|
1990
| 5,116
| | ?3.5%
|
---|
2000
| 5,111
| | ?0.1%
|
---|
2010
| 5,171
| | 1.2%
|
---|
2020
| 4,810
| | ?7.0%
|
---|
As of the
census
[4]
of 2010, there were 5,171 people, 2,039 households, and 1,323 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,462.4 inhabitants per square mile (950.7/km
2
). The racial makeup of the village was 96.6%
White
, 1.1%
Black
or
African American
, 0.0%
Native American
, 0.4%
Asian
, 0.0%
Pacific Islander
, 0.2% from
other races
, and 1.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic
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
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
for the village was $23,777. About 5.5% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the
poverty line
, including 11.3% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
Housing
[
edit
]
There were 2,164 housing units at an average density of 1,030.5 per square mile (397.9/km
2
). 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%.
[4]
Notable people
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Laws of the State of New York
, E Croswell, 1835, W.M. & A. Gould & Co. Albany, page 46
, Retrieved June 2, 2015.
- ^
Village of Waterloo, Village Government
, Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^
"ArcGIS REST Services Directory"
. United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
September 20,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"U.S. Census website"
.
United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
May 30,
2015
.
- ^
"US Board on Geographic Names"
.
United States Geological Survey
. October 25, 2007
. Retrieved
January 31,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
"Find a County"
. National Association of Counties
. Retrieved
June 7,
2011
.
- ^
Seneca County, New York ?
The County Seat Story
Archived
May 28, 2015, at the
Wayback Machine
, 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
Archived
May 28, 2015, at the
Wayback Machine
, Retrieved May 27, 2015.
- ^
Seneca County, New York Departments
, Retrieved May 27, 2015.
- ^
"History of Waterloo"
.
Waterloo, New York: Birthplace of Memorial Day
.
- ^
Turner O (1849).
Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York
. p. 362.
- ^
"Women's Suffrage in New York State ? How New York's Pioneer Feminists Fought for Women's Rights"
.
nyassembly.gov
. Retrieved
October 16,
2020
.
- ^
"Lyndon B. Johnson: "Proclamation 3727 ? Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 1966," May 26, 1966. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project"
.
The American Presidency Project
.
- ^
Bellware, Daniel; Richard Gardiner (2014).
The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America
. Columbus State University. pp. 134?143.
ISBN
978-0-692-29225-9
.
- ^
"US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990"
.
United States Census Bureau
. February 12, 2011
. Retrieved
April 23,
2011
.
- ^
"Census of Population and Housing"
. Census.gov
. Retrieved
June 4,
2015
.
- ^
"Tom Coughlin Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks"
. Pro-Football-Reference.com. August 31, 1946
. Retrieved
February 10,
2014
.
- ^
Roth, Lee (January 14, 2013).
"Kevin Sylvester ready to go after lockout"
.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
.
Gannett
. Retrieved
January 22,
2013
.
External links
[
edit
]
Places adjacent to Waterloo (village), New York
|
---|
|