Wurtsboro, New York

Wurtsboro, New York
—  Village  —
Driving west through downtown Wurtsboro, New York
Wurtsboro, New York Location within the state of New York
Coordinates: 41°34′38″N 74°29′4″W
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Sullivan
Area
• Total	1.3 sq mi (3.3 km2)
• Land	1.3 sq mi (3.3 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	577 ft (176 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	1,246
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	12790
Area code(s)	845
FIPS code	36-83272
GNIS feature ID	0971765

Wurtsboro is a village located on U.S. Route 209 in the town of Mamakating in Sullivan County, New York, United States, near its junction with New York State Route 17 (which is being upgraded to Interstate standards and will be renumbered as Interstate 86). The population was 1,246 at the 2010 census.

History

The community was named after Maurice and William Wurts, brothers who built the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the first United States company capitalized at $1,000,000, and predecessor to the Delaware and Hudson Railway. Wurtsboro was formerly known as Mamakating Hollow.

At the turn of the 20th century, Wurtsboro became popular with many first-generation German and Russian immigrants from New York City, attracted to the area by its rusticity, and its resemblance to the high mountain villages in the countries from which they originated. They came up from the city by train. Remnants of the old tracks and a restored railroad station can still be seen in the village.

Wurtsboro Hills, just north of Wurtsboro, is the site of more than one hundred 1920s-1940s era cottages. The hills are steep and one will find wild blueberries, locally known as huckleberries. The area is still rather wild, populated with coyotes, deer, opossum, rabbits. The Hills still had party line telephones as recently as 2002; only in 2006 did cell phone signals reach the Hills.

Since 1927 the area has been served by Wurtsboro-Sullivan County Airport.

Wurtsboro is notable for a store in the business district called the Canal Towne Emporium. The store is well-known, and has a long history in the village. Wurtsboro Hills was the home for 50 years of La Mingotiere, a family owned French restaurant. Author E. K. Gordon lived in Wurtsboro and then Wurtsboro Hills from the ages if two to ten. She didn't write about it much.

From Spring through the Fall, the area provides a scenic back drop and destination for many motorcyclists in conjunction with several events sponsored by the Wurtsboro NY Chapter of the Harley Owners Group and O'Toole's Harley-Davidson which is located at the foothills of the Village's Main Street.

Geography

Wurtsboro is located at 41°34′38″N 74°29′4″W (41.577158, -74.484393).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), all of it land.

Wurtsboro is in the Eastern Time Zone. Its elevation is 577 feet.

The Long Path, a hiking trail, goes through Wurtsboro.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,234 people, four hundred seventy nine households, and 330 families residing in the village. The population density was 975.5 people per square mile (378.1/km²). There were 542 housing units at an average density of 428.5 per square mile (166.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 93.68% White, 1.86% African American, 0.81% Asian, 1.62% from other races, and 2.03% from two or more races. Hispanic of any race were 4.62% of the population.

There were 479 households out of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the village the population was spread out with 30.2% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $38,500, and the median income for a family was $46,359. Males had a median income of $40,385 versus $25,060 for females. The per capita income for the village was $16,698. About 9.7% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 1.5% of those age 65 or over.

External links

• Wurtsboro Board of Trade
• Wurtsboro Community Profile
• "A Main Artery of the 1800s", New York Times, August 25, 2002
• Wurtsboro Airport