Goshen (village), New York
|
|
Goshen is a village located in Orange County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 5,676. Goshen is the county seat.
Goshen's current mayor is Scott Wohl; his term expires in April 2007.
The Village of Goshen is about 50 miles northwest of New York City. The village is within the Town of Goshen. Goshen is the home of the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, and hosted harness racing's top event, the Hambletonian, from 1930 to 1956. The village is located on New York State Highway 17 in the center of Orange County.
| Contents |
History
The village was settled in 1714 and incorporated in 1809. Noah Webster taught here in the 1780s. Goshen was the birthplace of jazz pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith, who is honored every year (beginning in 2004) with the Goshen Jazz Festival, sponsored by the Goshen Rotary Club. In 1950, Goshen had a population of 3,311 people.
The horse racing industry was probably originally brought to Goshen by the Smith family of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York in the early 18th Century known as the "Horseblock Smith's" after whom one of the main thuroughfares of Central Long Island is named: Horseblock Road.
The village and the town (indistinguishable in the older records) was also the site of the hanging of the famous outlaw Claudius Smith, a British Loyalist who – along with the Mohawk Indian Chief Joseph Brandt – raided the countryside surrounding Goshen during the American Revolutionary War.
He and Joseph Brandt are said to have buried their many looted treasures in the hills surrounding Goshen, and that Claudius is himself buried somewhere on the grounds of the old Presbyterian Church – with his skull having been embedded into the wall.
Five months after Brandt raided Goshen, on January 22, 1779, they hanged Claudius; and exactly six months later, on July 22, 1779, Brandt raided Goshen again in what was known as the Battle of Minisink – burning houses and farms, and killing everything in sight. [1] (http://home.earthlink.net/~sussex_nj_history/id11.html)
It is said that there were thirty-three women "left to beg as widows" on that day, and that the bones of the victims were allowed to bleach in the sun for some forty-three years, with no one to bury them until 1822 – because the people of Goshen thought that Brandt's attack was their punishment for hanging Claudius Smith.
Other towns and villages named Goshen include Goshen, Clermont County, Ohio and Goshen, Stark County, Illinois with many of the descendants of the original Goshen, Orange County, New York having settled these villages. (Ultimately, all Goshens – including Goshen, Indiana, the largest with nearly 30,000 people – get their name from the Land of Goshen, referenced in the book of Genesis).
Geography
Goshen is located at 41°24'5" North, 74°19'30" West (41.401546, -74.325199)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 8.3 km² (3.2 mi²). None of the area is covered with water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 5,676 people, 2,039 households, and 1,227 families residing in the village. The population density is 682.7/km² (1,770.5/mi²). There are 2,150 housing units at an average density of 258.6/km² (670.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the village is 87.53% White, 7.61% Black or African American, 0.14% Native American, 1.55% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 2.26% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. 7.63% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 2,039 households out of which 29.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% are married couples living together, 9.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% are non-families. 34.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 17.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.40 and the average family size is 3.14.
In the village the population is spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 102.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 100.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village is $50,922, and the median income for a family is $66,250. Males have a median income of $41,932 versus $31,711 for females. The per capita income for the village is $22,443. 4.0% of the population and 1.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 0.8% of those under the age of 18 and 7.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
External link
- Historic postcards of Goshen on epodunk.com (http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/allImgs.php?locId=749&imgType=postCard&sec=0)