Country United States FIPS code 36-28871 Elevation 123 m Population 5,402 (2010) Area code 518 | State New York Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) GNIS feature ID 0979000 Zip code 12075 Local time Monday 8:17 AM | |
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Weather -12°C, Wind W at 10 km/h, 64% Humidity Area 117.6 km² (116.8 km² Land / 78 ha Water) | ||
Ghent is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States, with a ZIP code of 12075. The population was 5,402 at the 2010 census. Ghent is centrally located in the county and is northeast of the city of Hudson.
Contents
- Map of Ghent NY USA
- History
- Geography
- Demographics
- Communities and locations in Ghent
- Education
- Notable people
- References
Map of Ghent, NY, USA
History
Around 1735, early settlers, exploiting areas cleared by the natives, moved into the area. In 1818, the town of Ghent was founded from parts of the towns of Chatham, Claverack, and Kinderhook. The name has its origin in the Flemish city Ghent, in Flanders, Belgium. Located at Ghent is the historic Van Valkenburgh-Isbister Farm, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 45.4 square miles (117.6 km2), of which 45.1 square miles (116.9 km2) is land and 0.27 square miles (0.7 km2), or 0.59%, is water.
The Taconic State Parkway crosses the southeast corner of the town.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,276 people, 2,020 households, and 1,397 families residing in the town. The population density was 116.8 people per square mile (45.1/km²). There were 2,244 housing units at an average density of 49.7 per square mile (19.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.93% White, 1.10% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.28% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.35% of the population.
There were 2,020 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the town, the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.8 years. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $43,529, and the median income for a family was $52,096. The median house value is $114,000. Males had a median income of $32,191 versus $23,958 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,365. About 2.2% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.
Communities and locations in Ghent
Education
High schools in Ghent include Columbia Christian Academy and Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School.