Country United States County Schuyler FIPS code 36-33073 Elevation 546 m Population 4,854 (2000) Area code 607 | State New York Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) GNIS feature ID 0979060 Zip code 14841 Local time Saturday 11:29 PM | |
 | ||
Weather -2°C, Wind SE at 10 km/h, 79% Humidity Area 291.4 km² (265.5 km² Land / 25.9 km² Water) | ||
Hector is a town in the northeastern corner of Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 4,854 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Hector Ely, who at the time was the firstborn son of the town founders. Hector is west of Ithaca, New York.
Contents
Map of Hector, NY 14841, USA
History
The area was originally under the dominion of the Iroquois. The region became part of the Central New York Military Tract, land used to pay soldiers of the American Revolution. The area was first settled around 1790, but the first permanent settler arrived in 1791.
The town of Hector was formed in Cayuga County in 1802 from part of the town of Ovid. However, Hector (including the hamlet of Reynoldsville) was part of the adjacent Seneca County from 1804 to 1817.[1] Hector became part of Tompkins County when the county was created in 1817, and then became part of Schuyler County in 1854 in the part contributed by Tompkins County.
The First Presbyterian Church of Hector was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 112.5 square miles (291 km2), of which, 102.5 square miles (265 km2) of it is land and 10.0 square miles (26 km2) of it (8.88%) is water.
The east town line is the border of Tompkins County. The north town line is the border of Seneca County, and the west town line, marked by Seneca Lake is the border of Yates County.
Hector is a town in the Finger Lakes region.
New York State Route 414 is a north-south highway the parallels the east shore of Seneca Lake. New York State Route 79 is an east-west highway in the town. New York State Route 227 and New York State Route 228 intersect in the northeast part of the town at the hamlet of Perry City.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,854 people, 1,872 households, and 1,349 families residing in the town. The population density was 47.4 people per square mile (18.3/km²). There were 2,378 housing units at an average density of 23.2 per square mile (9.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.82% White, 0.56% African American, 0.39% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.14% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.87% of the population.
There were 1,872 households out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the town, the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 103.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $39,380, and the median income for a family was $44,184. Males had a median income of $33,783 versus $21,648 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,601. About 8.7% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.