Hopewell, New York

History

Significant portions of this section is sourced from Conover, Chapter XXV.

The Seneca Indian village of Onnaghee (or Onaghee, aka Snyder-McClure village) was located in Hopewell. It was abandoned sometime before 1750, and the former residents likely founded the newer village at Canandaigua.

Settled beginning in 1789, the town of Hopewell, New York, was originally part of a tract of land first called "District of Easton" and then "Lincoln" and was part of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1788.

The original settlers in the area were former New Englanders. According to The History of Ontario County New York, some of the earliest pioneers included "Daniel Gates, Daniel Warner, Ezra Platt, Samuel Day, George Chapin, Israel Chapin, Jr., Frederick Follett, Thomas Sawyer, Benjamin Wells and Mr. Sweet, all of whom were from Massachusetts, while William Wyckoff who was another pioneer, was from Pennsylvania."

In 1807, the name of the town was changed again, this time to "Gorham," in honor of Nathaniel Gorham. The Town of Hopewell was formed out of the northern section of the Town of Gorham on March 29, 1822.

On April 17, 1823, the first town meeting was held and the first town officers were elected. They were:

Between 1830 and 1890, the population of Hopewell ranged from 2,202 (1830) to 1,655 (1890).

In 1825 the County Board of Supervisors purchased farmland in the southeastern part of the town and established a home for the county poor. That land today is still owned by Ontario County and is used to house the County Health Facility, County Historian and Archives Center and other County facilities.

Notable inhabitants

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.7 square miles (92 km²), of which, 35.6 square miles (92 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (0.06%) is water.

New York State Route 21 intersects New York State Route 488 in Chapin. The NY 5/US 20 concurrency runs through the south part of the town.

Hopewell is near the northeast end of Canandaigua Lake, one of the Finger Lakes.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,346 people, 1,244 households, and 888 families residing in the town. The population density was 93.9 people per square mile (36.2/km²). There were 1,342 housing units at an average density of 37.7 per square mile (14.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.97% White, 0.78% African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.82% of the population.

There were 1,244 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the town, the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $41,604, and the median income for a family was $46,452. Males had a median income of $30,575 versus $23,354 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,899. About 4.0% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.3% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Hopewell

Schools/College

Hopewell has no school district of its own, and a number of school districts cover the town. These include:

Miscellaneous