kids encyclopedia robot

Batavia, New York facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Batavia, New York
City
Nickname(s): 
1802 Birthplace of Western New York
Motto(s): 
The Right Place. The Right Time.
Location within Genesee County and New York
Location within Genesee County and New York
Batavia, New York is located in New York
Batavia, New York
Batavia, New York
Location in New York
Batavia, New York is located in the United States
Batavia, New York
Batavia, New York
Location in the United States
Country  United States
State  New York
County Genesee
Founded (village) 1802; 222 years ago (1802)
Incorporated (village) 1823; 201 years ago (1823)
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
Area
 • Total 5.28 sq mi (13.67 km2)
 • Land 5.20 sq mi (13.46 km2)
 • Water 0.08 sq mi (0.21 km2)  1.14%
Elevation
892 ft (272 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 15,600
 • Density 3,000/sq mi (1,159/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
14020
Area code 585
FIPS code 36-04715
GNIS feature ID 0943150
Website Batavia NY

Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population as of the 2020 census was 15,600. The name Batavia is Latin for the Betuwe region of the Netherlands, and honors early Dutch land developers. In 2006, a national magazine, Site Selection, ranked Batavia third among the nation's micropolitans based on economic development. The New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) passes north of the city. Genesee County Airport (GVQ) is also north of the city.

The city hosts the Batavia Muckdogs baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, at Dwyer Stadium (299 Bank Street). The Muckdogs formerly were an affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They won the 2008 New York Penn League Championship.

The city's UN/LOCODE is USBIA.

History

The Holland Land Company

Holland land 8911
All of western New York was sold through this office of the Holland Land Company, which is now a museum.

The current City of Batavia was an early settlement in what is today called Genesee Country, the farthest western region of New York State, comprising the Genesee Valley and westward to the Niagara River, Lake Erie, and the Pennsylvania line. The tract purchased in western New York (the Holland Purchase) was a 3,250,000 acre (13,150 km²) portion of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase that lay west of the Genesee River. It was purchased in December 1792, February 1793, and July 1793 from Robert Morris, a prominent Revolutionary banker, by the Holland Land Company, a consortium of Dutch bankers.

The village of Batavia was founded in 1802 by Joseph Ellicott, agent of the Holland Land Company. Batavia, New York, was named for the short-lived Batavian Republic (1795–1806) in honor of the Holland Land Company. The Batavian Republic was itself named for the Batavi, an ancient Germanic tribe, which lived in the area of the Rhine–Maas delta in the central Netherlands. During the Renaissance in the Low Countries (1500s) and Dutch Golden Age (1600), Dutch nationalists formed the "Batavian myth" and argued that the ancient Batavians were the ancestors of the Dutch. This region is now known as Betuwe, a Dutch word derived from "Batavia."

One of the provisions of the sale was that Morris needed to settle the Indian title to the land, so he arranged for his son Thomas Morris to negotiate with the Iroquois at Geneseo, New York in 1797. About 3,000 Iroquois, mostly Senecas, arrived for the negotiation. Seneca chief and orator Red Jacket was adamantly against the sale, but his influence was thwarted by freely distributed liquor and trinkets given to the women. In the end he acquiesced and signed the Treaty of Big Tree, in which the tribe sold their rights to the land except for a small portion for $100,000. Mary Jemison, known as The White Woman of the Genesee, who had been captured in a raid and married her Seneca captor, proved to be an able negotiator for the tribe and helped win more favorable terms for them. In the negotiations Horatio Jones was the translator and William Wadsworth provided his unfinished home. The land was then surveyed under the supervision of Joseph Ellicott, a monumental task of the biggest land survey ever attempted to that time.

Ellicott, as agent for the company, established a land office in Batavia in 1802. The entire purchase was named Genesee County in 1802, with Batavia as the county seat. The company sold off the purchase until 1846, when the company was dissolved. The phrase "doing a land office business", which denotes prosperity, dates from this era. The office still exists and is a museum today, designated a National Historic Landmark. Ellicott lived in Batavia for many years although he thought Buffalo would grow to be larger. Batavia has a major street named after him (Ellicott Street), as well as a minor street (Ellicott Avenue), and a large monument in the heart of the city. Batavia was incorporated as a village in 1823.

The present counties of western New York were all laid out from the original Genesee County, and the modern Genesee County is but one of many. But the entire area as a region is still referred to as Genesee Country. Thus, Batavia was the core from which the rest of western New York was opened for settlement and development.

Erie Canal

The Erie Canal in 1825 bypassed Batavia, going well to the north at Albion and Medina, enabling Buffalo and Rochester to grow much faster. With the sale of the western part of the state completed, Batavia became a small industrial city in the heart of an agricultural area. It became known for the manufacture of tractors, agricultural implements, sprayers and shoes. It also was a tool and die making center for industries in other areas.

The largest manufacturer, Johnston Harvester Company came into being in 1868. In 1910, the business was acquired by Massey-Harris Co. Ltd, and became a subsidiary of that Canadian company, founded by Daniel Massey in 1847.

Batavia grew rapidly in the early 20th century, receiving an influx of Polish and Italian immigrants. The City of Batavia was incorporated in 1915.

Recent history

Oatka milk 8933
Oatka Milk plant still processes milk from area dairy farms which are fewer but larger in recent times.

In recent years much of the heavier industry left for other areas of the US, or abroad, and Batavia became part of what has become known as The Rust Belt.

The construction of the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, a federal immigration detention center adjacent to the airport has provided more jobs in the area, as well as expansion of the airport itself, including lengthening the runway to accommodate larger aircraft in 2005. Inmates at the detention center have included terrorism suspects, such as Nabil Ahmed Farag Soliman, who embarked on a hunger strike in 1999 after two and a half years in federal detention.

In August 2012, Muller Quaker Dairy broke ground on what was to be one of the largest yogurt manufacturing plants in the United States, and employed 170 people in December 2015. Muller Quaker Dairy is a joint venture between PepsiCo and the Theo Muller Group. On December 10, 2015, the closure of the yogurt plant was announced with the additional news that the facility would be sold to the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative.

Geography and climate

Geography

Tonawanda mill dam 8928
Old mill dam at the Big Bend of the Tonawanda, downtown Batavia, New York. The choice of this site for Ellicot's headquarters was probably influenced by a good mill site.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.2 square miles (13.6 km²), of which, 5.2 square miles (13.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (1.14%) is water.

New York State Route 5 (east-west) intersects New York State Route 33, New York State Route 63, and New York State Route 98 in the city. The New York State Thruway is immediately north of Batavia.

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Batavia has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1810 100
1830 1,671
1840 2,000 19.7%
1850 3,000 50.0%
1860 2,868 −4.4%
1870 3,890 35.6%
1880 4,845 24.6%
1890 7,221 49.0%
1900 9,180 27.1%
1910 11,613 26.5%
1920 13,541 16.6%
1930 17,375 28.3%
1940 17,267 −0.6%
1950 17,799 3.1%
1960 18,210 2.3%
1970 17,338 −4.8%
1980 16,703 −3.7%
1990 16,310 −2.4%
2000 16,256 −0.3%
2010 15,465 −4.9%
2020 15,600 0.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

2010

As of the census of 2010, there were 15,465 people, 6,644 households, and 3,710 families residing in the city. The city's racial demographic changed slightly from 2000 to 2010.

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,256 people, 6,457 households, and 3,867 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,133.9 people per square mile (1,209.3/km2). There were 6,924 housing units at an average density of 1,334.8 per square mile (515.1/km2). The city's racial makeup was 90.23% White, 5.43% Black or African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.87% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.06% from other races, and 1.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.45% of the population.

There were 6,457 households, of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.2% had someone living alone who was at least 65 years old. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 3.01.

23.4% of the city's population were under the age of 18, 8.7% were from age 18 to 24, 29.0% were from age 25 to 44, 20.2% were from age 45 to 64, and 18.6% were age 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

The city's median household income was $33,484, and the median family income was $42,460. Males had a median income of $32,091 versus $23,289 for females. The city's per capita income was $17,737. About 10.2% of families and 12.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.5% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

  • Terry A. Anderson, journalist From 1985 to 1991, Anderson was held captive in Lebanon by Hezbollah partisans, and his sister, Peggy Say, became an ardent campaigner for his release.
  • Thom Beers, TV producer
  • David Bellavia, Iraq War veteran
  • Albert Brisbane (1809–1890), socialist writer and newspaper publisher
  • Charles H. Burke, former US Congressman from South Dakota
  • Daniel Burling, former New York State Assemblyman
  • Albert G. Burr, United States Representative
  • Paolo Busti, principal agent of the Holland Land Company
  • William L. Carpenter, naturalist and geologist
  • Trumbull Cary, former New York State Senator
  • Ralph Chandler, former Rear Admiral of the United States Navy
  • Ralph Chapin, contributor to Rochester Zen Center
  • William Henry Comstock, businessman and politician
  • Barber Conable, political leader and World Bank president, was a former resident.
  • James Crossen Jr. (1826-1890), founder of James Crossen-Cobourg Car Works, Irish-born Canadian railway car and street car builder
  • Albert G. Dow, former New York State Senator
  • Benjamin Ellicott, former US Congressman
  • David Ellicott Evans, former US Congressman
  • Marc Ferrari, guitar player for the band Keel
  • John Fisher, former industrialist and US congressman from New York
  • Teal Fowler, ice hockey player
  • John Gardner, novelist, literary critic, and university professor
  • Augustus Hall, former US Congressman from Iowa, Chief Justice of Nebraska Territory
  • Robert Haney, Wisconsin politician and businessman
  • Stephen Hawley, New York State Assemblyman
  • Ronald E. Hermance Jr., former financial executive
  • David C. Johnson, composer
  • Bill Kauffman, political journalist and author
  • George W. Lay, former US Congressman
  • Samuel D. Lockwood, former Illinois Attorney General, Secretary of State, Supreme Court Justice
  • Thomas C. Love, former US Congressman
  • Vincent Maney, former MLB player
  • Krista Marie, Member of the country band, The Farm
  • Paula Miller, former member of Virginia House of Delegates
  • William Morgan, his book on Freemasonry and his disappearance in 1826 sparked an anti-Masonic movement in America
  • Thomas David Morrison, Canadian doctor and exiled Mayor of Toronto 1838–1843
  • James C. Owens Jr., naval aviator
  • Dean Richmond, from 1864 to 1866, president of the New York Central
  • Julian Sidney Rumsey, former Mayor of Chicago
  • Albert Smith, former US Congressman
  • Phineas L. Tracy, former US Congressman
  • J. C. Tretter, NFL Player
  • Emory Upton, United States Army General during the Civil War
  • Seth Wakeman, former US Congressman
  • Isaac Wilson, former US Congressman
  • Mary Elizabeth Wood, Librarian and missionary

In popular culture

  • Author John Gardner, a Batavia native, set his novels The Resurrection (1966) and The Sunlight Dialogues (1972) in 1960s Batavia.
  • Native Batavian Bill Kauffman, a political writer and columnist, has a book, Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette (2002), about the city. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald references Batavia in his novel, Tender Is the Night (1934)
  • Popular authors Stephen King and Peter Straub mention or set parts of their novel, The Talisman (1983), in the city.
  • Batavia was also referenced in The Simpsons Season 8 episode "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson", when the first order to Marge's pretzel business after securing the protection of the local mafia comes from the Meat Packers Union Hall in Batavia.

Education

Batavia City School District operates public schools, including Batavia High School.

Batavia is also where the New York State School for the Blind, a New York State-operated K-12 school, and the main campus of Genesee Community College is located.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Batavia (Nueva York) para niños

kids search engine
Batavia, New York Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.