Sackets Harbor, New York facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sackets Harbor, New York
Village
Sackets Harbor, New York Location in New York Show map of New York Sackets Harbor, New York Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Jefferson
Town	Hounsfield
Area
• Total	2.31 sq mi (5.99 km2)
• Land	2.31 sq mi (5.97 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.01 km2)
Elevation	282 ft (86 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,351
• Density	585.86/sq mi (226.23/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	13685
Area code(s)	315
FIPS code	36-64408
GNIS feature ID	0963166

Sackets Harbor is a village in Jefferson County, New York. It is located on the shores of Lake Ontario. In 2010, about 1,450 people lived there. The village was named after Augustus Sackett, who founded it in the early 1800s. He was a land developer and owner.

Sackets Harbor is in the western part of the town of Hounsfield. It is west of Watertown. The main part of the village has a Main Street and old buildings from the 1800s. This area is called the Sackets Harbor Village Historic District. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

During the War of 1812, Sackets Harbor became very important. The US Navy built a large shipyard and its main base for the Great Lakes here. More than 3,000 people worked at the shipyard. The Army also built forts, barracks, and other buildings to protect the village and the navy base. Thousands of soldiers camped in the village.

Because of all the military people, Sackets Harbor grew very fast. By late 1814, it was the third-largest town in New York state. Only Albany and New York City were bigger. Its safe harbor on Lake Ontario and military bases made the village important for the country throughout the 1800s.

After the war, the Army built Madison Barracks to make defenses stronger. The village also grew a commercial shipyard. It made many business connections with other towns around the Great Lakes. In 1817, local business people helped build the Ontario. This was the first US steamboat on the Great Lakes. In 1834, the ship Illinois from Sackets Harbor was the first to enter the harbor of the new town of Chicago. The Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site remembers a battle from the War of 1812. It also shows how important the area was for US defense.

Exploring Sackets Harbor's Past

Before the American Revolutionary War, different groups of indigenous peoples lived here for thousands of years. The Onondaga, who spoke Iroquoian languages, were a historic tribe in the area. They were part of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy.

During the Revolution, the Mohawk and most of the Six Nations sided with the British. They hoped to get American colonists out of their land. After the war, they had to give up most of their land in New York to the United States. Many Iroquois moved to Canada, where Great Britain gave them land.

How Sackets Harbor Was Founded

In the early 1800s, the US government sold large amounts of land. Augustus Sackett, a land investor from New York City, founded Sackets Harbor in 1801. He and others hoped to trade across Lake Ontario with Kingston in Canada. Sackets Harbor had one of the few natural harbors on Lake Ontario. This made it the most important community in the area until Watertown was founded.

People from New England moved to the area. Immigrants from Great Britain and France also came. They were escaping problems from the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. They cleared forests and built houses for the village center. Edmund Luff, a young English immigrant, built a non-denominational meetinghouse. All Christians met there until they built their own churches. This house is now a home and still stands today.

Tensions and Trade Before the War of 1812

The American Revolution did not solve all problems with Great Britain. Border issues and growing tensions led the US to pass the Embargo Act of 1807. This law stopped trade with Great Britain, which included Canada. People on both sides of the border quickly started smuggling goods. They used the waters and the nearby Thousand Islands area along the St. Lawrence River. But the embargo reduced official trade. The US government sent soldiers to the area to try to stop smuggling.

By 1810, there were 943 voters in the village. Sackets Harbor officially became a village in 1814, during the War of 1812.

Sackets Harbor During the War of 1812

As problems with Great Britain grew, the US started building up its military in Sackets Harbor. A major shipyard was built at Navy Point. Thousands of sailors, soldiers, and traders came to the village. The citizens were outnumbered by about 8 to 1. About 3,000 workers built warships. Most of them came from New York City because there were not enough skilled workers locally.

Crowded military camps often led to the spread of infectious diseases, like typhus. These diseases quickly spread to the villagers too. By February 1813, Sackets Harbor was the largest community in New York state north of the Mohawk River.

The village was the site of two battles during the War of 1812. In the first battle in 1812, the ship USS Oneida and shore cannons fought off five British ships. The village became a major base for both the Navy and Army during the war. The Army built defenses around the village. This included Fort Tompkins with barracks near Navy Point. Local soldiers built Fort Volunteer north of the main village streets. Thousands of troops gathered to defend the shipyard and village. They also prepared to attack Canada.

There were so many troops that there weren't enough buildings to house them. In 1813, soldiers stayed with residents, in stores, in barns, and in tents. By spring 1813, the Army had about 5,200 men in the village.

Most importantly, by 1813, the village became the main US Naval Headquarters on the Great Lakes. At the Navy Point shipyard, 3,000 skilled workers were busy. This included hundreds of shipbuilders and carpenters brought from New York City. Henry Eckford, a naval architect, oversaw the yard during the war. They quickly built eleven warships to gain control over the Great Lakes.

Control of the Great Lakes is now shared by Canada and the United States. It has been managed by the International Joint Commission since 1909.

In the Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor in May 1813, British forces attacked the village. But they were driven off again. Most American soldiers and ships were at the western end of the lake during another fight. The American defense had some mistakes. Officers at Navy Point mistakenly ordered the destruction of supplies and a ship being built. They did this to prevent the British from capturing them.

The military buildup continued. In late 1813, the Navy moved its hospital off a ship. It temporarily rented the non-denominational meeting house from Edmund Luff. The next year, a two-story hospital was built on land north of the village. By late 1814, Sackets Harbor was the third-largest population center in New York state.

Before the federal government built the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, it had schools to train midshipmen. Commodore Isaac Chauncey wrote in 1814 about a school in Sackets Harbor:

Sir. I have the pleasure to inform you that I have established a Mathematical School under the direction of my Chaplain the Revd. Mr. Felch who is fully competent to the duties of such a School. More than One hundred Officers attend this School, as they can be spared from duty and about Sixty Lieutenants and Midshipmen attend daily who make great progress in the various branches of Mathematics Navigation. etc.

The war ended in 1815. The Navy did not finish building its last warship, the USS New Orleans. It was stored and never completed. It was finally taken apart in 1883.

Sackets Harbor in the 1800s and 1900s

The military knew Sackets Harbor was still important. The Navy Shipyard operated until 1874. It built ships like the USRC Active (1843), a revenue cutter. In 1848, a new Sackets Harbor Naval Station was built. After 1884, the base was mostly used for training.

The Army took over private land north of the village to build Madison Barracks (around 1814–1819). This was a large military base into the late 1800s. The Army added new buildings, including homes, a school, a hospital, and stables. Ulysses S. Grant was one of the officers who served here. During World War I, the base was mainly a hospital. In World War II, it was used for training.

Madison Barracks is now an Historic District. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The New York State Museum of Military History calls it "a living museum of military architecture." The northeastern part of the village, Madison Barracks, is slowly being redeveloped for businesses and homes.

In July 2017, Horse Island, west of the village, was bought for preservation. The Civil War Trust acquired it with help from the National Park Service. It was the site of a War of 1812 battle. This was the first time a grant from the American Battlefield Land Grant program was used to save a War of 1812 site.

Sackets Harbor became an important Great Lakes port throughout most of the 1800s. Commercial shipyards were built next to Navy Point. In 1817, a group of local military officers and businessmen financed the building of the 240-ton Ontario. This was the first US steamboat built west of the Hudson River to operate on the Great Lakes. This started a lot of steamboat traffic on the Great Lakes. Passenger boats stopped at towns around the lakes.

On July 12, 1834, Louis Hooker was on the schooner Illinois from Sackets Harbor. It was the first commercial ship to enter Chicago harbor. This showed that trade with Chicago and that region would soon grow a lot. Samuel F. Hooker and his sons had shipping businesses in Sackets Harbor. Their company had steamboats based in Louisville, Kentucky. These were part of the Mississippi River trade to and from New Orleans.

From 1870 to 1930, the village became a popular place for families to take long summer vacations. Visitors came from Chicago and other big cities around the Great Lakes. Many had family who lived in Sackets Harbor before moving west. Some kept second homes in the village's historic properties.

Today, heritage tourism and summer recreation are helping the village grow again. Navy Point is a marina that offers places for private boats to dock.

Several important places in Sackets Harbor are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These include the Elisha Camp House, Galloo Island Light, Madison Barracks, Sackets Harbor Battlefield, Sackets Harbor Village Historic District, and Union Hotel.

Famous People from Sackets Harbor

• Frances Bible, an opera singer.
• American military officer and explorer Zebulon Pike was buried in Sackets Harbor. He died in battle at Battle of York in 1813. His remains were honored at the military cemetery on Dodge Avenue. A warship, USS General Pike, was named after him. It was built and launched in Sackets Harbor that same year.
• Brigadier General Leonard Covington, a former US Representative from Maryland, also died in 1813 at the Battle of Crysler's Farm.
• Colonel Elisha Camp founded and built the historic Camp Manor in 1811. He also served the US Army in the War of 1812.
• President Ulysses S. Grant served two times at Madison Barracks in Sackets Harbor as a young army officer.
• General Mark Wayne Clark was born at the Madison Barracks.
• Bartender Jerry Thomas, known as "the father of American mixology," was born in Sackets Harbor in 1830.
• Wisconsin State Assemblyman and Senator Hobart Sterling Sacket was born in Sackets Harbor in 1844.
• Wisconsin State Assemblyman Samuel Ryan, Jr., was born in Sackets Harbor in 1824.
• Martha Foote Crow, a writer and scholar who helped women get higher education, was born in Sackets Harbor in 1854.

Interesting Facts About Sackets Harbor

• Company B of the United States Regiment of Dragoons was formed in Sackets Harbor on July 29, 1833. This group is now the 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.
• The World War II tanker, the SS Sackets Harbor, was named after the village.
• Sackets Harbor is the hometown of "Funny Cide". This famous racehorse won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2003. He was a contender for the Triple Crown, but lost the Belmont.
• The village is the setting for American Girl's Caroline Abbott doll. This doll was introduced in 2013. Her stories are set during the War of 1812.

Geography and Location

Sackets Harbor is located at 43°56′47″N 76°7′4″W / 43.94639°N 76.11778°W / 43.94639; -76.11778.

The village has a total area of about 5.7 square kilometers. Only a tiny part (0.26%) is water. The village is on Black River Bay, southwest of where the Black River flows into Lake Ontario. Its protected harbor was very important for the village's founding and early history. Much of Lake Ontario was formed by glaciers. In the early 1800s, there were few protected harbors on the south shore deep enough for large ships.

New York State Route 3 passes east of the village. The village is where County Roads 62 (Sulphur Springs Road) and 75 (Adams Road/Dodge Avenue) meet. Watertown, the county seat of Jefferson County, is about 10 miles to the east. Henderson Harbor is about 9 miles to the southwest.

Population and People

In 2000, there were 1,386 people living in the village. There were 653 households and 370 families. The population density was about 609 people per square mile. There were 791 housing units. Most residents (97.26%) were White. A small percentage were African American, Native American, Asian, or from other backgrounds. About 1.73% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.

About 23.1% of households had children under 18. About 45.2% were married couples. The average household had 2.11 people, and the average family had 2.72 people.

The population was spread out by age. About 18.8% were under 18. About 37.7% were between 25 and 44. The median age was 34 years old. For every 100 females, there were about 113.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $42,629. For a family, it was $51,397. About 7.8% of the population lived below the poverty line.

Education in Sackets Harbor

The Sackets Harbor Central School District provides public education for the area. It operates a high school and an elementary school.

See Also

In Spanish: Sackets Harbor para niños