Washingtonville, New York facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Washingtonville, New York
Village
Downtown Washingtonville
Location in Orange County and the state of New York.
Washingtonville, New York Location in New York
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Orange
Town	Blooming Grove
Government
• Type	Village Board with a Mayor and 4 Trustees
Area
• Total	2.55 sq mi (6.61 km2)
• Land	2.54 sq mi (6.57 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.04 km2)
Elevation	305 ft (93 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	5,657
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	10992
Area code(s)	845
FIPS code	36-78465
GNIS feature ID	968876

Washingtonville is a village in the town of Blooming Grove, Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 5,657 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The village is named in honor of George Washington.

History

Washingtonville was first settled in 1731. The village maintained a slow but steady growth during the second half of the 18th century. In 1809, John Jaques, a boot and shoemaker, set up his shop in this tiny settlement of nine houses, then known as "Little York." Jaques would later establish Brotherhood Winery, the oldest continuously operating winery in the United States, in 1839.

In its earlier years, Washingtonville was called "Matthews Field," even before it became known as Little York. A part of the Rip Van Dam patent, it was sold to Vincent Matthews in 1721. Matthews was the second settler of the region, although the first white settler. Its earliest known inhabitant was an Indian by the name of Moringamus, whose wigwam or tepee was once pitched in back of where the Coleman bottled-gas plant is located now.

The Moffat Library, a Registered Historic Place built by Samuel's son David as a gift to his hometown.

Samuel Moffat built a trading post on the village square in 1811 at the junction of the New Windsor and Blooming Grove Turnpike with the Goshen Road (His son David later endowed Moffat Library on the spot). The hamlet began to prosper with a tannery, grist and plaster mills. A hotel was needed and Samuel Moffat built his Washington Tavern in 1818. The same year Samuel and John Jaques bestowed the village with a new name, Washingtonville, in honor of the late general and first president of the United States, whom it was said came through and watered his horse at the trough which had been located under the big Elm tree in the center of the village.

Washingtonville grew after the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway built its branch through the village in 1850. Even though the railway tracks have been removed, the remains of the railroad building are located behind the present day Agway Store. Incorporated in 1895, the village had become an important dairying center where two creameries, Borden's (presently used as a bus garage for the Washingtonville Central School District) and the Farmers Cooperative Market (South Street), several groceries, a bank, feed and lumber dealers, wagon shops, furniture makers and a hub shop all prospered. Its greatest growth in that time occurred in the seventh and eighth decades.

C.R. Shons opened up a cooperative on Depot Street, where the old red building still stands, and also had a large orchard on Goshen Avenue. Thomas Fulton's grist mill, now the site of Agway, was destroyed by fire in the early 1900s. Hugh Lunney had his slaughter house on Goshen Avenue, near where the Spear Printing Company plant was, and also had a large ice house beside the point to Coopers Creek, harvesting ice for commercial use from the pond in the winter.

Borden's Creamery maintained a bottling plant and its refrigerator cars, loaded with milk, were shipped to Greycourt (Harriman) on either the Erie freight or passenger runs. This firm cut its ice from the small pond south of its creamery, storing it in the ice house on the east side of the plant.

Recent weather events

From the evening of Sunday, April 15 until Tuesday, April 17, 2007, the nearby Moodna Creek overflowed into downtown Washingtonville. Nearby May's Field resembled a lake with 3–4 feet of water. A similar flooding occurred in 1955. These floodings were the results of a powerful Nor'easter that slammed the Northeastern U.S. Videos of the flooding were featured on the websites of WCBS-TV, Cable 6 News, and the Times Herald Record. Pictures were posted on the high school's website.

On Sunday, August 28, 2011, Washingtonville was ravaged by a Category 1 hurricane. Despite being just a Category 1 storm, the hurricane caused widespread flooding in the town, initiating a mandatory evacuation. The flooding was mostly due to the town being situated in a basin of the Moodna Creek, which surrounds the town. Shelters for the affected were set up in a nearby elementary school and gym.

On Saturday, October 29, 2011, Washingtonville was also ravaged by an unexpected early snow storm. Up to a foot of heavy wet snow fell on the town. The major problem is that the leaves had not fallen off the trees yet, so limbs and branches had fallen blocking most roads including State Route 94. Over 90% of residents were left without power.

Washingtonville Central School District

Washingtonville Central School District is made up of five schools; Washingtonville High School, Washingtonville Middle School, Little Britain Elementary School, Taft Elementary School, and Round Hill Elementary School. Completed in 1933, the current Washingtonville Middle School housed all the grades of Kindergarten through 12th grade. Little Britain was adjacent to Stewart Air Force Base, and was only for children whose parents were in the military. The air base has long since been closed, but military personnel are still housed in new housing units located just west of Little Brittain Elementary. The high school has undergone several renovations, the last completed in 2010. In addition to adding on classrooms, three computer labs were also added, including a Mac Lab.

Geography

The former Washingtonville station, photographed in January 2015

Washingtonville is located at 41°26′N 74°10′W / 41.433°N 74.167°W / 41.433; -74.167 (41.43, -74.16).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), all of it land.

Washingtonville is at the junction of highways NY-94 and NY-208.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 5,899 people, 2,177 households, and 1,514 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,300.2 people per square mile (889.4/km²). There were 2,044 housing units at an average density of 803.6 per square mile (310.7/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 80.3% White, 8.22% African American, 0.46% Native American, 2.51% Asian, 6.15% from other races, and 2.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.27% of the population.

There were 2,177 households, out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.5% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 9.2% had a male householder with no wife present and 30.5% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.32.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 20 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 30.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $62,568, and the median income for a family was $69,145. Males had a median income of $57,552 versus $39,958 for females. The per capita income for the village was $24,036. About 1.6% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Washingtonville Central School District is made up of five schools; Washingtonville High School, Washingtonville Middle School, Little Britain Elementary School, Taft Elementary School, and Round Hill Elementary School. Three of these are located in Washingtonville. Those being the districts High School, Middle School and Taft Elementary School

Completed in 1933, the current Washingtonville Middle School housed all the grades of Kindergarten through 12th grade. Little Britain was adjacent to Stewart Air Force Base, and was only for children whose parents were in the military. The air base has long since been closed, but military personnel are still housed in new housing units located just west of Little Britain Elementary. The high school has undergone several renovations, the last completed in 2010. In addition to adding on classrooms, three computer labs were also added, including a Mac Lab.

The district's sports teams are the Washingtonville Wizards, and the mascot portrayed on murals and other artwork at the high school is named Merlin.

Notable people

• Brian Cashman, general manager of the New York Yankees
• Mel Gibson, actor and director (as a child before moving to Australia)
• Tony Gilroy, writer and director
• James Mangold, director and screenwriter
• Scott Pioli, National Football League executive
• Naomi Sewell Richardson, founder of Delta Sigma Theta, one of the oldest African American Sororities in the United States
• Dennis Smith, FDNY firefighter and author.

See also

In Spanish: Washingtonville (Nueva York) para niños