Dansville, Livingston County, New York

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Not to be confused with the town of Dansville, Steuben County, New York..
Dansville, New York
Village
Dansville is located in New York
Dansville
Dansville
Dansville is located in the United States
Dansville
Dansville
Coordinates: 42°33′N 77°41′W / 42.550°N 77.683°W / 42.550; -77.683Coordinates: 42°33′N 77°41′W / 42.550°N 77.683°W / 42.550; -77.683
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CountyLivingston
TownNorth Dansville
Area
[1]
 • Total2.61 sq mi (6.75 km2)
 • Land2.61 sq mi (6.75 km2)
 • Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
705 ft (215 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total4,433
 • Density1,699.77/sq mi (656.36/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
14437
Area code585
FIPS code36-19664
GNIS feature ID0948024
Websitewww.dansvilleny.us

Dansville is a village in the town of North Dansville, with a small northern part in the town of Sparta in Livingston County, in western New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 4,433.[2] The village is named after Daniel Faulkner, an early European-American settler.[3] Interstate 390 passes the west side of the village.

History[edit]

Daniel Faulkner founded the village in 1795. This was land ceded by the Iroquois tribes to the United States after the Revolutionary War, as four of the tribes had been allies of the defeated British forces. When Livingston County was created, the village was included in the town of Sparta. Dansville became an incorporated village in 1845.

Sanitorium in 1897

A spa was opened in 1854, eventually attracted many prominent people to Dansville for the water cure.[4] After a quick series of unsuccessful owners, it was purchased in September 1858 by new owners who recruited James Caleb Jackson as the physician-in-charge.[4] He was assisted by his wife, known as "Mother Jackson", and their adopted daughter, Dr. Harriet Newell Austin.[4] A Jackson family operation for many years,[5] the family referred to it as the Jackson Sanatorium by 1890.[5][6]

The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad opened its mainline between Binghamton and Buffalo on a route high above Dansville, on September 17, 1882. The famous "Dansville Hill" was a serious and costly impediment to heavy eastbound freight trains for 81 years, until the mainline was abandoned by the Erie Lackawanna Railroad between Groveland and Wayland in late 1963. The EL wisely rerouted all mainline traffic over the former Erie mainline via Hornell, which had much easier grades. A portion of the right-of-way is now used as an access road to a cellphone tower, which has views looking westward down to Dansville and its surrounding area.

The Dansville Downtown Historic District, Dansville Library, Engleside, English Evangelical Lutheran Church, Elias H. Geiger House, William Hartman Farmstead, Pioneer Farm, and post office are all significant areas and structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[7][8]

Notable people[edit]

Geography[edit]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.6 square miles (6.8 km2), all land.[14] The village sits in a glacially formed valley, common throughout western New York. Canaseraga Creek flows northward just west of the village limits; it is a tributary of the Genesee River.

Interstate 390, New York State Route 36, New York State Route 63, New York State Route 256, and New York State Route 436 pass through the village. It is bordered to the northwest by the unincorporated community of Cumminsville. Geneseo, the Livingston county seat, is 18 miles (29 km) to the northwest, Hornell is 17 miles (27 km) to the south, Corning is 51 miles (82 km) to the southeast, and Rochester is 44 to 53 miles (71 to 85 km) to the north, depending on which highway one takes. Stony Brook State Park, with waterfalls, hiking, and swimming, is 3 miles (5 km) south of the village.

Demographics[edit]

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
18703,387—
18803,6257.0%
18903,7583.7%
19003,633−3.3%
19103,9388.4%
19204,63117.6%
19304,9286.4%
19404,9761.0%
19505,2535.6%
19605,4603.9%
19705,436−0.4%
19804,979−8.4%
19905,0020.5%
20004,832−3.4%
20104,719−2.3%
20204,433−6.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[15]

As of the census[16] of 2000, there were 4,832 people, 1,976 households, and 1,246 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,042.4 people per square mile (787.2/km2). There were 2,090 housing units at an average density of 883.4 per square mile (340.5/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 95.78% White, 1.26% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 1.30% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.07% of the population.

There were 1,912 households, out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $32,903, and the median income for a family was $41,519. Males had a median income of $31,699 versus $25,256 for females. The per capita income for the village was $15,994. About 12.3% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure[edit]

First chapter of the American Red Cross at the corner of Elizabeth and Ossian Streets

Dansville Municipal Airport (DSV) is a general aviation airport located north of the village. The airport was opened in 1927, primarily by the efforts of World War I aviator Lynn Pickard. The New York State Festival of Balloons is held at the airport in early September.

A branch of Genesee Community College is located in Dansville.

Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital, a 72-bed acute care hospital, is located on the southern edge of the village on Route 36 adjacent to Exit 4 on Interstate 390. It provides health services to residents of Livingston, Allegany, Steuben and surrounding counties.

Culture[edit]

Castle on the Hill is a former water cure facility that resembles a castle overlooking Dansville from the hillside. Founded in 1858 by Dr. James Caleb Jackson as the "Our Home on the Hillside",[17] the original building burned in 1882. The present building opened in 1883. It has changed hands several times, becoming a physical fitness hotel (the Physical Culture Hotel) where the rich and famous came from New York City and other areas to "get away from it all". The building now stands vacant.

A grant from New York State for $2.5 million was approved in January 2008 to renovate the former "Jackson Health Resort".

References[edit]

  1. ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  2. ^ "Total Population: 2010 Census DEC Summary File 1 (P1), Dansville village, New York". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  3. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dansville" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 810.
  4. ^ a b c Cayleff, Susan E. (1991). Wash and Be Healed: The Water-Cure Movement and Women's Health. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-87722-859-0. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  5. ^ a b The Jackson Sanatorium. Dansville, NY. 1890. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  6. ^ Cayleff, Susan (2010). Wash and Be Healed: The Water-Cure Movement and Women's Health. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. pp. 114–115. ISBN 9781439904275. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  8. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 6/24/13 through 6/28/13. National Park Service. 2013-07-05.
  9. ^ Marks, Mary Jo. "Clara Barton in Dansville, 1866 and 1876-1886". Dansville Historical Society. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  10. ^ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-11-01. Note: This includes Virginia L. Bartos (March 2013). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dansville" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-11-01. and Accompanying photographs
  11. ^ "The Blue Book of Wisconsin (1907)," pp. 1126-1127
  12. ^ "Dansville History". Dansville Public Library. 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  13. ^ Nevin, Andrew Parker (1925). "Memorial of Job E. Hedges". Yearbook of the New York County Lawyers' Association. New York, NY: J. J. Little & Ives: 213.
  14. ^ "U.S. Gazetteer Files: 2019: Places: New York". U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  15. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  16. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  17. ^ Cayleff, Susan E. (1991), p.114

External links[edit]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Dansville".
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