Fonda, New York | |
|---|---|
 NY30A through Fonda | |
  Fonda  Fonda | |
| Coordinates:42°57′16″N74°22′32″W / 42.95444°N 74.37556°W /42.95444; -74.37556 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Montgomery |
| Town | Mohawk |
| Incorporated | 1850 |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.61 sq mi (1.58 km2) |
| • Land | 0.54 sq mi (1.40 km2) |
| • Water | 0.07 sq mi (0.18 km2) |
| Elevation | 295 ft (90 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 668 |
| • Density | 1,239.33/sq mi (478.27/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Code | 12068 |
| Area code | 518 |
| FIPS code | 36-26462 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0950363 |
| Website | villageoffonda |
Fonda is avillage in and thecounty seat ofMontgomery County,New York, United States.[3] The population was 668 at the2020 census,[2] down from 795 in2010. The village is named afterDouw Fonda,[4] a Dutch-American settler who was killed andscalped in 1780, during a Mohawk raid in theRevolutionary War, when the tribe was allied with the British.
The village of Fonda is in the town ofMohawk and is west ofAmsterdam. In 1993, the Mohawk people bought land near the village to re-establish theKanatsiohareke community formerly at this site.
The Fonda Fair is an annual agricultural event that takes place in August.
The village of Fonda developed near the site of the formerMohawk village ofCaughnawaga, also known asKanatsiohareke. Here the Mohawk had cultivated corn in the floodplain on the north side of theMohawk River.
In the late 17th century,Kateri Tekakwitha resettled here. She was a Mohawk girl who had converted toCatholicism and become renowned for her piety. She lived here with relatives after her parents died in asmallpox epidemic. She had survived it but was marked by scars. The village has a national Catholic shrine devoted to her; she is the first Native Americansaint. After the French attacked the village in the late 17th century, Kateri and many other Catholic Mohawks moved to the Jesuit mission village ofKahnawake, established on the south side of theSt. Lawrence River, oppositeMontreal in Quebec.
European settlers, mostly German and English, officially organized the present-day village in 1751 at the former site of Kanatsiohareke. The settlement was later named for Douw Fonda, a Dutch-American settler who was scalped in a Mohawk raid during theRevolutionary War.[4] His family were ancestors of the American actorsHenry Fonda,Jane Fonda andPeter Fonda. Henry Fonda wrote about them in his 1981 autobiography, as follows:
Early records show the family ensconced in northernItaly in the 16th century where they fought on the side of theReformation, fled toHolland, intermarried with Dutch burghers' daughters, picked up the first names of the Low Countries, but retained the Italianate "Fonda". BeforePieter Stuyvesant surrenderedNieuw Amsterdam to the English the Fondas, instead of settling in Manhattan, canoed up the Hudson River to the Indian village of Caughnawaga. Within a few generations, theMohawks and theIroquois were butchered or fled and the town became known to mapmakers as Fonda, New York.[5]
After the opening of theErie Canal in 1825, Fonda thrived with the growth in trade and traffic that accompanied it. The canal provided transportation and commercial links to communities around theGreat Lakes. Fonda became a center of cheesemaking, which was part of the regional dairy industry. The area was devoted to agriculture. As the county seat, it also did well with the arrival of therailroad in 1835, which increased cross-state transportation and shipping of goods. The village was incorporated in 1850.
In the mid to late-20th century,NASCAR held four races at the localFonda Speedway (in 1955, 1966, 1967 and 1968) as part of theFonda 200. In 1973 theCaughnawaga Indian Village Site, just outside the village limits, was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. It is the only Mohawk village in the country to have been fully excavated in archeological studies. TheWalter Butler Homestead was listed on theNRHP in 1976.[6]
In 1993 Tom Porter (Mohawk) re-established the first Mohawk community in the valley since 1783; he bought land between Fonda andPalatine Bridge[7] to cultivate corn and other agricultural produce. Other Mohawk joined him at this historic village site, naming their communityKanatsiohareke.[8] This is the first land the Mohawk have held in the valley since being forced out in 1783 after the Revolution, when Great Britain ceded its former territories in the colonies to the United States.[8] The nameKanatsiohareke means "The Place of the Clean Pot", referring to a ten-foot-wide and ten-foot-deep pothole in the creek bed caused by rock scouring.[9]
Fonda is located in northeastern Montgomery County at42°57′16″N74°22′32″W / 42.95444°N 74.37556°W /42.95444; -74.37556 (42.954342, -74.375424),[10] along the southern edge of the town ofMohawk. The southern boundary of the village and town is theMohawk River, an east-flowing tributary of theHudson. TheErie Canal is part of the Mohawk River at this point. The village ofFultonville borders Fonda to the south across the river.
New York State Route 5,New York State Route 30A, andNew York State Route 334 all serve Fonda, with NY 334 having its southern terminus at NY 5 at the western end. NY-5 leads east 10 miles (16 km) toAmsterdam and southwest 11 miles (18 km) toPalatine Bridge, while NY-30A leads north 4 miles (6 km) toJohnstown and south 15 miles (24 km) toSloansville. NY-334 leads northwest from Fonda 4 miles (6 km) toSammonsville. TheNew York State Thruway (Interstate 90 passes through Fultonville, just south of Fonda, with access from Exit 28. The Thruway leads southeast 40 miles (60 km) to theAlbany area and west 50 miles (80 km) to theUtica area.
Amtrak'sEmpire Corridor passes through the village, though it has no station here; the closest stations areAmsterdam to the east andUtica to the west.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the village of Fonda has a total area of 0.61 square miles (1.58 km2), of which 0.54 square miles (1.40 km2) are land and 0.07 square miles (0.18 km2), or 11.35%, are water.[1]Cayadutta Creek joins the Mohawk River at Fonda.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 1,092 | — | |
| 1880 | 944 | −13.6% | |
| 1890 | 1,190 | 26.1% | |
| 1900 | 1,145 | −3.8% | |
| 1910 | 1,100 | −3.9% | |
| 1920 | 2,208 | 100.7% | |
| 1930 | 1,170 | −47.0% | |
| 1940 | 1,123 | −4.0% | |
| 1950 | 1,026 | −8.6% | |
| 1960 | 1,004 | −2.1% | |
| 1970 | 1,120 | 11.6% | |
| 1980 | 1,006 | −10.2% | |
| 1990 | 1,007 | 0.1% | |
| 2000 | 810 | −19.6% | |
| 2010 | 795 | −1.9% | |
| 2020 | 668 | −16.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[11] | |||
As of thecensus[12] of 2000, there were 810 people, 351 households, and 209 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,520.2 inhabitants per square mile (587.0/km2). There were 409 housing units at an average density of 767.6 per square mile (296.4/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 97.53%White, 0.37%African American, 0.25%Native American, 0.49%Asian, 0.12%Pacific Islander, 0.12% fromother races, and 1.11% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 2.22% of the population.
There were 351 households, out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.2% weremarried couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the village, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.7 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $28,021, and the median income for a family was $35,714. Males had a median income of $28,333 versus $23,500 for females. Theper capita income for the village was $15,330. About 6.7% of families and 11.7% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 13.9% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.
Municipalities and communities ofMontgomery County, New York,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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