Le Roy, New York Bellona | |
|---|---|
 Main Street in Le Roy looking west, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views | |
 Location inGenesee County and the state ofNew York. | |
| Coordinates:42°58′39″N077°59′32″W / 42.97750°N 77.99222°W /42.97750; -77.99222 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Genesee |
| Government | |
| • Type | Town Council |
| • Town Supervisor | Steve Barbeau |
| • Town Council | Members' list
|
| Area | |
• Total | 42.17 sq mi (109.23 km2) |
| • Land | 42.08 sq mi (109.00 km2) |
| • Water | 0.09 sq mi (0.23 km2) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 7,662 |
| • Density | 180/sq mi (70/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Code | 14482 |
| Area code | 585 |
| FIPS code | 36-037-42037 |
| Website | Town website |
Le Roy, or more commonlyLeRoy, is atown inGenesee County,New York, United States. The population was 7,662 at the time of the2020 census.[2] The town is named after one of the original land owners, Herman Le Roy.[3] The town lies on the southwestern edge of Monroe County. Within the town is avillage ofLe Roy. TheJell-O gelatin dessert was invented and first manufactured in Le Roy.
The area was first settled in 1793. The town of Le Roy was established in 1812 as the "Town of Bellona" from part of the town ofCaledonia (Livingston County). The name was later changed to "Le Roy" in 1813, after New York City merchant and land speculator Herman LeRoy.
TheJell-O gelatin dessert was invented and first manufactured in Le Roy, and theJell-O Museum is located in the town.General Foods closed the Jell-O factory in 1964 and relocated toDover, Delaware.[4]
Le Roy was the home ofCalvin Keeney, who was the first breeder to successfully produce a stringlessgreen bean.[5]
Le Roy also has a 100-inch tall, 290 lb.replica of the Statue of Liberty located on Wolcott Street on the banks of Oatka creek.[6]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 42.2 square miles (109.2 km2), all land.
The east town line is the border ofMonroe andLivingston counties.
Oatka Creek, a tributary of theGenesee River, flows northward through the town and was a source of water power for early mills. TheNew York State Thruway (Interstate 90) passes across the northern part of the town. The western terminus ofInterstate 490 is also here.
The town rests atop theOnondaga Formation which forms an escarpment that faces north and runs east/west, just north of the village. Thelimestone rock is highlyfossiliferous, ofDevonian age, and extensivelyquarried. It is used for road building as crushed rock, and for themanufacture ofportland cement. In the eastern part of the town is a community named Lime Rock.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1820 | 2,611 | — | |
| 1830 | 3,909 | 49.7% | |
| 1840 | 4,323 | 10.6% | |
| 1850 | 3,473 | −19.7% | |
| 1860 | 4,247 | 22.3% | |
| 1870 | 4,627 | 8.9% | |
| 1880 | 4,469 | −3.4% | |
| 1890 | 4,722 | 5.7% | |
| 1900 | 4,823 | 2.1% | |
| 1910 | 5,442 | 12.8% | |
| 1920 | 5,510 | 1.2% | |
| 1930 | 6,007 | 9.0% | |
| 1940 | 5,838 | −2.8% | |
| 1950 | 6,275 | 7.5% | |
| 1960 | 6,779 | 8.0% | |
| 1970 | 7,991 | 17.9% | |
| 1980 | 8,019 | 0.4% | |
| 1990 | 8,176 | 2.0% | |
| 2000 | 7,790 | −4.7% | |
| 2010 | 7,641 | −1.9% | |
| 2020 | 7,662 | 0.3% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[7] | |||
At the2000 census there were 7,790 people, 3,037 households, and 2,034 families in the town. The population density was 184.7 inhabitants per square mile (71.3/km2). There were 3,219 housing units at an average density of 76.3 per square mile (29.5/km2). Theracial makeup of the town was 96.01% White, 1.87% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 0.78%.[8]
Of the 3,037 households 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 26.9% of households were one person and 11.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.04.
The age distribution was 25.2% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.
The median household income was $39,690 and the median family income was $49,189. Males had a median income of $36,810 versus $23,024 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,342. About 3.8% of families and 5.6% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 5.0% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.
Beginning in August 2011, 14 students (13 girls and one boy) from the LeRoy Junior-Senior High School began reporting perplexing medical symptoms including verbal outbursts,tics, seizure activity and speech difficulty.[9] In mid-January, five days after a community meeting in which the New York State Department of Health stated their diagnosis could not be revealed publicly due to privacy concerns, two of the girls appeared onNBC'sToday Show to discuss their frustration with not getting adequate answers.[10]
The next day, Laszlo Mechtler, a neurologist treating most of the girls, was given permission to share the diagnosis ofconversion disorder andmass psychogenic illness. Unsatisfied with the investigation's results, the girls and their parents spoke out publicly against their diagnosis, stating they believed the situation warranted further scrutiny from outside sources. Alternative medical theories were suggested, includingTourette syndrome andPANDAS, which Mechtler and his team ruled out.[11]Erin Brockovich, noted environmental activist, was called to town to investigateenvironmental pollution from the1970 Lehigh Valley Railroad derailment as a possible cause.[9][12] During this time, many of the girls appeared in the local and national media, as well as posting on social media. As this happened, the illness spread to 20 individuals.[13] Eventually, as doctors encouraged their patients to stay away from the media and the media attention died down, many of the girls' symptoms improved. By the end of the school year in June, one girl was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, and most of the girls who received treatment for conversion disorder were healthy in time for graduation. No environmental causes were found after repeated testing around the school and surrounding areas of town.[14]
Bartholomew, Wessely and Rubin questioned in 2012 whether interaction on social media (Facebook,Twitter, YouTube and Internet blogs) contributed to masspsychogenic illness when the adolescent girls reported tic-like movements.[15] Bartholomewet al reported twitching epidemics in the US as early as 1939, and wrote that the Leroy outbreak was the "third recorded school outbreak of conversion disorder with motor disturbances to occur in the USA since 2002", but the first in which reports of affected individuals spread via social networks.[15]
Municipalities and communities ofGenesee County, New York,United States | ||
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| Indian reservation | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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| National | |
