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Herkimer, New York | |
|---|---|
 Herkimer Municipal Hall, September 2009 | |
_Herkimer_NY.png) Location within Herkimer County | |
  Herkimer  Herkimer | |
| Coordinates:43°1′34″N74°59′25″W / 43.02611°N 74.99028°W /43.02611; -74.99028 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Herkimer |
| Town | Herkimer |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Dana Sherry, (R)[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2.70 sq mi (7.00 km2) |
| • Land | 2.59 sq mi (6.70 km2) |
| • Water | 0.12 sq mi (0.30 km2) |
| Elevation | 384 ft (117 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 7,234 |
| • Density | 2,794.8/sq mi (1,079.07/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 13350 |
| Area code | 315 |
| FIPS code | 36-34121 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0952621 |
| Website | village |
Herkimer is avillage located in the Town Of Herkimer (population 9,566) on the north side of theMohawk River and the county seat ofHerkimer County, New York, United States, about 15 miles (24 km) southeast ofUtica. As of the2020 Census, it had a population of 7,234, and a predicted population of 7,283 on July 1, 2022.[3] It was part of the Burnetsfield Patent and the first colonial settlement this far west in the Mohawk Valley.
The village takes its name from the Herkimer family,Palatine Germanimmigrants who settled in the area in 1723. The most notable family member wasNicholas Herkimer, a general of theTryon County militia, who died from wounds received at theBattle of Oriskany in theAmerican Revolutionary War.
The village is located within thetown of Herkimer and Herkimer County; together, they are referred to as "the Herkimers". The citizens of the village are served by three levels of government of the same name - the village, the town, and the county of Herkimer. (Only the residents of the village of Madison andNew York County, also in New York, share a similar distinction.)
Herkimer County Community College, located in the northwest part of the village, was founded in 1966 by the HerkimerCounty Board of Supervisors.
The region had been part of the territory of theIroquoisMohawkNative American people for centuries. Their villages were linked by winding paths through the wilderness and along the Mohawk River. By the early 18th century, they had two main villages in the Mohawk River Valley, Teantontalago to the east, known by the English as the Lower Mohawk Castle, andCanajoharie to the west, known as the Upper Mohawk Castle. The English builtFort Hunter near the Lower Mohawk Castle.
Palatine Germans first arrived in New York in August 1708, with most arriving in the summer of 1710. Refugees from religious wars in Europe, they had agreed to exchange work for passage to theNew York Colony. This was arranged byQueen Anne's government, and in 1710, nearly 2,800 Germans arrived in 10 ships at present-dayManhattan. They were at first quarantined onNutten Island (now known asGovernors Island) until the ship fevers ran their course. In exchange, they worked for some time in camps along theHudson River to manufacture British naval supplies. As early as 1712, some went on upriver to settle alongSchoharie Creek in theMohawk Valley.
In 1722, in response to a request by the German Palatine leadersJoseph Petrie and Conrad Rickert, GovernorWilliam Burnet granted the Palatines a lease to purchase land from theMohawk Nation in the vicinity of the confluence ofWest Canada Creek and theMohawk River. After a survey of the land was completed in 1723, many more settlers arrived in the area between 1723 and 1725. They settled on both the north and south sides of the Mohawk River. The area was originally known as "Burnetsfield", named in honor of thegovernor. The Burnetsfield Patent, granted April 13, 1725, assigned 100-acre (0.40 km2) lots to about 90 heads of family. The area was also referred to at times as "Stone Ridge", "The Flats", "The Falls", and most commonly, due to the mostly German immigrant population and the flat floodplain topography, asGerman Flatts. This was the first colonial settlement this far west in the Mohawk Valley.
Shortly after 1722, ablockhouse and a church were erected in the village on the north side of the river. This site was later developed as the presentReformed Church. The first known minister was the ReverendGeorge Michael Weiss, who served from 1735 to 1742. A schoolhouse was erected in 1745. Weiss was followed in 1751 by the Elder Rosencrantz, who was succeeded by his son, the Reverend Abraham Rosencrantz, the latter serving until his death in 1796.
During theFrench and Indian War, the town was twice attacked by the French and theirnative American allies, in November 1757 (cf.Attack on German Flatts (1757)) and again in April 1758, when the settlement on the south side of the river andFort Herkimer were attacked, and about 30 settlers were killed. CaptainNicholas Herkimer held the command of the fort, assembling all of the settlers he could within it.
During theRevolutionary War, the town was attacked multiple times byLoyalists and Iroquois allies, as were other German settlements in the valley. One of these raids was byButler's Rangers in September 1778. (SeeAttack on German Flatts (1778).) The village was defended byFort Dayton.
Fort Herkimer and the settlement on the south side of the river were also attacked. George, Catherine, and Nicholas Demuth were among children captured by theOnondaga during a raid in 1779, while they were playing outside the fort. After the war, during prisoner exchange, George and Catherine returned to the Demuth family. Nicholas, the youngest, had been adopted by an Onondaga chief and become assimilated. He chose to stay with the tribe for the rest of his life. Although he maintained contact with his birth family, he accompanied the Onondaga and lived with them on areservation outsideSyracuse. He married into the tribe and worked as aninterpreter and negotiator.
The village of Herkimer was attacked for the last time during the war on July 15, 1782, by about 500Tories andIroquois. Two residents were killed, Johann Christian Schell and his son, Denis Augustinius Schell. The rest managed to reach the safety of the fort. About 50 horses were taken and 15 were killed, 180 cattle were taken and 13 killed, and 13 houses and two barns were burned.
In 1788, the township of Herkimer was organized, and the town had come to be known generally as the "Village of Herkimer". In 1791, when Herkimer County was organized, the village of Herkimer was established as thecounty seat. By 1797, the village had acourthouse, ajail, and aReformed Dutch Church, with about 40 houses and a population around 250. The village was incorporated in 1807. Its charter was amended in 1832 to enlarge the village. In 1875, the village dispensed with its special charter and organized the village under the state law of the time.[4]
In the early 19th century, Herkimer boasted of several whiskey distilleries and an ashery for the making of potash.[5] By the mid- to late 19th century, the village was served by theNew York Central & Hudson River Railroad, a branch of which (theMohawk and Malone Railway) extended north through theAdirondacks toMalone. An inter-urbanelectric trolley traveled on railways among villages andLittle Falls,Syracuse,Richfield Springs,Cooperstown, andOneonta. TheErie Canal, built from 1817 to 1825, also served villages and towns in the valley, carrying increased traffic and trade between theGreat Lakes and the Hudson River and port of New York.[4]
Herkimer nativeFrancis E. Spinner wastreasurer of the United States during theLincoln administration. Myers Park now contains a statue of him.[5]
By the late 19th century, the village had a public library. TheFolts Mission Institute opened in 1893 as a training school for young women under the auspices of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society of theMethodist Episcopal Church.[4] In 1907, a monument was erected by the village to honorGeneral Herkimer.[4]
TheHerkimer County shootings took place partially in Herkimer on March 13, 2013.
TheHerkimer County Courthouse,Herkimer County Jail,Herkimer County Historical Society,The Reformed Church,Palatine German Frame House, andUnited States Post Office are all listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[6] In 2000, theUnited States Congress designated the historic route of theErie Canal, which runs through Herkimer village, as theErie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.[7] The villages, towns and landscape are all included in this designation as elements contributing to its significance.
The village of Herkimer is located at coordinates43°1′34″N74°59′25″W / 43.02611°N 74.99028°W /43.02611; -74.99028 (43.026207, -74.990304),[8] in central New York state, roughly halfway between Syracuse andAlbany and 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Utica. It is served by exit 30 on theNew York State Thruway (Interstate 90).New York State Route 5 (State Street) andNew York State Route 28 (Don Reile Boulevard/South Caroline Street/Mohawk Street) intersect and combine for a short distance within the village. The village is in the southern part of the town of Herkimer and has a total area of 2.7 square miles (7.0 km2), of which 0.1 square miles (0.3 km2), or 4.27%, is covered by water.[9]
Herkimer is at the confluence of the Mohawk River and itstributary, West Canada Creek. The Plantation IslandState Wildlife Management Area, consisting of round 300 acres (120 ha) of Mohawk River floodplain, lies on the opposite shore of West Canada Creek just southeast of the village. A smaller wildlife management area, providing access and parking for fishing on the creek, is just northeast of the village, along Shells Bush Road, across theDonald J. Mitchell Bridge fromState Route 28.
The Herkimer/Middleville area is a favorite collecting area forrockhounds due to its vast deposits of large, low-inclusion quartz crystals known as "Herkimer diamonds", similar to "Cape May diamonds". Although the minerals are not truediamonds, they are sometimes used asgemstones and incorporated into jewelry. The minerals formed inCambrian-agelimestone anddolomite, probably fromgroundwater action after the original formation of the rock in an ancient sea. According to locals, recovering a crystal still partly embedded in a chunk of its host rock is considered lucky.
Several commercial mines cater to tourists. They can break up rock or screen soilweathered from it to find the quartz. The quartz itself is resistant to weathering.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 1,220 | — | |
| 1880 | 2,359 | 93.4% | |
| 1900 | 5,555 | — | |
| 1910 | 7,420 | 33.6% | |
| 1920 | 10,453 | 40.9% | |
| 1930 | 10,446 | −0.1% | |
| 1940 | 9,617 | −7.9% | |
| 1950 | 9,400 | −2.3% | |
| 1960 | 9,396 | 0.0% | |
| 1970 | 8,960 | −4.6% | |
| 1980 | 8,383 | −6.4% | |
| 1990 | 7,945 | −5.2% | |
| 2000 | 7,498 | −5.6% | |
| 2010 | 7,743 | 3.3% | |
| 2020 | 7,234 | −6.6% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[10][failed verification] 2020[3] | |||
 | This article needs to beupdated. The reason given is:Newer information is available from the 2010 and 2020 census reports. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2022) |
As of the2000 census, 7,498 people, 3,184 households, and 1,687 families were residing in the village. Thepopulation density was 3,107.1 inhabitants per square mile (1,199.7/km2). There were 3,528 housing units at an average density of 1,462.0 per square mile (564.5/km2).[11]
Theracial makeup of the village was 96.1% White, 1.2% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 1.4% of the population.[12]
Of the households, 23.6% had children under 18 living in them, 36.6% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.0% were not family households. About 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.21, and the average family size was 2.87.[13]
In the village, the age distribution was 19.2% under 18, 15.3% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.6% who were 65 or older. The median age was 39.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 84.9 males.[14]
The median income for a household in the village was $24,762, and for a family was $38,892. Males had a median income of $30,266 versus $19,438 for females. Theper capita income for the village was $16,498. About 8.1% of families and 14.8% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 8.5% of children under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.[14]
Herkimer has one daily newspaper, theTimes Telegram published in nearby Utica. Herkimer is also part of the Uticamedia market. Three radio stations are licensed to Herkimer:WNRS (1420 AM),WXUR (92.7 FM), andWVHC (91.5 FM) (which is licensed to Herkimer County Community College).
The village is part of theHerkimer Central School District.[15]
Herkimer County Community College is a two-year community college in the northwestern part of the village, bounded on the north by Reservoir Road.
The Herkimer Originals are owned byScott Flansburg, and have competed in theAmerican Basketball Association since 2021. They utilize numerous local venues includingHerkimer County Community College,Notre Dame High School, andUtica University.[16]
a humorous name, a rustic, a stupid man
A 'Herkimer Jerkimer?' Why, that's a local yokel, you rube.
Municipalities and communities ofHerkimer County, New York,United States | ||
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| City |  | |
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| Villages | ||
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| Other hamlets |
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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| Other | |
