What's in the Area (just for fun!)
History
Washingtonville was first settled in 1731. Growth was slow for the next seventy-five years. In 1809 John Jacques, a boot and shoemaker, set up his shop in this tiny settlement of nine houses then known as Little York. Jacques would later establish Americans Oldest Winery in 1839.
In its earlier years, Washingtonville was called Matthews Field, even before it became known as Little York. Apart 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.
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. 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 Jacques bestowed the village with a new name, Washingtonville, in honor of the late general-first president of the United States who we are told came through and watered his horse at the trough which had been located under the big 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 the railway tracks have been removed, the remains of the railroad building is located behind the present day Agway Store.Incorporated in 1895, the Village had become an important dairying center with two creameries, Borden's (presently known as bus garage) and the Farmers Cooperative Market (South Street), groceries, a bank, feed and lumber dealers, wagon shops, furniture makers and a hub shop 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 he 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 is today, and he also had a large ice house beside the point to Coopers Creek, harvesting ice from the pond in the winter for commercial use.
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.
Notable former citizens of Washingtonville include Scott Pioli of the New England Patriots franchise, and Ali Baig of Cornell University.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,851 people, 1,984 households, and 1,497 families residing in the village. The population density was 889.4/km˛ (2,300.2/mi˛). There were 2,044 housing units at an average density of 310.7/km˛ (803.6/mi˛).
There were 1,984 households out of which 47.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.6% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living independently who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.46.
In the village the population was spread out with 32.2% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $62,568, and the median income for a family was $69,145.
Statistics provided by: http://www.wikipedia.org/
