Cassadaga, New York
Encyclopedia
Cassadaga is an incorporated
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...

 village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 located in Chautauqua County
Chautauqua County, New York
-Major highways:* Interstate 86/New York State Route 17 * Interstate 90 * U.S. Route 20* U.S. Route 62* New York State Route 5* New York State Route 39* New York State Route 60* New York State Route 394...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The village is located within the northeast corner of the Town of Stockton
Stockton, New York
Stockton is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 2,331 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Richard Stockton, who signed the Declaration of Independence....

, east of the village of Stockton
Stockton, New York
Stockton is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 2,331 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Richard Stockton, who signed the Declaration of Independence....

, south of and immediately adjacent to Lily Dale in the Town of Pomfret
Pomfret, New York
Pomfret is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 14,703 at the 2000 census.The Town of Pomfret lies in the north-central part of the county, south of Dunkirk, New York.- History :...

, and north of the village of Sinclairville
Sinclairville, New York
Sinclairville is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 665 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Samuel Sinclear, its founder....

.

History

"Cassadaga" is a Seneca Indian
Seneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...

 name meaning "water under the rocks", descriptive not only of the natural springs of the area flowing from glacial moraines, but that in dry weather, many of the local streams would 'disappear': the spring fed water running wholly within the gravelly bottom of the stream beds draining from the surrounding hills.

The Village of Cassadaga was settled in 1848 at the headwaters of the technically navigable Cassadaga Creek, though the upper few miles of it are not practically so today due to numerous shallows and beaver activity along its course.

The village was formally incorporated in 1921.

Early settlers utilized the abundant and large trees (some exceeding 5' (1.5m) in diameter) as a primary source of income, often sent via log rafts and flatboat on the creek as timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

, charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

 and pearl ash: the later two products in demand in the early industrial age
Industrial Age
Industrial Age may refer to:*Industrialisation*The Industrial Revolution...

.

The Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad
Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad
The Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad is a historic railroad company that operated in Pennsylvania and New York.Chartered in 1867, its first passenger train ran in 1871. After several mergers and name changes, it was leased to the New York Central and Hudson River RR in 1873 for a...

, which laid track from Dunkirk, New York and eventually to Warren, Pennsylvania
Warren, Pennsylvania
Warren is a city in Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Allegheny River. The population was 9,710 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. It is home to the headquarters of the Allegheny National Forest and the Cornplanter State Forest...

 passed on the west side of the Cassadaga Lakes in the spring of 1871. The tracks ran through the then adjoining hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 of Burnhams which was later annexed by the village. The Railroad contributed greatly to the economy of the area, both as a source of population growth and visitors to the lakes and rolling hills for recreation, and for transportation of the forest and farm products of the area to more urban centers, as well as for ice harvested from the lakes in winter for refrigeration. The Webster Citizens Company ice house stood on the west shore of the Upper Lake with a three car rail siding to serve it, and was listed as a railroad business as late as 1931. The Cassadaga Spring Water Company had a siding on the Middle lake where it bottled water from a leased spring on the north side of the Glenn Halladay farm for shipment by rail to city customers primarily in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

, though it had ceased operations by the late 1920s as municipal water supply systems improved. The rail line was abandoned after extensive flood damage near Sinclairville from hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes was the first tropical storm and first hurricane of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season. A rare June hurricane, it made landfall on the Florida Panhandle before moving northeastward and ravaging the Mid-Atlantic region as a tropical storm...

 in 1972, and subsequently removed.

Geography

Cassadaga is located in the foothills of the Allegheny Range in the Southern Tier of New York State at 42°20'29" North, 79°18'56" West (42.341343, -79.315653) at an elevation of about 1340' above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

. The village is located at the south end of the Lower Cassadaga Lake, Lily Dale
Lily Dale
Lily Dale is a spiritualist community of the Modern Spiritualist movement located in Chautauqua County, New York, USA. Lily Dale became renowned for Spiritualism when members moved the home of its American founders, Kate and Margaret Fox, to the town after it was purchased in 1927.Lily Dale is a...

 being located on the east shore of the Upper Cassadaga Lake, with a narrow "Middle lake" connecting them. The mainly spring fed lakes drain into Cassadaga Creek, running south and connecting to the Conewango Creek
Conewango Creek
Conewango Creek is a tributary of the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania and western New York in the United States.The creek's drainage covers much of southeastern Chautauqua County, New York and southwestern Cattaraugus County, New York. The creek's most notable tributary is the Chadakoin River,...

, the Allegheny River
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

, and the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 flowing to the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

, despite getting their start roughly 10 miles (15 km) south and east of Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

, one of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

, which drain via the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...

 east to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. The watershed divide is located about 2 miles (3.3 km) north of the Village.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the village has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²), of which, 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) of it (16.04%) is water.

The soils are glacial in nature, ranging from deep gravel loams in the valleys to heavy clays on the hill tops. Springs are fairly common, though somewhat high in mineral content (calcium, sulphur and iron, depending greatly on location).

New York State Route 60
New York State Route 60
New York State Route 60 is a north–south state highway in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 62 south of the city of Jamestown in the town of Kiantone. Its northern terminus is at a junction with NY 5...

, the principle north south route through the County, runs through the village and intersects with US Route 20, 7 miles (11.3 km) to the north at Fredonia, the New York State Thruway
New York State Thruway
The New York State Thruway is a system of limited-access highways located within the state of New York in the United States. The system, known officially as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway for former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority and...

 (aka Interstate 90
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels US 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, at Edgar Martinez Drive S. near Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, and its eastern terminus is in...

) 8.5 miles to the north at Dunkirk, and Interstate 86
Interstate 86 (west)
Interstate 86 is an intrastate Interstate Highway, located entirely within the state of Idaho. It runs 63 miles from an intersection with Interstate 84 located approximately 7 miles east of Declo in rural Cassia County, to an intersection with Interstate 15 at Pocatello...

, 17 miles (27.4 km) to the south at Jamestown.There are families that has been there for generations,such as the Guginos all of the line are still in the Cassadaga area mostly on Barnum road.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 676 people, 277 households, and 186 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 766.3 people per square mile (296.6/km²). There were 315 housing units at an average density of 357.1 per square mile (138.2/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.89% White, 0.30% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 1.04% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.66% of the population.

Of the 277 village households, 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.04.

The ages of population are well spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $43,359, and the median income for a family was $52,500. Males had a median income of $32,083 versus $21,500 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the village was $20,361. About 1.6% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

There are two churches in the Village proper.: one Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

, and the other Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

, reflecting the religious heritages of the early area settlers, though there are Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...

 and Mennonites in the immediate area and those of other beliefs as well. The Catholic Church has reduced its services, now being used rarely.

The village and environs are served by a volunteer fire department and ambulance squad, and are part of the County Mutual Aid
Mutual aid
Mutual aid may refer to:*Mutual aid , a tenet of organization theories.*Mutual aid , an agreement between emergency responders.*Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, a biology book by anarchist Peter Kropotkin...

 Plan.

Recreation

The lakes contains a variety of fish including Bass
Bass (fish)
Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...

, Carp
Carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

, Crappie
Crappie
Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...

, Muskellunge
Muskellunge
A muskellunge , also known as a muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge , is a large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. Muskellunge are the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae...

, Northern Pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, Perch
Perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...

, Trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

 and Walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regular and special regulations apply, and with very few exceptions, a NY fishing license is required. As of 2007, live bait must not be transported to or from other areas, and when State certified and sold for local use, they are to be used or disposed of locally to prevent the potential spread of diseases.

Hunting both small and large game is a popular activity for visitors and area residents, partially as evidenced by the Fire Department's annual gun raffle held in April, which has on average raffled about 250 firearms each year for the past 14 years (as of 2007). State laws apply for firearm possession and transfers, and again, DEC regulations apply and licenses are required for hunting.

There is a free public boat launch maintained by the DEC on the north end of the middle lake with parking for vehicles and trailers, though the lakes are small enough to be paddled or rowed, and motor boat speed through much of the middle lake is limited to 5 mi/h.

There is a walking / jogging path around the lower and middle lakes (on the road shoulders) that is about 3 miles (4.8 km) in length.

There is a public beach on the south east side of the lower lake off Park Street in the village that is generally open from mid June (when the water warms sufficiently) until Labor day, that has a life guard on duty and is free to village residents, but a small fee is charged to visitors. There is a basketball court adjoining the beach that is open approximately dawn to dusk when weather allows.

Cassadaga is along the route of two snowmobile trails that connect with over 100 miles (160.9 km) of marked and groomed trails in the county for winter riding. State Department of Motor Vehicles regulations apply.

Popular culture

  • Cassadaga was the childhood home of Roxanne Pulitzer
    Roxanne Pulitzer
    Roxanne Pulitzer is a novelist and actress. She attracted media attention in the 1980s during her divorce trial.- Biography:Roxanne Renckens was married to Palm Beach-based newspaper tycoon Herbert Pulitzer Roxanne Pulitzer is a novelist and actress. She attracted media attention in the 1980s...

    , one time wife of Herbert Pulitzer until their famous divorce in 1983.
  • The Flaming Lips
    The Flaming Lips
    The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...

     recorded their albums The Soft Bulletin
    The Soft Bulletin
    -UK & Australian CD release:-Vinyl release:-The Soft Bulletin 5.1:On January 31, 2006, Warner Bros. re-released The Soft Bulletin in the US as a two-disc package titled The Soft Bulletin 5.1. It includes a remastered CD and a DVD-Audio disc that contains a 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album...

    , Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
    Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
    -Special edition DVD-Audio:-The Flaming Lips:* Wayne Coyne - guitar, vocals, artwork, mixing, production* Michael Ivins - bass guitar, keyboards, vocals, mixing, production, additional engineering...

    and At War with the Mystics
    At War with the Mystics
    -At War with the Mystics 5.1:Like The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi, At War with the Mystics was released as a special edition 5.1 CD+DVD-Audio mix on October 24, 2006...

    in Cassadaga's Tarbox Studios.
  • Brandon Boyd
    Brandon Boyd
    Brandon Charles Boyd is an American musician, author, and visual artist. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the American rock band Incubus.-Early Life and Incubus:...

    recorded his solo album "The Wild Trapeze" in Cassadaga's Tarbox Studios.
  • Famous artist Edward Franz had his childhood home in Cassadaga.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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