Fonda, New York
Encyclopedia
Fonda is a village
in Montgomery County
, New York
, United States
. The population was 810 at the 2000 census. Fonda is the county seat
of Montgomery County
. The village is named after Douw Fonda, a settler scalped during an Indian raid in 1780.
The Village of Fonda is in the Town of Mohawk
and is west of Amsterdam
.
The Fonda Fair is an annual agricultural event.
village of "Caughnawaga." The village Fonda is named after the Fonda family when they settled in New Netherland
in the seventeenth century. In Henry Fonda
's autobiography
, the history is given as follows:
The European settler village was founded in 1751 at the site of Caughnawaga. The Caughnawaga Indian Village Site
was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1973.
Fonda thrived by the opening of the Erie Canal
in 1825 and the arrival of the railroad in 1835.
The village was incorporated in 1850.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the village has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²), of which, 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (11.48%) is water.
Fonda is on the north bank of the Mohawk River
on the opposite bank from the Village of Fultonville
.
New York State Route 5
, New York State Route 30A
, and New York State Route 334
converge on Fonda.
of 2000, there were 810 people, 351 households, and 209 families residing in the village. The population density
was 1,520.2 people per square mile (590.1/km²). There were 409 housing units at an average density of 767.6 per square mile (298.0/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% from other races
, and 1.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino 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% were married 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. The per capita income
for the village was $15,330. About 6.7% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.9% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.
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...
in Montgomery County
Montgomery County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,708 people, 20,038 households, and 13,104 families residing in the county. The population density was 123 people per square mile . There were 22,522 housing units at an average density of 56 per square mile...
, 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...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 810 at the 2000 census. Fonda is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Montgomery County
Montgomery County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,708 people, 20,038 households, and 13,104 families residing in the county. The population density was 123 people per square mile . There were 22,522 housing units at an average density of 56 per square mile...
. The village is named after Douw Fonda, a settler scalped during an Indian raid in 1780.
The Village of Fonda is in the Town of Mohawk
Mohawk, Montgomery County, New York
Mohawk is a town in Montgomery County, New York, United States. The population was 3,844 at the 2010 census.The Town of Mohawk is on the north border of the county, west of the City of Amsterdam.The county seat, Fonda is in Mohawk.- History :...
and is west of Amsterdam
Amsterdam (city), New York
Amsterdam is a city located in Montgomery County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 18,620. The name is derived from the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands....
.
The Fonda Fair is an annual agricultural event.
History
The village is situated at the former MohawkMohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
village of "Caughnawaga." The village Fonda is named after the Fonda family when they settled in New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
in the seventeenth century. In Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
's autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, the history is given as follows:
- "Early records show the family ensconced in northern ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in the sixteenth century where they fought on the side of the ReformationProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, fled to HollandNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, intermarried with Dutch burghers' daughters, picked up the first names of the Low Countries, but retained the Italianate "Fonda". Before Pieter Stuyvesant surrendered Nieuw AmsterdamNew AmsterdamNew Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
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, the Mohawks and the IroquoisIroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
were butchered or fled and the town became known to mapmakers as Fonda, New York".
The European settler village was founded in 1751 at the site of Caughnawaga. The Caughnawaga Indian Village Site
Caughnawaga Indian Village Site
Caughnawaga Indian Village Site is an archaeological site located just west of Fonda in Montgomery County, New York. The site was discovered in 1950 by Rev. Thomas Grassmann and today is the only completely excavated Iroquois Indian village in the country. The Mohawk village site includes the...
was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1973.
Fonda thrived by the opening of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
in 1825 and the arrival of the railroad in 1835.
The village was incorporated in 1850.
Geography
Fonda is located at 42°57′16"N 74°22′32"W (42.954342, -74.375424).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 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²), of which, 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (11.48%) is water.
Fonda is on the north bank of the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
on the opposite bank from the Village of Fultonville
Fultonville, New York
Fultonville is a village in Montgomery County, New York, United States. The population was 710 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat....
.
New York State Route 5
New York State Route 5
New York State Route 5 is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, and several other smaller cities and...
, New York State Route 30A
New York State Route 30A
New York State Route 30A is a state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. It serves as a westerly alternate route of NY 30 from near the Schoharie County village of Schoharie to the Fulton County hamlet of Riceville, south of the village of Mayfield...
, and New York State Route 334
New York State Route 334
New York State Route 334 is a state highway in New York, running from the village of Fonda to the town of Johnstown. NY 334 is a two-lane highway its entire length, with the exception of a long climbing lane northbound leaving Sammonsville...
converge on Fonda.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
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 810 people, 351 households, and 209 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 1,520.2 people per square mile (590.1/km²). There were 409 housing units at an average density of 767.6 per square mile (298.0/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% 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 1.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino 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% 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, 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. 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 $15,330. About 6.7% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.9% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.