Watkins Glen is a
villageA 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
Schuyler CountyAs of the census of 2000, there were 19,224 people, 7,374 households, and 5,191 families residing in the county. The population density was 58 people per square mile . There were 9,181 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
,
New YorkNew 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 StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 2,149 at the 2000 census. It is the
county seatA 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
Schuyler CountyAs of the census of 2000, there were 19,224 people, 7,374 households, and 5,191 families residing in the county. The population density was 58 people per square mile . There were 9,181 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
.
The Village of Watkins Glen lies on the border of the towns of
DixDix is a town in Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 4,197 at the 2000 census.The Town of Dix is located on the south border of the county and is north of Elmira, New York.- History :...
and
MontourMontour is a town in Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 2,446 at the 2000 census. The town is one of two towns in the county named after Catherine Montour....
.
Notable events and attractions
Located on the southern tip of Seneca Lake, one of western New York's deep, glacial
Finger LakesThe Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
, Watkins Glen is the site of scenic
Watkins Glen State ParkWatkins Glen State Park is located on the edge of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, south of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County. The main feature of the park is the hiking trail that climbs up through the gorge, passing over and under waterfalls...
, but is probably best known for its role in
auto racingAuto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
, being the home of a street course used in
road racingRoad racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
, a famous racetrack,
Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen International is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. The facility is owned by International Speedway Corporation...
, and a historic race, the Watkins Glen Grand Prix. The racetrack was also the scene of the 1973
Summer Jam at Watkins GlenThe Summer Jam at Watkins Glen was a 1973 rock festival which once received the Guinness Book of World Records entry for "Largest audience at a pop festival." An estimated 600,000 rock fans came to the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway outside of Watkins Glen, New York on July 28, 1973, to see The...
rock festivalA rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...
attended by an estimated 600,000 people. At the time, this set the world record for the largest number of people at a pop music festival. The concert featured the bands The Grateful Dead,
The BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, and
The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
. On July 1–3 of 2011, the band Phish hosted Superball IX, a three-day music festival on the same grounds of the Summer Jam of '73. Superball IX drew approx 30,000 people and was what track officials and local residents called a huge success
Watkins Glen is also the home of the
International Motor Racing Research Center, an annex to the village library.
Auto racing at Watkins Glen
Watkins Glen is home to
Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen International is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. The facility is owned by International Speedway Corporation...
, one of the premier road racing tracks in the United States. The first Watkins Glen Sports Car Grand Prix, however, was held in 1948 on public streets in and near the village. Organized by local resident
Cameron ArgetsingerCameron Argetsinger was a sports car enthusiast, lawyer and auto racing executive best known for creating the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York and making it the home of the Formula One United States Grand Prix from 1961 through 1980...
, it was the first post-
WWIIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
road race held in the United States and it marked the revival of American road racing.
The original course ran for 6.6 miles (10.6 km) and passed through the center of the village. The streets used for the original course remain intact today and a checkered flag marks the original start-finish line on the village's main street.
A permanent racing facility, the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course opened in 1956. It has hosted nearly every type of road racing, from the
Formula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
United States Grand PrixThe United States Grand Prix is a motor race which has been run on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The race later became part of the Formula One World Championship. Over 41 editions, the race has been held at nine locations, most recently in 2007 at the...
(1961–1980), to one of the few races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series not conducted on an oval speedway.
History
The village was incorporated in 1842 as
Salubria, then "Jefferson", but was renamed
Watkins after Dr. Samuel Watkins, for his contributions to the community. The current name
Watkins Glen was adopted in 1926. The first settlement of European peoples in the area began circa 1800. Watkins Glen was the northern terminus of the
Chemung CanalThe Chemung Canal is a former canal in New York, USA. The canal connected Seneca Lake at Watkins Glen to the Chemung River at Elmira, New York. Its larger significance was to connect New York's Erie Canal system with Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River watershed....
, connecting Seneca Lake to the
Chemung RiverThe Chemung River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately long, in south central New York and northern Pennsylvania in the United States. It drains a mountainous region of the northern Allegheny Plateau in the Southern Tier of New York...
.
Catherine CreekCatharine Creek is a roughly 15 mile long stream that flows through Chemung and Schuyler counties in New York state. It was named after Catharine Montour....
, flowing into the lake through the village, was used to help create the canal.
In 2006 Charles R. Mitchell and Kirk W. House produced a historic photo book,
Around Watkins Glen, in the Arcadia Publishing "Images of America" series.
Geography
Watkins Glen is located at 42°22′52"N 76°52′16"W (42.380984, -76.871079).
According to the
United States Census BureauThe 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 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²). 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²) of the village is land and 0.4 square miles (1 km²) of it (17.41%) is water.
New York State Route 14New York State Route 14 is a state highway located in western New York in the United States. Along with NY 19, it is one of two routes to transect the state in a north–south fashion between the Pennsylvania border and Lake Ontario...
joins
New York State Route 79New York State Route 79 is an east–west state highway in the Southern Tier of New York, United States. The western terminus of the route is at the intersection with NY 414 near the southern end of Seneca Lake east of Watkins Glen...
and
New York State Route 414New York State Route 414 is a north–south state highway in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions of New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with NY 352 in the Steuben County city of Corning to a junction with NY 104 in the Wayne County town of Huron...
by Watkins Glen. NY-14 is one of the principal streets in Watkins Glen village.
New York State Route 329New York State Route 329 is a long state highway near Watkins Glen, New York, in the United States. The western terminus is at an intersection with Meads Hill Road in Dix. The eastern terminus is at a junction with NY 14 and NY 414 in Watkins Glen...
and New York State Route 409 lead into Watkins Glen from the west.
Demographics
As of the
censusA 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 2,149 people, 941 households, and 545 families residing in the village. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,157.4 per square mile (446.1/km²). There were 1,035 housing units at an average density of 557.4 per square mile (214.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.91% White, 0.28% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.14% from
other racesRace 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 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.30% of the population.
There were 941 households out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were
married couplesMarriage 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, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.0% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the village the age distribution of the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.1 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $30,094 and the median income for a family was $41,172. Males had a median income of $31,993 versus $22,647 for females. The
per capita incomePer 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 $17,096. 14.3% of the population and 9.5% of families were living below the poverty line. 21.5% of those under the age of 18 and 10.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
External links