Hornell

Hornell
—  City  —
Downtown Hornell
Nickname(s): Maple City,H-TOWN
Hornell Location within the state of New York
Coordinates: 42°19′28″N 77°39′37″W / 42.32444°N 77.66028°W / 42.32444; -77.66028
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Steuben
First settled	1790
Incorporated (Town of Hornellsville)	1820
Incorporated (Village of Hornellsville)	1852
Incorporated (City of Hornellsville/Hornell)	1888/1906
Government
- Mayor	Shawn Hogan (D)
Area
- Total	2.7 sq mi (7.1 km2)
- Land	2.7 sq mi (7.1 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	1,161 ft (354 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	9,019
- Density	3,309.0/sq mi (1,277.6/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	14843
Area code(s)	607
FIPS code	36-35672
GNIS feature ID	0975771

Hornell is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 9,019 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early settlers. Its current population is mainly made up of Irish Americans and Italian Americans.

The City of Hornell is located within the Town of Hornellsville. Hornell is about 55 miles south of Rochester and is near the western edge of Steuben County.

Hornell is nicknamed "Maple City" after the large maple trees on Main and Broadway streets and being nestled in the Canisteo valley surrounded by beautiful forest. Hornell has the largest St. Patrick's Day parade and celebration in the area, bringing many out to welcome spring and show their green. It has also become a tradition that Mayor Shawn Hogan finds an innovative way of making his way down main street on this particular day.

Hornell Municipal Airport (4G6) is located a few miles north of the city on Route 36. The airport has a hard surface runway capable of landing small jets, a rotating beacon and fuel.

History

What is now Hornell was settled in 1790 under the name "Upper Canisteo" to distinguish it from the community of Canisteo. The area was incorporated as a town in 1820, as "Hornellsville." The name comes from early settler George Hornell, who built the first gristmill here.

The City of Hornell was chartered in 1888 as the "City of Hornellsville," (having been first organized as the "Village of Hornellsville" in 1852). The name was changed to Hornell in 1906.

The floods of 1935 put parts of the city under water, afterwards a system of levees had prevented any more serious flood problems.

In 1950, Hornell had a population of over 15,049 people.^{[citation needed]}

The current mayor of Hornell is Democrat Shawn Hogan, who has held the position since January 1986^[1]. Hogan is the longest-serving current mayor in New York State.

Railroads and Hornell

Erie Railway shop in Hornell - aerial photo from 1971

The New York and Erie Railroad arrived in Hornell in 1850, which connected New York City and Dunkirk on Lake Erie via a southern tier route. Another route, the (Buffalo and New York City Railroad) was added in 1852, branching from Hornell northwestward to Buffalo. For the next hundred years Hornell enjoyed prosperity with its steam engine shop doing the repairs for the entire railroad line. The railroad then came upon hard times as trucking picked up more and more of the freight business. In 1972, the line filed for bankruptcy. Just a few days later, floods from Hurricane Agnes destroyed about 200 miles or 321 kilometers of roadbed along the Canisteo River, removing all hope of reorganizing the railroad.

Hornell has struggled since to regain its former prosperity. The Erie shops are now Alstom's main North American assembly and manufacturing site for the production of AC traction motors, railway cars, and passenger locomotives. Prior to Alstom, the shops were operated by Morrison Knudsen

Geography

Main Street, Hornell in the 1920s

Hornell is located at 42°19′28″N 77°39′37″W / 42.32444°N 77.66028°W / 42.32444; -77.66028 (42.324432, -77.660252)^[2]. Hornell is at an altitude of 1,160 feet above sea level.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.7 square miles (7.1 km²), all of it land.

Hornell is on the Canisteo River and surrounded by the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains. There are several parks in the city of Hornell: the parks are: Maple City Park, James Street Park now renamed Veterans Memorial Park.

James Street Park has many sports fields, pavilions,the city pool and several playgrounds.

New York State Route 21 conjoined with New York State Route 36 passes through the city, which is just south of the Southern Tier Expressway (Interstate 86 / New York State Route 17). County Roads 65, 68 and 109 also lead into the city. The City is served by two railroads - it is on the Norfolk Southern's Buffalo-East Coast mainline and is the eastern terminus of the mainline of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad.

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 9,019 people, 3,596 households, and 2,218 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,309.0 people per square mile (1,275.6/km²). There were 4,100 housing units at an average density of 1,504.2/sq mi (579.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.73% White, 2.38% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.38% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.29% of the population.

There were 3,596 households out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% 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 3.07.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 89.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,184, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had a median income of $31,727 versus $18,854 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,419. About 18.7% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

There are five public schools and one private school located in Hornell.

Public schools include the Hornell High School (grades 7-12), Intermediate School (grades 3-6), Bryant School (grades PK-2), Columbian School (Admin. Office & HeadStart), and North Hornell School (grades PK-2). North Hornell School is physically located in the village of North Hornell, but is part of the Hornell City School District. St. Anns Catholic School (grades K-8) is also located within the Hornell City limits.

The current Superintendent of Schools is George Kiley. In June 2007 the Hornell Evening Tribune newspaper announced that a school planning committee is proposing a $100,000,000.00 project to re-organize the schools and improve assessment results.

The NYS School Report Card for the Hornell District can now be found at the NYSTART site.

Main Street, looking east, 1908

Media

Newspapers

• The Evening Tribune

Radio

• WLEA- AM 1480
• WCKR- FM 92.1
• WKPQ- FM 105.3
• WHHO- AM 132

References

New York portal

1. ^ "City of Hornell Mayor's Office". http://www.cityofhornell.com/departments/mayor_hogan.html. Retrieved 2008-09-30. 
2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• City of Hornell, New York
• Hornell Area Chamber of Commerce
• Hornell City School District
• Photos and information about Hornell
• St James Mercy Hospital - home - Hornell NY

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Steuben County, New York County seat: Bath Cities Corning | Hornell Towns Addison | Avoca | Bath | Bradford | Cameron | Campbell | Canisteo | Caton | Cohocton | Corning | Erwin | Fremont | Greenwood | Hartsville | Hornby | Hornellsville | Howard | Jasper | Lindley | Prattsburgh | Pulteney | Rathbone | Thurston | Troupsburg | Urbana | Wayland | Wayne | West Union | Wheeler | Woodhull Villages Addison | Almond‡ | Arkport | Avoca | Bath | Canisteo | Cohocton | Hammondsport | North Hornell | Painted Post | Riverside | Savona | South Corning | Wayland CDP Gang Mills Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties