Not to be confused with
Naunet, the Ancient Egyptian goddess.
Nanuet is a hamlet (and census-designated place), in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Pearl River; south of New City; east of Spring Valley and west of West Nyack.
Nanuet is 19 miles north of Manhattan, and 2 miles north of the New Jersey border. It has one of three Rockland County stations on New Jersey Transit's Pascack Valley Line.
Maxwell Anderson drew attention to the hamlet in "High Tor," a play based on the robbery that took place at the Nanuet Bank in 1936. The advent of the Tappan Zee Bridge in 1955 brought changes to the area that are still continuing.[1]
The community is located in the Town of Clarkstown. Nanuet has popular shops and its main shopping center, the Nanuet Mall, lies on Route 59, the main thoroughfare. Popular recreational activities include gold panning along the Naurashaun Brook south of Townline Road, exploring the Paleolithic ruins west of the Hackensack River, and fossil and Indian arrowhead collecting west of Sickletown Road. Lake Nanuet is a popular pool in Nanuet.
The population was 16,707 at the 2000 census, and was estimated at 18,200 in 2006. In 2007, CNN Money ranked Nanuet 24th on its annual 100 Best Places to Live list.[2]
Geography
Nanuet is located at 41°5′43″N 74°0′56″W / 41.09528°N 74.01556°W / 41.09528; -74.01556 (41.095296, -74.015622)[3].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.4 square miles (14.1 km²), all land.
The topography is result of the massive glaciation of the last Ice Age, and as such the soil is extremely rocky and the surface shows glacial erratic boulders. The glacial ice scraped off and carried with it rocks and minerals from as far north as Canada, depositing them in Nanuet in particular and southern New York in general. This is the hypothesized source of the manganese-rich parvo-mangano-edenite minerals, as well as the placier gold within Naurashaun Brook and the fossil impressions of huge Precambrian Era jellyfish in the wooded, undeveloped regions.
Demographics
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 16,708 people, 5,975 households, and 4,302 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,080.3 per square mile (1,190.1/km²). There were 6,134 housing units at an average density of 1,130.9/sq mi (437.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 71.78% White, 13.34% African American, 0.23% Native American, 9.70% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 2.30% from other races, and 2.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.16% of the population.
There were 5,975 households out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.0% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $71,178, and the median income for a family was $81,205. Males had a median income of $50,713 versus $38,658 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $30,338. About 3.6% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.4% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.
History
According to the New York Times, the hamlet was first named Nannawitt's Meadow after Nannawitt, a migratory Kakiat Indian who settled in the area now occupied by the Nanuet Mall at the intersection of Middletown Road and Route 59. After several name changes the hamlet became known as Nanuet in 1856.
Also according to the Times, the Erie Railroad arrived in Rockland County in 1841 along its original main line to Piermont. The New Jersey and New York Railroad, the predecessor of the Pascack Valley Line, reached Nanuet in 1869.[5]
Education
References
- ^ If You're Thinking of Living In / Nanuet, N.Y.; Growth Quickens In Rockland Hamlet - New York Times
- ^ Best Places to Live: Top 100 - Nanuet, N.Y. (24) - Money Magazine
- ^ "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.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ The Pascack Valley Line: A History of the New Jersey and New York Railroad, Wilson E. Jones; ISBN 0-941652-14-9
External links
- Personal reminiscence page: Nanuet
