Wendell is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 986 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Wendell was first settled in 1754 and was officially incorporated in 1781.
On July 11, 2006, a strong F2 tornado moved through town, starting near Wickett Pond, traveling about 2.9 miles, and ending about a half mile east of New Salem Road. The path varied in width from 100 to 300 yards. The tornado knocked down trees, including an old maple tree, whose falling damaged gravestones in an historic cemetery in Wendell Center. While trees were downed and some structures damaged, no one was injured.[1]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 32.2 square miles (83.4 km²), of which, 32.0 square miles (82.9 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (0.68%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 986 people, 378 households, and 224 families residing in the town. The population density was 30.8 people per square mile (11.9/km²). There were 439 housing units at an average density of 13.7/sq mi (5.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 92.49% White, 3.45% African American, 0.41% Asian, 1.32% from other races, and 2.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.42% of the population.
There were 378 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.5% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 31.8% from 45 to 64, and 4.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 106.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $43,846, and the median income for a family was $60,147. Males had a median income of $32,639 versus $27,375 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,701. About 5.8% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 17.6% of those age 65 or over.
References
- ^ "Officials confirm tornado struck town of Wendell". The Republican. July 13, 2006. http://www.masslive.com/chicopeeholyoke/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1152785094245140.xml&coll=1.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
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