Cassadaga, New York

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Cassadaga is a village located in Chautauqua County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 676. The name is from the local native language.

The Village of Cassadaga is located within the northeast corner of the Township of Stockton, south of Dunkirk, New York.

The famous Spiritualist community of Lily Dale borders Cassadaga, and both communities are on the shores of the Cassadaga Lakes. Lily Dale residents, most (but not all) of whom are believers or practitioners of the religion of Spiritualism, an outgrowth of the Free Thinkers movement of the late mid 1800's, is within the adjacent Town of Pomfret.

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[edit] History

"Cassadaga" is a Seneca Indian name meaning "water under the rocks", descriptive not only of the natural springs of the area flowing from glacial moraines, but that in dry weather, many of the local streams would 'disappear' - the spring fed water running wholly within the gravelly bottom of the stream beds draining from the surrounding hills.

The Village of Cassadaga was settled in 1848 at the headwaters of the technically navigable Cassadaga Creek, though the upper few miles of it are not practically so today due to numerous shallows and beaver activity along its course.

The village was formally incorporated in 1921.

Early settlers utilized the abundant and large trees, some exceeding 5' (1.5m) in diameter as a primary source of income sent via log rafts and flatboat on the creek as timber, charcoal and pearl ash: the later two products in demand in the early industrial age.

The Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad, which laid track from Dunkirk, New York and eventually to Warren, Pennsylvania to connect with the former Warren and Venango Railroad (merged with the DAV&P) tracks running to Titusville, ran just west of the Cassadaga Lakes in the spring of 1871. The tracks ran through the then-adjoining hamlet of Burnhams (which was subsequently annexed by the village) and contributed greatly to the economy of the area, both as a source of population growth and visitors to the lakes and rolling hills for recreation, but also primarily as transportation of the forest and farm products of the area, as well as ice cut from the lakes in winter for refrigeration. The Webster Citizens Company ice house stood on the west shore of the Upper Lake with a three car rail siding to serve it, and was listed as a railroad business as late as 1931. The Cassadaga Water Company had a siding on the Middle lake and bottled water from a leased spring on the north side of the Glenn Halladay farm for shipment by rail to city customers, primarily Buffalo, New York, though it had ceased operations by the late 1920's as municipal water quality improved.

[edit] Geography

Cassadaga is located at 42°20'29" North, 79°18'56" West (42.341343, -79.315653)1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.7 km² (1.1 mi²). 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (16.04%) is water.

Cassadaga is located in the foothills of the Allegheny Range in the Southern Tier of New York State at 42̊20'29" North, 79̊18'56" West (42.341343, -79.315653)GR1 and an elevation of 1320' above sea level. The village is located at what is known locally as the south end of the Lower Cassadaga Lake, Lily Dale being located on Upper Cassadaga Lake. The mainly spring fed lakes drain into Cassadaga Creek, running south and connecting to the Conewango Creek, the Ohio River, and the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, despite getting their start roughly 9 miles (15km) south and east of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes, which drain via the Saint Laurence River east to the Atlantic Ocean. The watershed divide is located about 2 miles (3.3km) north of the Village.

The soils are glacial in nature, ranging from deep gravel loams in the valleys to heavy clays on the hill tops. Springs are fairly common, though somewhat high in mineral content (calcium, sulphur and iron, depending greatly on location).

Currently, New York State Route 60 runs through the village and provides direct access to the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90), 8 miles to the north; and Interstate 86, 17 miles to the south.

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 676 people, 277 households, and 186 families residing in the village. The population density was 296.6/km² (766.3/mi²). There were 315 housing units at an average density of 138.2/km² (357.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.89% White, 0.30% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 1.04% from other races, and 1.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.66% of the population.

There were 277 households out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.0% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% 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 3.04.

The ages of population are well spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $43,359, and the median income for a family was $52,500. Males had a median income of $32,083 versus $21,500 for females. The per capita income for the village was $20,361. About 1.6% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

There are two churches in the Village proper: one Catholic, and the other Baptist, reflecting the early heritage of the village settlers, though there Amish and Mennonites in the immediate area and those of other beliefs as well. (Anyone with stats here?)

[edit] Fishing

The lake contains a wide variety of fish including Bass, Crappie, Northern Pike, Muskie, Perch and Panfish. There are excellent fishing spots on all three lakes with two bait shops available, one on the upper lake and one on the lower lake. There is a free public boat launch on the middle lake with parking for truck and trailer.

[edit] Trivia

The Flaming Lips recorded both The Soft Bulletin and At War With the Mystics in Cassadaga.

[edit] External links

Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency listing on Village of Cassadaga http://www.co.chautauqua.ny.us/municipal/cassadaga.htm

Map of the DAV&P, cira 1880. http://www.s363.com/images/dkny/davmap.gif (someone with more expertise, please correct the above links to wikify them)


Municipalities and Communities of Chautauqua County, New York
(County Seat: Mayville)
Cities Dunkirk | Jamestown
Towns Arkwright | Busti | Carroll | Charlotte | Chautauqua | Cherry Creek | Clymer | Dunkirk | Ellery

Ellicott | Ellington | French Creek | Gerry | Hanover | Harmony | Kiantone | Mina | North Harmony | Poland | Pomfret | Portland | Ripley | Sheridan | Sherman | Stockton | Villenova | Westfield
Villages Bemus Point | Brocton | Cassadaga | Celoron | Cherry Creek | Falconer | Forestville | Fredonia | Lakewood | Mayville | Panama | Sherman | Silver Creek | Sinclairville | Westfield
CDPs Ripley | Jamestown West
Hamlets Frewsburg | Laona | Hamlet | Irving | Maple Springs
Reservations Cattaraugus Reservation
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