Congers, New York
| Congers, New York | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
 | |
| Nickname(s): The Hamlet by the Lakes | |
 Location in Rockland County and the state of New York. | |
  Congers, New York Location within the state of New York | |
| Coordinates: 41°8′47″N 73°56′39″W / 41.14639°N 73.94417°WCoordinates: 41°8′47″N 73°56′39″W / 41.14639°N 73.94417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Rockland |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.9 sq mi (10.0 km2) |
| • Land | 3.2 sq mi (8.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.7 sq mi (1.8 km2) |
| Elevation | 177 ft (54 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 8,363 |
| • Density | 2,100/sq mi (840/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 10920 |
| Area code(s) | 845 |
| FIPS code | 36-17739 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0947282 |
Congers is an affluent, suburban hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Valley Cottage, east of New City, across Lake DeForest, south of Haverstraw, and west of the Hudson River. It lies 19 miles (31 km) north of New York City's Bronx boundary. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 8,363.[1]
Geography
Congers is located at 41°8′47″N 73°56′39″W / 41.14639°N 73.94417°W (41.146445, −73.944036).[2]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.9 square miles (10 km2), of which 3.2 square miles (8.3 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (18.39%) is water. The high percentage of Congers that sits under water is due to the hamlet's emplacement within and between four lakes: Congers Lake, Rockland Lake, Swartwout (also Swarthout) Lake, and the county reservoir, Lake DeForest. Congers is adjacent to Rockland Lake State Park, along the Hudson River.
Demographics
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 8,303 people, 2,695 households, and 2,244 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,635.9 per square mile (1,017.7/km²). There were 2,743 housing units at an average density of 870.8/sq mi (336.2/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 85.2% White, 1.8% African American, 0.2% Native American, 8.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.1% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.6% of the population. Estimated median household income in 2008: $99,833 (it was $79,493 in 2000) making it one of the highest earning CDP's in the county.
There were 2,695 households out of which 40.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.3% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.7% were non-families. 13.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.05 and the average family size was 3.36. In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.6 males.
History
Congers, named after Abraham B. Conger,[4] was settled in the late 17th century by Dutch, German and English settlers and was known as Cedar Grove Corner and then Waldberg, which in German means "forest mountain".
In the 19th century the Congers railroad station, three churches, a school, the firehouse and the Central and Globe hotels were built. The first floor of the then Globe hotel (pictured below) on the southeastern corner of Congers Road is presently the Last Chance Saloon. The Clarktown Dutch Reformed Church still stands at the corner of Congers Road and Kings Highway.
Kings Highway was the first major road in the county and for many years the only road from New York to Albany.
Today there exist nine structures with recognized historical markers dating back to the 18th century, including the DeBaum House on Kings Highway, the Smith House on Gilchrest Road and the Snedeker House, where the Commander-in-chief George Washington is believed to have spent a night.
The Swartout estate which was occupied by George Swartout, was part of a large tract of land confiscated by the government about 1777; It was purchased by General James Swartout who was a collaborator of George Washington, and member of a family which traced its residence in Rockland County to 1660.
St Paul's Church on Lake Road built in the early 1890s was Clarkstown's first Catholic church.
DeForest Lake, built in 1955/6, was named after Henry L. Deforest, President of the Spring Valley Works and Supply Company.
Gilchrest Road crossing accident
Gilchrest Road, New York crossing accident
Education
Congers has two elementary schools, Congers Elementary and Lakewood Elementary. Students from these schools will attend Felix Festa Middle School and then Clarkstown North High School. Congers is also the home of Rockland Country Day School, which accepts students in grades PreK-12 and was founded in 1959.
Sports
- New York Raiders, an American semi-professional rugby league football team that currently plays in the American National Rugby League (AMNRL) competition. They play their home games at Rockland Lake State Park, and are a team partner of the Canberra Raiders of Australia's National Rugby League (NRL).
Tourism
Historical markers
- Congers Lake Dam, Gilchrest Road
- Congers School – 9 Lake Road
- Congers Station – Lake Road & Burnside Avenue
- Dr. Davies Farm – Dr. Davies Road off Route 9W
- Kings Highway – Kings Highway & Congers Road
- Kings Highway & the Long Clove, Old Haverstraw Road
- Paul Farmhouse – Gilchrest Road
- Snedeker Farm – 74 Endicott Street
- Snedeker Landing – Route 9W & Long Clove Roads
- St. Paul's Church- Lake Rd. Congers at the church
Landmarks and places of interest
- Congers Historical Museum – Second floor of the century-old Congers Railroad Station Park building – Lake Road and Burnside Avenue
- Congers United Methodist Church – On April 3, 1831, Easter Sunday, the first service was held. The congregation consisted of Presbyterians and former members of the Dutch Reformed Church. Originally, the Congers Church was named the Waldberg Dutch Reformed Church. In 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodist Church and became known as the United Methodist Church. The church's 175th anniversary was celebrated in 2006.
- Dr. Davies Farm – The farmhouse, part of a 450-acre (1.8 km2) farm that ran from Rockland Lake to the Hudson River, was built in 1836 and is of the early frontier Federalist style. In 1891 Arthur B. Davies and Dr. Lucy Meriwether married and purchased what is now the Davies home farm for $6500.00. Lucy Virginia Meriweather Davies, M.D., was a relative of Meriwether Lewis (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) and a general practitioner who, in her time, delivered a significant part of Rockland's population: 7,000 babies. She also farmed the land which her descendants operate today. In 2007 the present Davies owners gave 6 to 8 acres (2.4 to 3.2 ha) of its property to the Rockland Center for the Arts (RoCA) of West Nyack, New York.
- Rockland Lake Museum – Rockland Lake State Park – Open all year, but call the office in advance to make sure someone can unlock the room in which the exhibit is contained. Free. There are exhibits relating to the local ice industry and community life in Rockland Lake Village, including ice harvesting tools.
- John Mini Distinctive Landscapes [Corporate Campus] – The company's 19-acre (77,000 m2) main corporate campus in housed in Congers, making it one of the largest landscape contractor properties in the nation.
- Self-Transcendence Marathon – Held the last week of August at Rockland Lake State Park.
- Congers Lake Trailway – Opened 2011
- Congers Lake West Trailway and Boardwalk – Opened October 2013. Combined trailways is approximately 2.6 miles around Congers Lake.
Notable residents
- Peter O'Brien, director of Riphouse 151: Could've Been's & Wanna Be's
- Will Cunnane, Major League Baseball player
- Brian Fechino, American musician and music producer.
- Adam Gussow, writer and blues harmonica player, member of the duo Satan and Adam
- Devon Harris, three-time Olympian, member of the Jamaican Bobsled Team
- Frank Maresca, reality show contestant on I Love New York 2 and I Love Money
- James Maritato, American professional wrestler
- Edward R Gleason Jr., Chief Palisades Interstate Police. Died LOD July 23, 1972
- Leonidas Hubbard, Jr (journalist and explorer) and Mina Benson Hubbard, his wife (explorer and writer). They lived about 2 years in Friend Street. He was a journalist for Outing magazine. He died of starvation exploring an uncharted area of Labrador in 1903. She completed his exploration of the Nascaupi River and the George River in 1905 canoeing, mapping, photographing and meeting Innus with her four guides. She made an account of her exploration in A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador(1908).[5][6]
References
- ↑ "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Congers CDP, New York". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
- ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ Congers Family Papers 1772–1911 SC18698
- ↑ Sherrill Grace, Mina Benson Hubbard's A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004)
- ↑ Roberta Buchanan, Anne Hart, and Bryan Greene, The Woman Who Mapped Labrador: The Life and Expedition Diary of Mina Hubbard (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005)
External links
- Congers Fire Department
- "If You're Thinking of Living in: Congers", Jerry Cheslow, The New York Times, December 23, 1990
- Dr. Davies Farm
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