Batavia is a city in Genesee County, Western New York, US, near the center of Genesee County, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Its population as of the 2010 census was 15,465. The name Batavia is Latin for the Betuwe region of the Netherlands, and honors early Dutch land developers.
Batavia is the county seat of Genesee County.
The city hosts the Batavia Muckdogs baseball club of the New Yorkâ€"Penn League, at the Dwyer Stadium, at 299 Bank Street. The Muckdogs are an affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They won the 2008 championship. In 2006, a national magazine ranked Batavia third among the nation's micropolitans based on economic development.
The New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) passes north of the city. Genesee County Airport (GVQ) is also north of the city.
Its UN/LOCODE is USBIA.
History
The Holland Land Company
The current City of Batavia was an early settlement in what is today called Genesee Country, the farthest western region of New York State, comprising the Genesee Valley and westward to the Niagara River, Lake Erie, and the Pennsylvania line. The tract purchased in western New York (the Holland Purchase) was a 3,250,000 acre (13,150 km²) portion of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase that lay west of the Genesee River. It was purchased in December 1792, February 1793, and July 1793 from Robert Morris, a prominent Revolutionary banker, by the Holland Land Company, a consortium of Dutch bankers.
The village of Batavia was founded in 1802 by Joseph Ellicott, agent of the Holland Land Company. Batavia, New York, was named for the short-lived Batavian Republic (1795â€"1806) in honor of the Holland Land Company. The Batavian Republic was itself named for the Batavi, an ancient Germanic tribe, which lived in the area of the Rhineâ€"Maas delta in the central Netherlands. During the Renaissance in the Low Countries (1500s) and Dutch Golden Age (1600), Dutch nationalists formed the "Batavian myth" and argued that the ancient Batavians were the ancestors of the Dutch. This region is now known as Betuwe, a Dutch word derived from "Batavia."
One of the provisions of the sale was that Morris needed to settle the Indian title to the land, so he arranged for his son Thomas Morris to negotiate with the Iroquois at Geneseo, New York in 1797. About 3,000 Iroquois, mostly Senecas, arrived for the negotiation. Seneca chief and orator Red Jacket was adamantly against the sale, but his influence was thwarted by freely distributed liquor and trinkets given to the women. In the end he acquiesced and signed the Treaty of Big Tree, in which the tribe sold their rights to the land except for a small portion for $100,000. Mary Jemison, known as The White Woman of the Genesee, who had been captured in a raid and married her Seneca captor, proved to be an able negotiator for the tribe and helped win more favorable terms for them. In the negotiations Horatio Jones was the translator and William Wadsworth provided his unfinished home. The land was then surveyed under the supervision of Joseph Ellicott, a monumental task of the biggest land survey ever attempted to that time.
Ellicott, as agent for the company, established a land office in Batavia in 1802. The entire purchase was named Genesee County in 1802, with Batavia as the county seat. The company sold off the purchase until 1846, when the company was dissolved. The phrase "doing a land office business", which denotes prosperity, dates from this era. The office still exists and is a museum today, designated a National Historic Landmark. Ellicott lived in Batavia for many years although he thought Buffalo would grow to be larger. Batavia has a major street named after him (Ellicott Street), as well as a minor street (Ellicott Avenue), and a large monument in the heart of the city. Batavia was incorporated as a village in 1823.
The present counties of western New York were all laid out from the original Genesee County, and the modern Genesee County is but one of many. But the entire area as a region is still referred to as Genesee Country. Thus, Batavia was the core from which the rest of western New York was opened for settlement and development.
Masonic Lodge scandal
A scandal erupted in Batavia in 1826, when William Morgan, a local ne'er do well was offended by the local Masonic Lodge (Western Star Chapter R. A. M. No. 33 of Le Roy, New York), and threatened to expose the secrets of the lodge. He was arrested on a minor charge, then released when his charge was paid, into the company of several men, with whom he went, apparently unwillingly. It was developed later that the men were Masons, and they carried him to Fort Niagara, where he was held captive, and from whence he disappeared. Although the Masons claimed he was only bribed to cease publication and leave the area forever, public sentiment was that he was murdered. No conviction was ever obtained. His captors were only charged and convicted with his abduction.
The event roused tremendous public furor and anti-Mason sentiment ran high. Anti-Masonry was a factor in politics for many years later,leading to the creation of the Anti-Masonic Party, as well as religion. Many Methodist Episcopal clergy had joined the Masons, and this was one of the reasons the Free Methodist Church separated.
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal in 1825 bypassed Batavia, going well to the north at Albion and Medina, enabling Buffalo and Rochester to grow much faster. With the sale of the western part of the state completed, Batavia became a small industrial city in the heart of an agricultural area. It became known for the manufacture of tractors, agricultural implements, sprayers and shoes. It also was a tool and die making center for industries in other areas.
The largest manufacturer, Johnston Harvester Company came into being in 1868. In 1910, the business was acquired by Massey-Harris Co. Ltd, and became a subsidiary of that Canadian company, founded by Daniel Massey in 1847.
Batavia grew rapidly in the early 20th century, receiving an influx of Polish and Italian immigrants. The City of Batavia was incorporated in 1915.
Recent history
In recent years much of the heavier industry left for other areas of the US, or abroad, and Batavia became part of what has become known as The Rust Belt.
The construction of the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, a federal immigration detention center adjacent to the airport has provided more jobs in the area, as well as expansion of the airport itself, including lengthening the runway to accommodate larger aircraft in 2005. Inmates at the detention center have included terrorism suspects, such as Nabil Ahmed Farag Soliman, who embarked on a hunger strike in 1999 after two and a half years in federal detention.
In August 2012, Muller Quaker Dairy broke ground on what was to be one of the largest yogurt manufacturing plants in the United States, and employed 170 people in December 2015. Muller Quaker Dairy is a joint venture between PepsiCo and the Theo Muller Group. On December 10, 2015, the closure of the yogurt plant was announced with the additional news that the facility would be sold to the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative.
Geography and climate
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.2 square miles (13.6 km²), of which, 5.2 square miles (13.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (1.14%) is water.
New York State Route 5 (east-west) intersects New York State Route 33, New York State Route 63, and New York State Route 98 in the city. The New York State Thruway is immediately north of Batavia.
Climate
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Batavia has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.
Demographics
2010
As of the census of 2010, there were 15,465 people, 6,644 households, and 3,710 families residing in the city. The racial demographic of the city has changed slightly from 2000 to 2010.
2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,256 people, 6,457 households, and 3,867 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,133.9 people per square mile (1,209.3/km²). There were 6,924 housing units at an average density of 1,334.8 per square mile (515.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.23% White, 5.43% Black or African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.87% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.06% from other races, and 1.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.45% of the population.
There were 6,457 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 23.4% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,484, and the median income for a family was $42,460. Males had a median income of $32,091 versus $23,289 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,737. About 10.2% of families and 12.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.5% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.
Notable events
- The First Business Incubator in the United States, the Batavia Industrial Center, was started in Batavia.
- John Elway, quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, hit his first professional home run at Dwyer Stadium while playing minor league baseball.
- In March 1926, over 1,000 people turned out to hear Helen Keller speak.
- On September 3, 1993, a tornado tore through Batavia, killing two people.
- On the night of August 3, 1994, Amtrak's westbound Lake Shore Limited derailed near Batavia. Despite 118 passengers and crew being injured, and fourteen of the train's eighteen cars coming off the tracks, there were no fatalities.
- Governor George Pataki made Batavia the New York State "Capital for A Day" on Wednesday, July 25th, 2001.
Notable people
In popular culture
- Author John Gardner, a Batavia native, set his novels The Resurrection (1966) and The Sunlight Dialogues (1972) in 1960s Batavia.
- Native Batavian Bill Kauffman, a political writer and columnist, has a book, Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette (2002), about the city. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald references Batavia in his novel, Tender Is the Night (1934)
- Popular authors Stephen King and Peter Straub mention or set parts of their novel, The Talisman (1983), in the city.
- Batavia was also referenced in The Simpsons Season 8 episode "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson", when the first order to Marge's pretzel business after securing the protection of the local mafia comes from the Meat Packers Union Hall in Batavia.
See also
- Batavia (town), New York
- Holland Land Office
References
Further reading
- "Batavia Daily Herald (Newspaper)". Internet Archive. 1859. Retrieved 2014-04-20.Â
External links
- City of Batavia official website
- Batavia Business Improvement District
- AM-1490 WBTA â€" Batavia radio station, only licensed radio station between Rochester and Buffalo
- The Daily News, Batavia's only daily newspaper
- The Batavian, online-only news site
- Early history of Batavia region
- Holland Land Office Museum
- Historic Batavia: A City Revealed (images and audio)
- "Tocqueville in Batavia", segment from C-SPAN's Alexis de Tocqueville Tour