Fishkill, New York

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Fishkill, New York
settlement_type = Village
nickname =
motto =

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 12524
area_code = 845
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 36-25967
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0977519
website =
footnotes =

Fishkill is a village within the Town of Fishkill in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The village population was 1,735 at the 2000 census.

The Village of Fishkill is in the northeast part of the town on US 9. It is north of Interstate 84. NY 52 is the main street.

The town hosts the Hudson Valley Renegades baseball club of the New York-Penn League.

History

Fishkill was settled around 1714.

During the Revolutionary War, the New York Congress and the Committee of Safety for the State of New York met in Fishkill. [New York Secretary of State, The Documentary History of the State of New-York (Albany: Weed, Parsons & co, 1849), 944, 1073-1074.]

The village was incorporated in 1899.

The Name

The "kill" part in the name is actually the Dutch word for "stream" or "creek" and is common in the names of many communities in the area, such as Casperkill, Peekskill, and Wallkill, which were settled by the Dutch in the early 1600s.

In 1996, PETA, not knowing the meaning of this root, campaigned to have the town change its name, claiming it suggested cruelty to fish. The town declined this offer. [McRae, Mary Ann. [http://www.cnn.com/US/9609/06/fishy.name/ A fishy name will stay the same.] CNN.com, September 6, 1996. Retrieved on July 22, 2007.]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,735 people, 965 households, and 400 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,978.8 people per square mile (761.2/km²). There were 1,011 housing units at an average density of 443.6 persons/km² (1,153.0 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the village was 93.72% White, 2.77% African American, 0.17% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.27% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 6.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 22.9% were of Italian, 20.2% Irish, 11.2% German, 7.3% American and 5.4% English ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 965 households out of which 14.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% were married couples living together, 6.9% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 58.5% were non-families. 53.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 32.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.80 and the average family size was 2.74.

In the village the population was spread out with 14.1% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 30.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 74.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.3 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $36,344, and the median income for a family was $59,737. Males had a median income of $48,750 versus $31,898 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,504. 8.4% of the population and 4.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 8.8% are under the age of 18 and 8.9% are 65 or older.

Other

Fishkill is the site of Camp Mariah, a camp that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts, and introduces them to career opportunities. The camp is named after co-founder musician Mariah Carey.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.vofishkill.us/ Village of Fishkill]
* [http://www.fishkill-ny.gov/ Town of Fishkill]
* [http://blodgett.fishkill.lib.ny.us/ Blodgett Memorial Library (Fishkill)]
* [http://fishkillcreekwatershed.org/ Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee]
* [http://fishkillfd.org/ Fishkill Fire Department]
* [http://www.fishkillreformed.org/ Fishkill Dutch Church]