Ellenburg, New York

History

The area was first settled around 1800. Ellenburg is named for Ellen Murray, the daughter of John R. Murray, a landowner.

The town was formed from part of the town of Mooers in 1830. In 1845, part of the town was used to make the town of Clinton.

During the Cold War, Ellenburg was the location of two of the twelve Atlas ICBM missile silos under the 556th Strategic Missile Squadron based out of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base. These silos were operational from 1962 to 1965.

In late 2004, a wind farm was proposed by Noble Environmental Power for the northern part of the town. Construction was expected to be completed by early 2007, but due to delays it began in the spring of 2008. Noble has also built wind farms in the neighboring towns of Altona and Chateaugay. Construction of the wind farms caused some controversy within the towns, as many residents felt it would subtract from the natural beauty of the area. The wind farm includes 54 turbines producing a total output of 81 megawatts.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 278.3 km2, of which 276.0 km2 is land, and 2.3 km2, or 0.83%, is water.

The western town line is the border of Franklin County.

U.S. Route 11 passes through the northeastern part of the town. New York State Route 190 (Military Turnpike) is an east-west highway, intersecting US-11 at Ellenburg village. New York State Route 374 crosses the southwestern corner of the town.

Climate

| Jan record high F = 64 | Feb record high F = 67 | Mar record high F = 79 | Apr record high F = 84 | May record high F = 92 | Jun record high F = 100 | Jul record high F = 97 | Aug record high F = 97 | Sep record high F = 93 | Oct record high F = 80 | Nov record high F = 75 | Dec record high F = 68 | year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 50.4 |Feb avg record high F = 48.9 |Mar avg record high F = 58.3 |Apr avg record high F = 74.6 |May avg record high F = 84.2 |Jun avg record high F = 89.2 |Jul avg record high F = 91.2 |Aug avg record high F = 89.0 |Sep avg record high F = 85.6 |Oct avg record high F = 75.6 |Nov avg record high F = 64.9 |Dec avg record high F = 53.8 |year avg record high F = 89.3

|Jan avg record low F = -15.5 |Feb avg record low F = -13.0 |Mar avg record low F = -5.9 |Apr avg record low F = 15.3 |May avg record low F = 28.2 |Jun avg record low F = 37.4 |Jul avg record low F = 45.3 |Aug avg record low F = 42.8 |Sep avg record low F = 31.9 |Oct avg record low F = 23.0 |Nov avg record low F = 8.4 |Dec avg record low F = -8.7 |year avg record low F = -17.8

| Jan record low F = -26 | Feb record low F = -25 | Mar record low F = -25 | Apr record low F = 8 | May record low F = 24 | Jun record low F = 30 | Jul record low F = 38 | Aug record low F = 38 | Sep record low F = 24 | Oct record low F = 18 | Nov record low F = -5 | Dec record low F = -27 | year record low F =

|access-date = December 13, 2023 |access-date = December 13, 2023

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, there were 1,842 people, 893 households, and 546 families residing in the town. The population density was 17.14 PD/sqmi. There were 1,050 housing units at an average density of 9.77 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 94.25% White, 0.11% African American, 0% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.65% from other races, and 4.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.90% of the population.

There were 893 households, of which 21.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, and 38.9% were non-families. 14.1% of all households had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.78.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.7% under the age of 20, 29.3% from 20 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 20 and over, there were 87.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $63,417, and the median income for a family was $70,724. About 14.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Ellenburg

• Dannemora Crossing – A location at the eastern town line, east of Ellenburg village.
• Ellenburg – The hamlet of Ellenburg is in the northern part of the town on US-11.
• Ellenburg Center – A hamlet in the northern part of the town, southwest of Ellenburg hamlet.
• Ellenburg Depot – A hamlet east of Ellenburg on US-11, named for the former train depot.
• Ellenburg Mountain – A mountain in the southeastern corner of the town.
• Gibson Corners – A location on the northern town line in the northeastern corner of Ellenburg.
• Hammonds Corners – A location on the eastern town line, on NY-190.
• Harrigan – A hamlet in the northwestern corner of the town inside the Adirondack Park.
• Lake Roxanne – A small man-made lake east of Ellenburg village.
• Merrill – A hamlet in the southwestern corner on NY-374 of the town by Upper Chateaugay Lake.
• Point Bluff – A peninsula in Upper Chateaugay Lake.
• Upper Chateaugay Lake – Part of the lake is in the southwestern corner of the town.

References

References

1. "2016 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
2. "Ellenburg town, Clinton County, New York". U.S. Census Bureau.
3. Gannett, Henry. (1905). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". Govt. Print. Off..
4. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov.
5. "U.S. Census website". [[United States Census Bureau]].