Johnson City, New York

History

Known as the "Home of the Square Deal", from the Square Deal given to all employees of Endicott Johnson Corporation, Johnson City was originally incorporated in 1892 as the village of Lestershire. In 1916, the village was renamed Johnson City in honor of George F. Johnson, who led the company that was by then known as Endicott Johnson. Much of Johnson City's history is rooted in the prosperity of the Endicott Johnson Corporation, and later in the prosperity brought by IBM in neighboring Endicott. However, the deindustrialization that occurred across the United States impacted Johnson City heavily. The loss of nearly all industry in the span of a couple decades left the economy of Upstate New York, and thus Johnson City, devastated and in recession, explaining in part the village's population decline over time. Over the past decade, new revitalization efforts led by the expansion of United Health Services and Binghamton University have rejuvenated the area tremendously.

In January 2007, a group of residents organized a petition supporting dissolution of the village for tax reasons. A vote was held on November 3, 2009. On November 12, 2009, the results came back "no" for dissolution by just 42 votes.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 12.0 km2, of which 11.7 km2 is land and 0.3 km2, or 2.13%, is water.

Johnson City is on the north side of the Susquehanna River.

The junction of New York State Route 17 and New York State Route 201, which connects the community to the south side of the Susquehanna River, is in Johnson City. New York State Route 17C parallels NY-17.

Johnson City is also located near multiple interstates, including Interstate 81, Interstate 86 (Pennsylvania–New York), and Interstate 88 (New York).

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, there were 15,343 people, 6,678 households, and 3,651 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,370.6 PD/sqmi. There were 7,650 housing units at an average density of 1,722.1 /mi2. The racial makeup of the village was 81.1% White, 5.9% African American, 0.3% Native American, 6.4% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.84% from other races, and 4.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.6% of the population.

There were 6,678 households, out of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.1% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.7% were non-families. 40.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 19.7% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. The recorded male-female ratio (as a percent) was 52% Male - 48% Female.

The annual per capita income for a household in the village was $27,643, and the median income for a family was $39,241. Males had a median income of $31,980 versus $24,656 for females. Roughly 19.6% of the total population fell below the poverty line.

As of the 2020 census, there were a total of 923 Veterans of Foreign Wars residing in Johnson City, with the most common war fought in being the Vietnam War.

Notable sites

Library

Your Home Library, founded in 1917, serves the village of Johnson City and the surrounding area. The library building was originally the old Brigham homestead, erected in 1850, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Education

The K-8 Elementary, Intermediate, and Middle School is located just above the high school on 601 Columbia Drive; and the Johnson City High School is located on 666 Reynolds Road. The schools are operated by Johnson City Central School District.

Colleges

Davis College was a private Baptist bible college in Johnson City. It was founded in 1900 under the leadership of John Adelbert Davis. The first location was on Harrison Street where Wilson Hospital now stands. The present site was bought in 1910 and the college moved to Riverside Drive in 1911. As of October 1911, that location also became known as the post office of Bible School Park, New York. The college had about 329 students. In September 2023, the property was sold to Birchwood Management Group.

Baptist Bible College & Seminary was based at First Baptist Church in Johnson City from 1932 until it relocated to Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania in 1968.

The Binghamton University Decker health sciences campus is located on Corliss Ave, in the blocks bounded by Arch St, Broad St, and Willow St.

Johnson City is also located across the Susquehanna River from Binghamton University's main campus, which is in Vestal, New York.

Notable people

• Danijal Brković, soccer player
• Fred Coury, drummer for 80s hair-metal band Cinderella
• Jerry D'Amigo, professional ice hockey player, graduated from Johnson City High School in 2009.
• Howard G. Garrison, US Army major general
• George F. Johnson, founded the Endicott Johnson Corporation here.
• Jim Johnson, professional baseball player, was born here.
• DaQuan Jones, professional NFL player for the Buffalo Bills, graduated from Johnson City High School in 2010.
• David Sedaris, American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor.

References

References

1. "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau.
2. "Village of Johnson City, New York". Village of Johnson City.
3. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Johnson City village, New York". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder.
4. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov.
5. "US Census Bureau". [[United States Census Bureau]].
6. {{NRISref. 2009a
7. "History". Davis College.
8. (June 19, 2024). "Danijal Brkovic Selected NISA Nation Player of the Week".
9. (1977). "General Officers of the Army and Air National Guard". National Guard Bureau.