Elizabethtown, New York
Census-designated place
United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
Location in Essex County and the state of New York.
Location in Essex County and the state of New York.
Coordinates: 44°12′59″N 73°35′26″W / 44.21639°N 73.59056°W / 44.21639; -73.59056
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CountyEssex
TownElizabethtown
Village incorporated1876
Village dissolved1981
Area
[1]
 • Total3.31 sq mi (8.57 km2)
 • Land3.31 sq mi (8.56 km2)
 • Water0.00 sq mi (0.01 km2)
Elevation
560 ft (170 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total746
 • Density225.72/sq mi (87.14/km2)
ZIP code
12932
Area code518
FIPS code36-23822

Elizabethtown is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Elizabethtown in Essex County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 754 at the 2010 census,[4] out of a total town population of 1,163.

Elizabethtown is the county seat of Essex County[5] and the location of the town government. The name is taken from that of Elizabeth Gilliland, the wife of an early settler and investor, William Gilliland.[citation needed]

History

The community was developed by settlers moving deeper into the town from the first settlement in New Russia. Elizabethtown became the county seat in 1807. Due to the focus on government, the law profession was a prominent occupation after the middle of the 19th century.[2] Elizabethtown incorporated as a village in 1876,[2] but the village government dissolved itself in 1981.[3]

The courthouse

Portrait of John Brown, hanging in the Essex County Courthouse

The Essex County Courthouse is located in Ellizabethtown. The night of December 6, 1859, John Brown's body lay there in state, with six local citizens, including Orlando Gibbons, as honor guard. The county later commissioned a life-size portrait of Brown, which hangs in the courthouse today (2021). "An early county clerk" framed these words from John Brown's last speech:

I say I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done—as I have always freely admitted I have done—in behalf of His despised poor was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments—I submit; so let it be done![6]

Geography

Elizabethtown is in the northern part of the town, located at the junction of US Route 9 and NY 9N. The Boquet River (pronounced BO-kwet) flows past the east side of the hamlet.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
2020746—
U.S. Decennial Census[7]

References

  1. ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Elizabethtown, NY". Essex County Historical Society/Adirondack History Center Museum. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
  3. ^ a b "Local Government Handbook" (PDF). New York State Department of State. 2008. pp. PDF page 77. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  4. ^ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Elizabethtown CDP, New York". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved February 18, 2016.[dead link]
  5. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  6. ^ On the Trail of John Brown. What Mary Brown Saw: A Self-Guided Tour, "A cultural heritage tour developed by the Essex County Historical Society and Adirondack Architectural Heritage", Adirondack History Museum, Elizabethtown, New York, archived from the original on July 28, 2021, retrieved July 20, 2021((citation)): CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.

External links


Municipalities and communities of Essex County, New York, United States
County seats of New York
Categories