Mount Morris (village), New York

Mount Morris, New York
Village
Mount Morris, New York Location within the state of New York
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Livingston
Area
• Total	2.0 sq mi (5.3 km2)
• Land	2.0 sq mi (5.3 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	630 ft (192 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	2,986
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	14510
Area code(s)	585
FIPS code	36-48945
GNIS feature ID	0957862
Website	www.mountmorrisny.com

Mount Morris is a village located in the Town of Mount Morris in Livingston County, New York, USA. The population was 2,986 at the 2010 census. The village and town are named after Robert Morris.

The Village of Mount Morris is at the northeastern entrance to Letchworth State Park, which contains a scenic gorge and triple waterfall on the Genesee River. The village is in the northern part of the Town of Mt. Morris.

History

The community was first called "Allen Hill" and "Richmond Hill" by early settler Ebenezer Allen. The Village of Mount Morris was incorporated in 1835. It was then named after Robert Morris, the financier of the American Revolution, and later owner of The Morris Reserve, from which the lands around Mount Morris were sold to settlers. It was suggested that these lands were sold at unfairly low prices to friends of the Morris estate, in an attempt to create something akin to an oligarchical rule by landowners in the area.

The main trade route in the town's early days was the Genesee Valley Canal which ran from the Erie Canal at Rochester to Wellsville. The Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway have built hiking trails along some of the canal route. The canal was abandoned in the 1870s and later used as a railroad right of way for a succession of railroads, which eventually consolidated into the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Mount Morris Academy was an important early school, but it closed down in 1867.

Just upstream from the village is the Mount Morris Dam (550 ft/168 m long, 216 ft/66 m high), which was built between 1948 and 1952 for flood control of the lower Genesee Valley. An earlier and much smaller dam, still extant in the village, was used for mills; now it is a small hydroelectric generating station.

In the early 21st century, Greg O’Connell, a retired New York City detective and developer of properties in Red Hook, Brooklyn, bought 19 buildings along the town's main street in an effort to revive the downtown area.

Past residents of note

• Mary Seymour Howell, a native daughter was a suffragette and associate of Susan B. Anthony. She died in 1913.

• Francis Bellamy, the author of the "Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America,"

• John Wesley Powell, the first white man to navigate and chart the Colorado River.Joseph Strauss, born on November 16, 1861 in Mount Morris, NY, son of a dry goods merchant. Joseph Strauss was the third son and fourth child of Raphael Strauss and Sarah Metger Strauss. Joseph completed his primary school in Mount Morris before his family relocated to Lynchburg, VA where he joined the US Navy and was nominated to a seat in the United States Naval Academy. He graduated from the Academy in 1885 and was commissioned Ensign on July 1, 1887. Joseph began a distinguished career as a specialist in ordinance in the US Navy and in service to our country. Serving in the Spanish–American War and blockading the Cuban coast, he returned to the Bureau of Ordinance where he established the Naval Proving Grounds. In World War I he was designated Commander, Mine Force, Atlantic Fleet and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal both for directing the laying of the North Sea Mine Barrage and for the hazardous task of clearing it after peace came. As Commander of the Asiatic Fleet with the rank of Admiral, he worked with Congress on budgetary appropriations and later served on the Advisory Board of Battleship Plans. Retiring from the Navy in 1930, Admiral Strauss was a founder of the Naval Historical Society and a long time financial adviser of the Navy Relief Society. Among his inventions were the superimposed system of mounting guns; the first spring recoil gun mount, the first disappearing mount for deck guns of submarines, and the 12-inch gun, the fore-runner of the mighty guns for capital ships' main batteries. He received a special letter of appreciation from Secretary of the Navy Charles F. Adams in 1929 for his work on safety devices of submarines and the salvaging of sunken submarines. He died 30 December 1948 and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery).

• Roscoe C. Barnes (Ross Barnes), who hit the first recorded home run in professional baseball and is credited with the title of the first batting champion of the National League.

National Register of Historic Places

The following sites and historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

	Name on the Register	Image	Date listed	Location	City or town	Description
1	House at No. 13 Grove Street	House at No. 13 Grove Street	January 7, 1999 (#98001582)	13 Grove St.	Mount Morris
2	House at No. 176 South Main Street	House at No. 176 South Main Street	January 7, 1999 (#98001581)	176 S. Main St.	Mount Morris
3	House at No. 30 Murray Street	House at No. 30 Murray Street	January 7, 1999 (#98001585)	30 Murray St.	Mount Morris
4	House at No. 48 Grove Street	Upload image	January 7, 1999 (#98001583)	48 Grove St.	Mount Morris
5	House at No. 8 State Street	House at No. 8 State Street	January 7, 1999 (#98001580)	8 State St.	Mount Morris
6	Gen. William A. Mills House	Gen. William A. Mills House	December 19, 1978 (#78001858)	14 Main St.	Mount Morris
7	Murray Street Historic District	Murray Street Historic District	March 1, 1996 (#96000178)	33-47 and 32-46 Murray St.	Mount Morris
8	New Family Theater	New Family Theater	August 1, 1997 (#97000846)	102 Main St.	Mount Morris
9	St. John's Episcopal Church	St. John's Episcopal Church	July 19, 1991 (#91000892)	Jct. of State and Stanley Sts.	Mount Morris
10	South Main Street Historic District	South Main Street Historic District	March 1, 1996 (#96000177)	123-159 and 124-158 S. Main St.	Mount Morris
11	State and Eagle Streets Historic District	State and Eagle Streets Historic District	March 1, 1996 (#96000179)	16-34 and 15-39 State St. and 6-12 Eagle St.	Mount Morris

Geography

Mount Morris is located at (42.722996, -77.877001).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.3 km²). None of the area is covered with water.

Allens Creek and Damonsville Creek flow through the village.

New York State Route 36 and New York State Route 408 intersect in the village.

Transport

Mount Morris is on the Rochester-to-Dansville line of the Rochester & Southern Railroad. It is also the junction between this line and the R&S's branch to the Hampton Corners salt mine. The Hampton Corners line was built in the 1990s and is one of the newest railroad lines in New York State. The R&S Rochester-to-Dansville line through Mount Morris was originally the part of the New York (Hoboken) to Buffalo Main Line of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). This through route, made redundant by the Erie Lackawanna merger, was downgraded in 1963 with the abandonment of a portion of the line between nearby Groveland and Wayland, N.Y.

In addition to the DL&W, Mount Morris was served by three other railroads: 1) It was served by the Rochester-Avon-Mount Morris line of the Erie Railroad from c. 1860 to 1940. From 1907 to 1934 this offered frequent electric railway service from Mount Morris to Rochester. The Erie line to Mount Morris was abandoned in 1940. 2) The Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad (and predecessor Erie & Genesee Valley RR) linked its namesake communities from c. 1871 to 1940. The Mount Morris segment of the railroad was abandoned with the loss of its connection to the Erie in 1940. 3) The Pennsylvania Railroad (and predecessors) served Mount Morris from c. 1882 to c. 1963 on its Olean-Hinsdale-Rochester branch line. The PRR through Mount Morris was abandoned in 1963, and the right-of-way now forms the basis of the Genesee Valley Greenway.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1870	1,930		—
1880	1,899		−1.6%
1890	2,286		20.4%
1900	2,410		5.4%
1910	2,782		15.4%
1920	3,312		19.1%
1930	3,238		−2.2%
1940	3,530		9.0%
1950	3,450		−2.3%
1960	3,250		−5.8%
1970	3,417		5.1%
1980	3,039		−11.1%
1990	3,102		2.1%
2000	3,266		5.3%
2010	2,986		−8.6%
Est. 2014	2,905		−2.7%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,266 people, 1,307 households, and 794 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,606.0 people per square mile (621.2/km²). There were 1,412 housing units at an average density of 694.3 per square mile (268.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 94.18% White, 1.13% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 2.51% from other races, and 1.22% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.79% of the population.

There were 1,307 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the village the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $31,792, and the median income for a family was $37,143. Males had a median income of $32,464 versus $20,052 for females. The per capita income for the village was $15,107. About 12.0% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

External links

• Letchworth State Park
• Mount Morris Dam
• Mount Morris, NY
• "The Last Townie," a 2011 article from the New York Times Magazine about developer Greg O'Connell's attempts to revitalize Mount Morris
• Village of Mount Morris