Oneida Castle, New York

Oneida Castle, New York
Village
Location in Oneida County and the state of New York. Location in Oneida County and the state of New York.
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Oneida
Area
• Total	0.5 sq mi (1.4 km2)
• Land	0.5 sq mi (1.4 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	449 ft (137 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	625
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
FIPS code	36-54848
GNIS feature ID	0959364

Oneida Castle is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 625 at the 2010 census.

The Village of Oneida Castle is in the northwest corner of the Town of Vernon. Oneida Castle is east of the City of Oneida (located in Madison County) and west of the City of Sherrill in New York State.

History

The village was formerly the site of a major fortified village, Kanonwalohale, of the Oneida tribe, one of the original Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. They established it in the beginning of the 18th century, moving from an area where they suffered raids by parties from the French colony of Quebec, which was trying to control their fur trade. The village was surrounded by tall wooden palisades, with a moat bordering this. Dwellings and storage structures were protected inside. Mohawk Joseph Brant led a war party which destroyed the village in July 1780.

Later European-American settlers named the Village of Oneida Castle for this last great village or "castle" of the Oneida Indian tribe. In the colonial period, Europeans often referred to the major fortified Indian villages as "castles" because it was a familiar reference for them for such a settlement; other examples include Seneca Castle and Genesee Castle.

Geography

Oneida Castle is located at (43.078335, -75.633383). Oneida Castle is the approximate geographic center of New York State. There have been past attempts to move the state capitol here. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1870	262		—
1880	239		−8.8%
1890	317		32.6%
1900	291		−8.2%
1910	393		35.1%
1920	466		18.6%
1930	490		5.2%
1940	556		13.5%
1950	596		7.2%
1960	754		26.5%
1970	788		4.5%
1980	751		−4.7%
1990	671		−10.7%
2000	627		−6.6%
2010	625		−0.3%
Est. 2014	620		−0.8%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 627 people, 264 households, and 178 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,201.1 people per square mile (465.6/km²). There were 284 housing units at an average density of 544.1 per square mile (210.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.25% White, 0.80% Native American, 0.32% Asian, and 0.64% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.32% of the population.

There were 264 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the village the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $40,789, and the median income for a family was $45,875. Males had a median income of $35,568 versus $26,964 for females. The per capita income for the village was $20,056. About 5.5% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 2.5% of those age 65 or over.