Pittsford, New York

For the village, see Pittsford (village), New York.

Pittsford
Town
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Monroe
Elevation	564 ft (171.9 m)
Coordinates
Area	23.4 sq mi (60.6 km2)
- land	23.2 sq mi (60 km2)
- water	0.2 sq mi (1 km2), 0.85%
Population	29,405 (2010)
Density	1,268 / sq mi (489.57754 / km2)
Incorporated	1827
Town Supervisor	William A. Smith, Jr. (R) elected 2013 Town Council Mary Gehl Doyle (R) Karen W. Green (R) Jared C. Lusk (R) Matthew J. O'Connor (R)
Timezone	EST (UTC-5)
- summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	14534
Area code	585
Location in Monroe County and the state of New York.
Location of New York in the United States
Website: http://www.townofpittsford.org/

Pittsford is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States and is a semi-affluent suburb of Rochester. The population was 29,405 at the 2010 census.

The Town of Pittsford (formerly part of the town of Northfield) was incorporated in 1827. It was named by Colonel Caleb Hopkins, Pittsford's first town supervisor and War of 1812 hero, for the town of his birth, Pittsford, Vermont.

The Erie Canal passes through the town.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 23.4 square miles (60.6 km²), of which, 23.2 square miles (60.1 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (0.81%) is water.

The Town of Pittsford is located in the southeastern portion of Monroe County approximately eight miles from the city of Rochester, New York. The Town of Mendon lies to the south, the Town of Perinton to the east, the Towns of Henrietta and Brighton to the west, and the Towns of Brighton and Penfield to the north.

History

The early history of the town is marked by the punitive Marquis Denonville expedition against the Seneca tribe in 1687.

In 1788, Massachusetts abandoned its claim to this region in favor of New York. The District of Northfield was formed in Ontario County in 1792, which became the Town of Northfield in 1796. As Northfield was subdivided in the following years, a final split formed the towns of Pittsford and Henrietta in 1814.

The Adsit Cobblestone Farmhouse, Cole Cobblestone Farmhouse, Gates-Livermore Cobblestone Farmhouse, Mendon Cobblestone Academy, Mendon Presbyterian Church, Miller–Horton–Barben Farm, Sheldon Cobblestone House, Stewart Cobblestone Farmhouse, and Whitcomb Cobblestone Farmhouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1820	1,582		—
1830	1,832		15.8%
1840	1,983		8.2%
1850	2,061		3.9%
1860	2,028		−1.6%
1870	1,974		−2.7%
1880	2,236		13.3%
1890	2,129		−4.8%
1900	2,373		11.5%
1910	3,634		53.1%
1920	4,614		27.0%
1930	7,192		55.9%
1940	7,741		7.6%
1950	9,413		21.6%
1960	15,156		61.0%
1970	25,058		65.3%
1980	26,743		6.7%
1990	24,497		−8.4%
2000	27,219		11.1%
2010	29,405		8.0%
Est. 2014	29,570		0.6%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,219 people, 9,448 households, and 7,341 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,173.7 people per square mile (453.2/km²). There were 9,709 housing units at an average density of 418.6 per square mile (161.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 92.61% White, 1.60% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 4.57% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.34% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.30% of the population.

There were 9,448 households out of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.4% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $109,344, and the median income for a family was $119,509. Males had a median income of $70,780 versus $39,336 for females. The per capita income for the town was $42,723. About 1.5% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Pittsford has the highest average household income in New York State, North of the New York City metropolitan area.

Education

Public schools are administered by the Pittsford Central School District.

The District has received the New York State Governor's Excelsior Award for quality. It costs $13,900 per year to educate a Pittsford student. Barker Road Middle School and Calkins Road Middle School have also received an award in 2006 and 2009 as one of the national "Schools to Watch".

The District has two high schools, Pittsford Sutherland and Pittsford Mendon. Sutherland plays its athletics as the Knights while Mendon is known as the Vikings. The two schools have a combined football team, known as the Panthers. The two schools have a long-standing rivalry in basketball, culminating with the annual Rainbow Classic game held at the University of Rochester. Adding to the many successful sports teams in Pittsford, NY, the Pittsford Mendon Vikings soccer team has a strong tradition, holding the New York State record of seven state championships. Pittsford's swimming program is ranked overall 22nd in the nation, with girls being ranked 12th and having won 14 straight sectional championships, and boys being ranked 22nd, having won 13 straight titles.

The District has renovated many of its schools and built some entirely new facilities. In 2006, it completed work on Calkins Road Middle School, a middle school for students that will be attending Sutherland High School. The other middle school is Barker Road.

Pittsford has five elementary schools, Jefferson, Park, Thornell, Mendon Center, and Allen Creek. They are all named for the roads on which they're located.

Pittsford also has two colleges within five miles of its town center: St. John Fisher College and Nazareth College.

The Rochester Japanese School (RJS; ロチェスター日本語補習校 Rochesutā Nihongo Hoshūkō), a weekend Japanese program, is held at the Christ Clarion Presbyterian Church of Pittsford.

Industry and commerce

Pittsford's access to the Erie Canal was the main driver of commerce in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of the old buildings and barns on the canal have been converted into restaurants, cafes and shops. Concerts, boat tours and other events highlight this area in the warmer months.

Two large malls, Eastview Mall in Victor, and The Marketplace Mall in Henrietta, and Pittsford Plaza, a large shopping center located on NY 31 on the west side of the town are important commercial areas. Pittsford is the home of one of the largest Wegmans stores in the state. The Pittsford store is both the flagship store and a major test center for the company, as it is used to test out new ideas, such as mini-restaurants and small pet stores attached to the main building.

A golf tournament on the LPGA tour has been held each June at Locust Hill Country Club, on the border of Pittsford and Henrietta, since 1977. In 2010 this event was elevated to one of the four women's major golf championships as the LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans.

Oak Hill Country Club, located in Pittsford, hosted the 1995 Ryder Cup; the 1956, 1968 and 1989 United States Opens; and the 1980, 2003, and 2013 PGA Championships.

The NFL Buffalo Bills have their summer training camp at St. John Fisher College.

Once the home of many family-owned farms, much of Pittsford's farms have become suburban housing developments. A notable exception is the Knickerbocker family farm, located on Knickerbocker Road in the southeast part of town. The farm has been growing corn, wheat and other crops for 150 years. Pittsford is one of the few communities to have a Town-wide Green plan which attempts to conserve farm and park land for the future.

The Pittsford Chamber of Commerce works with businesses inside the Town and Village of Pittsford.

Government

Pittsford town hall

The town is governed by an elected Town Supervisor and four other elected members of the Town Board. The Town Supervisor is William A. Smith, Jr., elected in November 2013. The other members of the Town Board are Mary Gehl Doyle, Karen W. Green, Jared C. Lusk and Matthew J. O'Connor. Officers appointed by the Supervisor and Town Board include the Town Clerk, Linda Dillon, and the Commissioner of Public Works, Paul Schenkel.

Town Supervisors

Name	Tenure		Name	Tenure		Name	Tenure
Silas Nye	1796–1797 1799		William C. Rawley	1854		Paul M. Spiegel	1966–1987
Noah Norton	1798		Thomas Wilcox	1857		Margaret Freeman	1988–1993
Ezra Patterson	1800–1804 1806–1807 1811 1814		Isaac Sutherland	1858		William A. Carpenter	1994–November 2012
Augustus Griswold	1805		Daniel Kingsley	1859–1860 1863		Sandra J. Zutes	Appointed to vacancy 12/2012-12/2013
William McKinstry	1808		Jarvis Lord	1861		William A. Smith, Jr.	January 2014–present
Caleb Hopkins	1809		Nathan K. Welch	1864
Stephen Lusk	1810 1826–1828		Patrick Malone	1865–1872 1879
Samuel Spafford	1812–1813		Francis A. Scherer	1873–1874
Nathan Nye	1815–1816		George A. Goss	1875–1877 1880 1888–1898
Samuel Fall	1817		Samuel H. Stone	1878 1884–1885
Simon Stone III	1818–1825		J.M. Wiltse	1881–1883
Nathan Calhoun	1829–1832 1838–1839		Thomas Spiegel	1886–1887
John Armstrong	1833–1834		Burton N. Wiltse	1898–1899
Ephraim Goss	1835–1836 1847–1848 1855		Charles G. Schoen	1899–1903
Solomon Stone	1837 1843–1845 1856		Jared W. Hopkins	1904–1909 1925–1931
Marvin Hopkins	1840 1842 1846 1850 1862		George A. Hicks	1910–1925
Ira Bellows	1841		Howard R. Bacon	1932–1933
Wales M. Huntington	1849		Charles H. Westerman	1934–1943
Elias Matthews	1851		Edward D. Seward	1944–1959
Horace Wheeler	1852–1853		F. Ross Zornow	1960–1965

Emergency response in Pittsford

Access to emergency services is obtained by dialing 9-1-1, which connects the caller to the City of Rochester's Emergency Communications Department (9-1-1 Center). The Monroe County Sheriff's Department provides primary law enforcement for the town.

The Pittsford Fire Department, staffed by volunteers, provides fire protection, rescue, and non-transport emergency medical services for the town. There are 2 fire stations, one located in the village.

The Pittsford Volunteer Ambulance provides Basic Life Support with trained Emergency Medical Technicians. Advanced Life Support services are provided by the Southeast Quadrant Mobile Critical Care Unit (SEQ MCCU).

Sports

Professional golf regularly comes to Pittsford. The PGA Championship and the U.S. Open have been held at Oak Hill Country Club, as was the 1995 Ryder Cup. The Xerox Classic Tournament on the Nationwide Tour comes every August. Through 2014, the Wegmans LPGA tournament had been held yearly in June, at Locust Hill Country Club through 2013, and in 2014 at Monroe Golf Club. Oak Hill Country Club hosted the 2013 PGA Championship tournament. The University Athletic Association is based in Pittsford. Sports teams of both Pittsford high schools are regularly featured in local publication, the Brighton-Pittsford Post.

Notable people

• Charles August - Businessman and founder of Monro Muffler Brake
• Tyson Beckford - Model and actor, attended Pittsford Mendon High School
• John Curran - Film director
• Nicole Fiscella - Isabel Coates on Gossip Girl
• Steve Gadd - Jazz drummer, born in Irondequoit, New York; attended high school in Pittsford
• Teddy Geiger - Pop musician and songwriter
• Ephraim Goss (1806–1877) - lawyer and state senator
• Mike Jones - Major League Baseball player
• David Lanz - Grammy-nominated New Age pianist
• Christopher Lasch - Historian, moralist, and social critic
• Henry Lomb - co-founder of Bausch & Lomb Company
• Chuck Mangione - Jazz musician
• Pamela Melroy - Astronaut, lived in Pittsford as a child
• Cathy Morse - Professional golfer
• Adam Podlesh - Professional football player
• Henrik Rummel - Olympic athlete, won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games
• Joy Tanner - Nora MacDonald on Disney's Life With Derek
• Kevin Rahmlow - Ernst & Young professional
• Abby Wambach - Soccer player grew up in Pittsford
• Leehom Wang - Mando-pop singer-songwriter previously lived in Pittsford
• Gerald B. Zornow- 1916-1984- Chairman of Eastman Kodak Co.- Grew up in Pittsford.

Communities and locations in the Town of Pittsford

• Pittsford – The Village of Pittsford.

External links

• Pittsford Chamber of Commerce
• Town of Pittsford website
• Historic Pittsford website