Whitehall is a
village located in the
town of
Whitehall in
Washington County, New York,
USA. It is part of the
Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village population was 2,667 at the 2000 census.
The village of Whitehall is located on the
Vermont border at the south end of
Lake Champlain and lies between Champlain and
Lake George.
History
The village was founded in 1759 as "Skenesboro" by Captain Philip Skene of the
British army. It was the first settlement at Lake Champlain and became an important trade center. It was on one of two routes between English and French colonies.
On May 9, 1775 Lieutenant Samuel Herrick, acting as an advance party for
Ethan Allen's attack on
Fort Ticonderoga surprised Major Skene and his small garrison. While he intended to use Skene's boats to ferry men across the lake, his party didn't arrive in time. Skene's schooner was used later to capture
St. Johns.
In 1776, General
Philip Schuyler built a small fleet of ships here. They were used by
Benedict Arnold in the
Battle of Valcour Island in October. The event led to Whitehall's modern-day claim to be the birthplace of the
United States Navy. The surviving vessels returned to be destroyed to prevent their capture. General
John Burgoyne led his forces southward through this area.
During the
War of 1812 the village was a ship building community supplying vessels for naval battles on Lake Champlain.
Historic sites & museums
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 4.8
square miles (12.5
km²), of which, 4.7 square miles (12.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (2.70%) is water.
US Route 4 and
NY Route 22 diverge at the village. Whitehall village is the north end of the
Champlain Canal, which connects the
Hudson River to
Lake Champlain.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 2,667 people, 1,104 households, and 705 families residing in the village. The
population density was 568.6 people per square mile (219.6/km²). There were 1,288 housing units at an average density of 274.6/sq mi (106.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.13%
White, 0.22%
Black or
African American, 0.19%
Native American, 0.07%
Asian, 0.82% from
other races, and 0.56% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.65% of the population.
There were 1,104 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were
married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the village the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $31,667, and the median income for a family was $42,619. Males had a median income of $31,656 versus $20,417 for females. The
per capita income for the village was $16,022. About 13.3% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.
Rail transportation
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Whitehall, operating its
Adirondack daily in both directions between
Montreal and
New York City.
