Chittenango, New York | |
---|---|
Village | |
Location in the state of New York | |
Coordinates: 43°2′45″N 75°52′26″W / 43.04583°N 75.87389°WCoordinates: 43°2′45″N 75°52′26″W / 43.04583°N 75.87389°W | |
Country | United States |
State | New York |
County | Madison |
Town | Sullivan |
Government | |
• Mayor | Michael Keville |
Area | |
• Total | 2.4 sq mi (6 km2) |
• Land | 2.4 sq mi (6 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0 km2) |
Elevation | 453 ft (138 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 5,081 |
• Density | 2,117.1/sq mi (817.4/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 13037 |
Area code(s) | 315 |
FIPS code | 36-15561 |
GNIS feature ID | 0969996 |
Website | http://www.chittenango.org/ |
Chittenango is a village located in Madison County, New York, in the United States. The village is in the south part of the Town of Sullivan. The population was 5,081 at the 2010 census. This is the birthplace of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
The name of the village is derived from the Oneida name for Chittenango Creek, Chu-de-nääng′, meaning "where waters run north." While the name "Chittenango" is often thought by locals to mean "river flowing north" or "where the waters divide and run north," a reference to the direction of water flow from the creek's point of origin to Oneida Lake, there is no derivation for these alternatives. On an 1825 map of the area, the village is called Chittening, a name used by early settlers which is thought to be derived directly from Chu-de-nääng′. According to American anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan who studied Iroquois customs and language in his 1851 book League of the Iroquois, the name "Chittenango" may have come from Chu-de-nääng′ Ga-hun′-da, a redundant combination of the Onedia terms for "Chittenango Creek" (Chu-de-nääng′) and "creek" (Ga-hun′-da).
Initial growth of this village is largely attributed to the construction of the Erie Canal which officially opened in 1825, joining Buffalo on Lake Erie with Albany, the capital of New York, and the Hudson River. The Erie Canal passes just north of the village. The Chittenango Canal Company, incorporated in 1818, constructed a canal 1.5 mi (2.4 km) in length connecting Chittenango to the Erie Canal. The village became a virtual canal town upon the construction of the Chittenango Canal Boat Landing, which featured a three-bay dry dock where canal boats were built and repaired. The canal brought prosperity, growth and expansion to the village. It created a need for inns, hotels and restaurants, and area farms and factories found the canal useful as an inexpensive and easy way to ship goods further along the canal or beyond. Because the canal connected to the Hudson River, boats were able to ship goods south to the metropolis of Manhattan.