Heuvelton

Heuvelton is a small rural, incorporated, village located in St. Lawrence County in the state of New York, United States. It is approximately six miles (9.7 km) southeast of the city of Ogdensburg, in the Town of Oswegatchie. It is the only village in the town. Route 812 bisects the village, and is named State Street within the village boundaries. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 714.

Prior to settlement, a Native American tribe called the "Oswegatchie" inhabited the local area. The settlement that became Heuvelton was originally named "Fordsburgh" after Nathan Ford, the man who has since become known as the "Father of St. Lawrence County". He is known to have established a second home in the village (principal home in Ogdensburg) and assisted in some of the area's early development. Early on, the location was also called "East Branch," in reference to its location on the east branch of the Oswegatchie River. The current name was assumed in 1832 to honor Jacob Van den Heuvel, an immigrant from The Netherlands, who invested in several extensive improvements including mill construction, marking the first notable economic growth in the early community.[3]

The McCadam Cheese Company was founded in Heuvelton in 1876 by William McCadam. The Heuvelton packaging plant recently closed, though McCadam Cheese maintains a presence in New York, with its main production plant located in Chateaugay.[4]

Pickens Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[5]

The Heuvelton Deli, situated on the northern outskirts of the village along route 812, has been a mainstay for pizza and subs for generations. Originally the Denny Hotel was next to this location.

Pickens General Store, which sells local Amish-made goods and non electric products, is located in the historic Pickens Hall. This three-story stone structure, built-in 1858 by John Pickens, boasts a former music hall on the third floor. This music hall is where the builder's twin granddaughters (Bessie and Jessie Pickens) once performed as opera singers under the stage name "The Abbot Sisters". The building is currently undergoing renovation by the nonprofit, Heuvelton Historical Association.[6]

Located within the village limits is a hydroelectric dam that is positioned just upstream from the bridge which carries Route 812 across the Oswegatchie River. The dam is owned by Erie Boulevard Hydropower LP, and has a generation capacity of approximately 1 megawatt. Beginning in August 2017, a project to build a fish passage around the Heuvelton hydroelectric dam on the Oswegatchie River is now nearing completion and represents the latest collaboration between private business and government aimed at improving local fish habitats across the region. The new serpentine passage is designed to allow American eel, sturgeon, and other fish to traverse the dam without being injured. It will also allow the fish access to new habitat along sections of the waterway where access was previously limited. The fish passage in Heuvelton is not the first to be constructed on the Oswegatchie River, according to officials with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. A similar, but smaller passage was completed just downstream from Heuvelton at Eel Weir in 2016. Both fish passages on the Oswegatchie River are categorized as utilizing a “step-pool” design, an engineering feature that will allow fish to easily traverse difficult junctures created by hydroelectric and other dam structures.[7]

Heuvelton is home to a variety of religious denominations, which includes the following churches:

Like much of the North Country Region of New York State, Heuvelton and the surrounding region has seen hard economic times for some years as manufacturing jobs are moved to other regions or offshore. Recently however, the village business district has begun to see a revival as a number of entrepreneurs have begun to breathe new life into the fading downtown. One focus has been to capitalize on the region's history and agricultural heritage, to encourage tourism and an outlet for locally made goods and services.

Cheese production is part of the local region's agricultural heritage. While previously home to a number of cheese producers, only one large company remains in Heuvelton. A large portion of the milk produced in St. Lawrence County goes into local cheese production.

St. Lawrence Gas Company provides natural gas services to Heuvelton.[8]

Heuvelton Central School is located on Washington Street. The school serves the surrounding towns and hosts students in K-12. The school colors are purple and gold. The school mascot is the Bulldogs. Additional educational services are available through the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES (New York State boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES)), located in nearby Ogdensburg, NY.

The Girls Basketball team won the school's first State Championship in any sport on March 22, 2015, when they defeated the undefeated No. 1 ranked South Kortright Rams 61 to 54 at Hudson Valley Community College. They also won the 2016 and 2017 state championships.

Heuvelton is located at 44°37′06″N 75°24′22″W  /  44.618334°N 75.406064°W  / 44.618334; -75.406064 (44.618334, -75.406064).[9]

The Oswegatchie River flows through the village, with approximately two-thirds of the village, including the commercial district, lying on the northwest bank.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2), of which 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (10.34%) is water.

As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 804 people, 313 households, and 213 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,042.5 people per square mile (403.2/km2). There were 332 housing units at an average density of 430.5 per square mile (166.5/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 97.39% White, 0.62% African American, 0.50% Native American, 0.12% Asian, and 1.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population.

There were 313 households, out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $34,375, and the median income for a family was $38,056. Males had a median income of $30,114 versus $20,982 for females. The per capita income for the village was $16,276. About 11.3% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.