Editing Ava, New York

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Ava, New York
|settlement_type          = [[Administrative divisions of New York#Town|Town]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Ava Town Hall Ava NY Jan 12.jpg
|imagesize                = 250px
|image_caption            = Ava Town Hall, January 2012
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = Oneida County New York incorporated and unincorporated areas Ava highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 260px
|map_caption              = Location in [[Oneida County, New York|Oneida County]] and the state of [[New York (state)|New York]].

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[New York (state)|New York]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in New York|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Oneida County, New York|Oneida]]
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = [[Town Council]]
|leader_title             = [[Town Supervisor]]
|leader_name              = Keith Redhead ([[United States Libertarian Party|L]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Town Of Ava: Boards & Committees: Town Board [Digital Towpath]|url=https://townava.digitaltowpath.org:10016/content/Boards/View/1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240909165952/https://townava.digitaltowpath.org:10016/content/Boards/View/1|archive-date=2024-09-09|access-date=2024-12-28}}</ref>
| leader_title1           = [[Town Council]]
| leader_name1            = {{Collapsible list
 |title       = Members' List
 |frame_style = border:none; padding: 0;
 |title_style = <!-- (optional) -->
 |list_style  = text-align:left;display:none;
 |1           = • Steve Perez ([[United States Republican Party|R]])
 |2           = • David E. Rundle ([[United States Democratic Party|D]])
 |3           = • John A. Doiron ([[United States Republican Party|R]])
 |4           = • Richard J. Bator ([[United States Republican Party|R]])
}}
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref  = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2016">{{cite web|title=2016 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2016_Gazetteer/2016_gaz_place_36.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 97.66
|area_land_km2            = 97.56
|area_water_km2           = 0.10
|area_total_sq_mi         = 37.70
|area_land_sq_mi          = 37.67
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.04

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2010 United States Census|2010]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 676
|population_density_km2   = 7.22
|population_density_sq_mi = 18.69

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|elevation_footnotes      = 
|elevation_m              = 417
|elevation_ft             = 1368
|coordinates              = {{coord|43|24|59|N|75|27|43|W|region:US-NY|display=inline}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 13303
|area_code                = [[Area code 315|315]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 36-03309
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 0978701
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 2016
|pop_est_footnotes = <ref name="USCensusEst2016"/>
|population_est = 704
}}
'''Ava''' is a [[Administrative divisions of New York#Town|town]] in [[Oneida County, New York]], United States. The population was 680 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALPL2020.P1?q=ava,%20new%20york |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref>

The '''Town of Ava''' is in the north central part of the county. Ava is north of the city of [[Rome, New York|Rome]].

==History==
Ava was formed from [[Boonville, New York|Boonville]] on May 12, 1846. It was the second to last town to be created in the county, followed only by [[Forestport, New York|Forestport]] in 1869.<ref name="Wager">Our County and Its People:A Descriptive Work on Oneida County, New York, Daniel Elbridge Wager, The Boston History Company, 1896</ref>

===Early settlers=== 
Ava was settled in 1798 by Ebenezer Harger, who two years prior moved to [[Whitestown, New York|Whitestown]] from [[Connecticut]]. The next settlers were Zephaniah and Abner Wood. Isaac Knight arrived from Rhode Island in 1798 or 1799. Around 1800, Philo Harger, Benjamin Jones, Lemuel Wood, Justus Beardsley and Salmon Bates (who opened the town's first tavern in his house) arrived. Daniel Buck, an [[American Revolutionary War]] veteran arrived from [[Massachusetts]] in 1800. Other early settlers were Rickerson Kenyon, Joseph Hunt, Remember Kent, who built an early [[saw-mill]], and Bates, Barnard, Fanning, Adams, Beck, Tiffany.

The first child born in Ava was Chauncey Harger in March 1801. The first saw-mill was built in 1801 by Philo Harger and Benjamin Jones.<ref name="Durant">History of Oneida County New York, Samuel W. Durant, Philadelphia, Everts & Gariss, 1878</ref>

===Land===
The town is made up of land of:<ref name="Wager"/>

*Adgate patent, a 45,000 acre patent issued to [[Matthew Adgate]]. Adgate was a member of the NY assembly and the US constitutional convention.
*the Oothoudt Patent, a 16,052 acre patent issued to [[Henry Oothoudt]] in 1786 (about one have of Ava lies within this patent). Oothoudt was a delegate to the [[New York Provincial Congress]] in 1775 and 1776, [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]] assemblyman in the 3rd New York State Legislature, 1779–1780, one of three commissioners of forfeitures under the New York Act of Attainder which seized the property of loyalists, and delegate to the US constitutional convention.
*the Gore Patent, a 15,360 acre patent issued to [[Thomas Machin]] in 1787 (one of the several Machin Patents). Machin was an engineer and surveyor and used his skills in support of the [[American Revolutionary War]].
*the Scriba Patent, land first acquired by John and Nicholas Roosevelt in 1791 from the New York State Land Commission. This patent was for 530,000 acres situated in present Oswego and Oneida counties. Approximately 499,000 acres of the Roosevelt Tract became Scriba's Patent in 1793 as partial payment of debts owed to the Scriba Bank by the Roosevelts.
*the Franklin and Robinson Tract (also called the Quaker Tract), a 75,000 acre parcel purchased from George Scriba in 1795.
*the Muller Tract, a 1615-acre previously part of the Franklin and Robinson Tract that whose mortgage was foreclosed upon by Rembrandt Muller.

===Civic formation===

Ava was created by the legislature on May 12, 1846. The first town meeting was held on May 26, 1846. The following positions were filled: [[Town supervisor|Town Supervisor]], [[Town Clerk]], [[Justice of the peace|Justices of the Peace]] (4), [[Tax assessment|Assessor]]s (3), Commissioner of Highways (3), [[Overseer of the poor|Overseers of the Poor]] (2), [[Tax collector|Collector]], [[Constable]]s (4), [[School Superintendent|Superintendent of Schools]] (1), Sealer of Weights and Measures.<ref name="Wager"/><ref name="Durant"/>

===Name===

Ava was named after the [[Kingdom of Ava]].<ref name="Wager"/>

===Commerce===
An early road connecting [[Fort Stanwix]] to [[Carthage, New York|Carthage]] passed through the town. It was known as the old "French Road" from the time that Carthage was a [[French people|French]] settlement on the [[Black River (New York)|Black River]].<ref name="Wager"/>

A [[plank road]] was constructed through Ava connecting [[Rome, New York|Rome]] and [[Turin, New York|Turin]] by the Rome and Turin Plank-Road Company in 1848. It was abandoned in 1855.<ref name="Wager"/>

The area was primarily agricultural before becoming more dependent on dairying in the second half of the 19th century, when six cheese factories were located in Ava.<ref name="Wager"/>

The [[Ava Town Hall]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1992.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|37.7|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|37.7|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|0.04|sqmi|km2}} (0.08%) is water.

Ava is located within the [[Tug Hill Plateau]] region of New York, and the northern town line is the border of [[Lewis County, New York|Lewis County]]. The [[Mohawk River|Mohawk]] and [[Black River (New York)|Black rivers]] run through Ava, and Fish Creek forms Ava's western border with the Town of [[Annsville, New York|Annsville]].

==Demographics==
{{More sources|date=December 2024}}{{US Census population
|1850= 1027
|1860= 1260
|1870= 1160
|1880= 1039
|1890= 860
|1900= 706
|1910= 563
|1920= 615
|1930= 588
|1940= 520
|1950= 452
|1960= 518
|1970= 541
|1980= 664
|1990= 792
|2000= 725
|2010= 676
|estyear=2016
|estimate=704
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2016">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2016.html|title=Population and Housing Unit Estimates|access-date=June 9, 2017}}</ref>
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title=Census of Population and Housing |publisher=Census.gov |access-date=June 4, 2015 }}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 725 people, 257 households, and 193 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|19.2|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 285 housing units at an average density of {{convert|7.6|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the town was 98.21% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.97% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.14% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.14% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.55% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.83% of the population.

There were 257 households, out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.9% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $31,750, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $27,500 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $13,406. About 14.9% of families and 20.1% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 14.9% of those age 65 or over.

== Communities and locations in Ava ==
*'''Ava''' &ndash; The [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of Ava is on [[New York State Route 26|NY 26]].
*'''[[Flint, New York|Flint Town]]''' &ndash; A hamlet south of Ava.
*'''Redmond Corner''' &ndash; A hamlet in the northeastern corner of the town.
*'''[[Webster Hill]]''' &ndash; An elevation located northeast of Flint Town.

==Notable people==
*[[Hiram Cronk]], the last surviving veteran of the War of 1812 at the time of his death lived in Ava from 1837 until his death in 1905
*[[Nat Foster]], legendary [[American Revolutionary War]] scout and Indian fighter, who is a possible inspiration for [[James Fenimore Cooper]]'s character of "[[Natty Bumppo]]," was buried in a family plot just west of Ava Corners on the West Ava Road. A modern marker was placed there in 1937 by Rev. Clarence Mason, his biographer.

==References==
{{portal|New York (state)}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.townofava.org  Town of Ava, New York]

{{Coord|43|25|08|N|75|28|46|W|type:city_region:US-NY|display=title}}

{{Oneida County, New York}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Utica–Rome metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Towns in Oneida County, New York]]
[[Category:Towns in New York (state)]]