Aurora, Cayuga County, New York

Aurora is a village and college town in Cayuga County, in the Town of Ledyard, north of Ithaca, New York, United States. The village had a population of 724 at the 2010 census, of which more than 400 were college students.

In 1980, its Aurora Village-Wells College Historic District, with more than 50 contributing properties, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From 2001 to 2007, redevelopment of historic properties in the village by entrepreneur Pleasant Rowland and the Aurora Foundation earned compliments, as well as provoking citizen concern, a lawsuit joined by state and national preservation organizations, and national media attention.

Wells College, an institution of higher education for women founded by Henry Wells in 1868, is located in Aurora. It became coeducational in 2005, and since then enrollment has risen.



History
Prior to European-American settlement, a major Cayuga Indian village, Chonodote, stood near the present-day site of Aurora village. Chonodote was destroyed by the Sullivan Expedition in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War, when the Cayuga were allies of the British army. Some members of the Cayuga tribe returned after the war to live on a Seneca reservation that once included the north end of Cayuga Lake.

Part of the village was within the Central New York Military Tract, which the United States used after the Revolutionary War to pay off veterans with deeds to land. The Tract was part of the five million acres (20,000 km²) of lands which the Iroquois were forced to cede in the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. Many veterans from New England settled in the Finger Lakes area.

During the 19th century, the village was a minor center for manufacturing. A stopping point for canal traffic after the Cayuga-Seneca Canal opened, the village was incorporated in 1837. It became a port, shipping produce from farmers in the region up Cayuga Lake, then by the Erie Canal to other major markets. Academies and seminaries for basic education were established in 1800. Notable schools include Cayuga Lake Academy which was founded in 1797, chartered by New York State Regents in 1801 and remained and its second structure built in 1835 remained until the building was destroyed by fire on April 19, 1945. Many prominent graduates attended the school including President Millard Filmore, William Brookfield, the founder of the Bushwick GlassWorks and William E. Leffingwell (1855–1927), State Assemblyman and founder of the Glen Springs Sanitarium. In 1868 Henry Wells founded Wells College for the education of women.

With changes in transportation, development of the Midwest, and other economic shifts, local agriculture declined in importance. The village is a local center with well-preserved buildings composing the Aurora Village-Wells College Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has come to rely on Wells College as the major employer. During the school year, nearly half the population of the village is made up of students. Since the renovations in the town and the college's 2005 decision to enroll men and become co-educational, enrollment has increased. The student body, with enrollment of 567 in 2007, grew by a third since a few years ago.

Also listed on the National Register of Historic Places are the Aurora Steam Grist Mill (1976) and Mosher Farmstead (2003).

Notable natives and residents

 * Frances Folsom Cleveland, First Lady of the United States and Wells College alumna.
 * Robert P. T. Coffin, writer, poet and professor.
 * Victor Hammer, painter, sculptor, printer, and typographer.
 * Edwin B. Morgan, Congressman, a founder of the New York Times.
 * Lewis Henry Morgan, pioneering anthropologist and social theorist.
 * Laura Nader, anthropologist and Wells College alumna.
 * Thomas J. Preston, Jr., President pro tem of Wells College. He married the widow Frances Folsom Cleveland.
 * John Morgan Richards, cigarette and patent medicine entrepreneur.
 * Pleasant Rowland, founder of the "American Girl" series of historic dolls, books, clothing and toys; Wells College alumna.
 * Edward Searing, Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction and educator.
 * Henry Wells, founder of Wells College, Wells-Fargo and the American Express Company.

Changes since 2000


In 2000, the board of Wells College endorsed a master plan that proposed two new buildings, demolition of some existing modern buildings and moving some historic brick buildings. They also voted to close the Aurora Inn and look for a private developer to redevelop and manage it. The college's proposed changes raised concerns, especially as some of the properties and master plan were within the historic district.

In 2001, entrepreneur Pleasant Rowland together with Wells College founded the Aurora Foundation. They teamed up to renovate the historic Aurora Inn on Main Street. They acquired additional properties to renovate, including the EB Morgan House. In press accounts, Rowland expressed her vision of enhancing the historic character and attractiveness of the community, and of improving the local economy. Founder of the enormously successful "American Girl" dolls, she was a 1962 alumna of Wells College.

Rowland's and the Aurora Foundation's projects have drawn some criticism and concern. Because the village is so small, its fate and governance are already intertwined with Wells College, which owns half the land in the village. Critics felt that the Foundation was too quick to renovate some historic structures and did not follow necessary review procedures, including that required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

They founded the Aurora Coalition and brought suit to stop the renovation of the inn and demolition of a neighboring grocery. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Preservation League of New York joined the suit because of concerns that local government was not paying enough attention to state laws requiring thorough review of projects in historic districts. The controversy continued as the Foundation and proposed renovation projects gained national attention. Because some affected buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, interested parties outside the community needed to review the renovations, which increased interest in the projects.

Critics were concerned about Rowland's not being a native to the area, despite her time there while attending Wells College from 1958 to 1962. They complained that she had not been accessible for consultation with the community. There was an underlying concern that Rowland's wealth allowed her to impose a vision on the community.

The State Supreme Court ruled against the Aurora Coalition and allowed the renovation of the Aurora Inn to proceed. The Appeals Court allowed the lower court's decision to stand.

Continuing economic problems in central New York and residents' differing ideas about the village kept the controversy alive. The issues served as inspiration for the satirical novel Happyland, by author J. Robert Lennon. It began running in serial form in Harper's Magazine in July 2006.

In May 2007, Rowland ended her association with Wells College and shut down the Aurora Foundation. Spokespeople said redevelopment of the village was substantially completed. Although Rowland put the local home decor firm Mackenzie-Childs up for sale, she also purchased an additional building in the village and set up a new limited liability corporation to operate her properties.

Geography
Aurora is located at 42.74667°N, -76.69944°W (42.746782, -76.699442).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.0 sqmi, all of it land.

The Village of Aurora is in the Town of Ledyard on the east shore of Cayuga Lake. Long Point State Park is south of the village.

The village's lakefront is dominated by the 3.0 mile long "Lake Path," which is a public hiking trail running from the south end of Wells College to the Levana cliffs. The trail follows the right of way of the former Cayuga Southern Railroad Company, passing through privately owned property as a prescriptive easement. The trail passes through a village park and Wells College's beach. There are four village maintained access points and two Wells College maintained access points. The trail predates the 1880 creation of the railroad by approximately 50 years.

New York State Route 90, a north-south highway, passes through the village.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 720 people, 181 households, 106 families residing in the village. The population density was 750.4 people per square mile (289.6/km²). There were 225 housing units at an average density of 234.5 per square mile (90.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 91.53% White, 1.81% African American, 0.28% Native American, 3.06% Asian, 1.39% from other races, and 1.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.94% of the population.

There were 181 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the village the population was spread out with 13.2% under the age of 18, 46.1% from 18 to 24, 14.6% from 25 to 44, 15.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 37.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 31.0 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $57,222, and the median income for a family was $64,583. Males had a median income of $31,667 versus $32,250 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,526. About 1.8% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.