Hurley, New York

Hurley is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 6,314 at the 2010 census.

The Town of Hurley is in the northeast part of the county, west of the City of Kingston. Much of the town is inside the Catskill Park. Located within the town is a hamlet and census-designated place also named Hurley.

History
In the Spring of 1662, Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch Governor of Niew Amsterdam, established the village of Niew Dorp on the site of an earlier Native American Settlement. On June 7, 1663, during the Esopus Wars the Esopus Indians attacked and destroyed the village, and took captives who were later released. England took over the Dutch Colony on September 6, 1664. On September 17, 1669, the village, abandoned since the Esopus Indian attack, was resettled and renamed Hurley. It was named after Francis Lovelace, Baron Hurley of Ireland. In 1708 two large land patents from the New York Colonial government expanded the bounds of Hurley northward to near the present boundary with the Town of Woodstock and southward to the old boundary of the Town of New Paltz.

The southern section was quickly settled by farmers and the villages of Bloomingdale and Wagondale (now Creeklocks) were established. The discovery of limestone suitable for cement made this a valuable economic area and the village of Rosendale became its center. These villages and the surrounding area became the core of the Town of Rosendale, established in 1844.

Old Hurley, the central part of the Town, remained an agricultural community of close-knit families. Farming the Esopus Valley they supplied grain to the growing colony, New England, and the American Revolutionary forces. In October, November, and December of 1777, Old Hurley was the military headquarters for General George Clinton's Continental forces and the temporary capital of New York State.

Old Hurley's Main Street is part of the National Register of Historic Sites due to its well-preserved stone houses which have served as residences for more than 300 years. Some are open to the public once a year in July on Stone House Day and one contains the Hurley Heritage Society's museum.

The northern section of the Town was a forested wilderness until the discovery, in the 1830s, of a fine quality shale. Known as Blue Stone, it was used in the construction of road curbing, sidewalks and building facades. West Hurley, Glenford, and Ashton were villages established by the quarry industry. In 1917, New York City's need for a dependable water supply resulted in land condemnation and the flooding of the valley to create the Ashokan reservoir. The flooded villages of Glenford and West Hurley were resettled on the shores of the reservoir, but Ashton was never relocated.

Parts of Hurley have been used to form the Towns of New Paltz (1809), Esopus (1818), Olive (1823), Rosendale (1844), and Woodstock (1853).

The construction of the Ashokan Reservoir inundated many communities in 1912.

In 1982, parts of the movie Tootsie were filmed at the historic Wynkoop Farm and the Hurley Mountain Inn, both in Hurley.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.0 square miles (93.2 km²), of which, 30.0 square miles (77.6 km²) of it is land and 6.0 square miles (15.6 km²) of it (16.74%) is water.

Esopus Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River, flows through the town. The eastern part of the reservoir is in the northern part of the town.

US Route 209 passes through the eastern part of the town. NY 28 crosses it east to west.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,564 people, 2,694 households, and 1,872 families residing in the town. The population density was 219.2 people per square mile (84.6/km²). There were 2,946 housing units at an average density of 98.4 per square mile (38.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.64% White, 1.40% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 1.22% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.90% of the population.

There were 2,694 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 31.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $51,055, and the median income for a family was $59,487. Males had a median income of $39,565 versus $27,238 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,864. About 4.4% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.2% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Hurley

 * Ashton – A former community, lost by the construction of the Ashokan Reservoir.
 * Ashokan Reservoir – A reservoir formed in 1917 within the Catskill Park. It is partly within the northwest part of the town.
 * Hurley – The hamlet of Hurley is in the eastern part of the town. It was temporarily the capital of New York.
 * Creeklocks – A location formerly called "Wagondale."
 * Glenford – A hamlet on the north shore of the Ashokan Reservoir, on Route 28 west of West Hurley.
 * Morgan Hill – A hamlet inside the Catskill State Park, northwest of Hurley village.
 * Old Hurley – A location in the central part of the town. Contains the Hurley Historic District.
 * Riverside Park – A hamlet south of Hurley village.
 * Rolling Meadows – A suburban community bordering Kingston.
 * Southside – A location in the town.
 * West Hurley – A hamlet on the north shore of the reservoir, on Route 28.