Lockport
Town
Town of Lockport
Location in Niagara County and the state of New York
Coordinates: 43°9′2″N 78°40′37″W / 43.15056°N 78.67694°W / 43.15056; -78.67694
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Niagara
Government
• Type	Town Council
• Town Supervisor	Mark C. Crocker (R)
• Town Council	Members' List • Tom Keough (R) • Darlene DiCarlo (R) • Pat Dufour (R) • Paul Siejak (R)
Area [1]
• Total	44.90 sq mi (116.28 km2)
• Land	44.84 sq mi (116.14 km2)
• Water	0.05 sq mi (0.13 km2)
Elevation	630 ft (192 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	20,529
• Estimate  (2016)[2]	20,094
• Density	448.10/sq mi (173.01/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	14094-14095
Area code	716
FIPS code	36-43093
GNIS feature ID	0979165

Location within Niagara County

Lockport is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 20,529 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from the series of canal locks on the Erie Canal. The locks lift boats from the lowland of Lake Ontario past the Niagara Escarpment.

The Town of Lockport is in the south-central part of the county and surrounds the City of Lockport.

History

Many early settlers were Quakers and helped make the area a bastion of anti-slavery. The Town of Lockport was established in 1824 from Cambria and Royalton, the same year the canal was completed up to the City of Lockport.

Cold Springs Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.^[3]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 44.7 square miles (115.8 km²), of which 44.6 square miles (115.6 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km²) (0.18%) is water.

The south border of the town is formed by Tonawanda Creek. The Erie Canal passes through the north part of the town and the City of Lockport. New York State Route 78 marks the west town line of Lockport.

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2010, there were 20,529 people, 8,293 households, and 5,482 families residing in the town. There were 8,680 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 91.1% White, 4.8% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.6% of the population.

(2000 Census) There were 7,537 households, out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.4% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.3% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $45,977, and the median income for a family was $55,414. Males had a median income of $41,166 versus $25,810 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,194. About 6.5% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.8% of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Most of Lockport Town is in the Lockport City School District. Small portions of the town are in Akron Central School District, Newfane Central School District, Royalton-Hartland Central School District, and Starpoint Central School District.^[6]

Notable natives

See City of Lockport

Communities and locations in the Town of Lockport

• Carlisle Gardens (43°10′45″N 78°39′21″W / 43.17917°N 78.65583°W / 43.17917; -78.65583) – A community bordering the east side of Lockport;^[7] primarily a residential neighborhood of detached, single family homes built in the 1920s. A typical neighborhood home is about 3 bedrooms, 1-1/2 baths approximately 1,500 sq. ft. Median age ca. 1925. Entry into the neighborhood is from Chestnut Ridge Road or Davison Road onto Windermere Road.^[8]
• County Fair Grounds – North of the City of Lockport
• Highland Park – A location north of the City of Lockport, next to the fair grounds^[9]
• Nottingham Estates – A location east of the City of Lockport, and north of Route 31
• Rapids – A hamlet on the south border of the town
• Raymond (43°06′25″N 78°40′02″W / 43.10694°N 78.66722°W / 43.10694; -78.66722) – A location northwest of Rapids^[10]
• Ridge Lea – A location north of the City of Lockport
• Shooktown (43°09′34″N 78°39′47″W / 43.15944°N 78.66306°W / 43.15944; -78.66306) – A location east of the City of Lockport.^[11] The stretch of Akron Road from Lincoln Avenue northwest to the Lockport city line was settled by the Shook family approximately in the 1830s. The name began appearing on local maps in 1927, long after the last Shook owned property there, and was printed as late as 1978.^[12]
• South Lockport – A community bordering the south side of the City of Lockport
• Wrights Corners (43°13′21″N 78°40′37″W / 43.22250°N 78.67694°W / 43.22250; -78.67694) – A hamlet on the north town line, located at the junction of NY 78 (Lockport-Olcott Road / Lake Avenue) and NY 104 (Ridge Road), partly in the Town of Newfane^[13]
• City of Lockport – Located in the north-central part of the town
• Lockport Mall – A former shopping mall located on Transit Road in South Lockport. As of 2007, the mall was all but vacant, and demolition began in April 2011.^[14] Demolition had been mostly completed but was halted on 9 June 2011, after finding a number of federally protected baby seagulls had been nesting the roof.^[15] All that remains of the former mall is The Bon-Ton department store building, which was turned into a VA Clinic and storage cubes. A new Walmart supercenter now lies on part of the former footprint of the mall.

References

External links

• Town of Lockport webpage
• "For Lockportians Anywhere In The World...It's The Road Home"