Malone (village), New York

Malone
—  Village  —
Nickname(s): The Star of the North
Malone Location within the state of New York
Coordinates: 44°51′2″N 74°17′21″W / 44.85056°N 74.28917°W / 44.85056; -74.28917Coordinates: 44°51′2″N 74°17′21″W / 44.85056°N 74.28917°W / 44.85056; -74.28917
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Franklin
Government
– Mayor	Brent Stewart
Area
– Total	3.2 sq mi (8.3 km2)
– Land	3.2 sq mi (8.3 km2)
– Water	0.0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	712 ft (217 m)
Population (2010)
– Total	5,911
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
– Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	12953
Area code(s)	518
FIPS code	36-44710
GNIS feature ID	0956316
Website	http://www.malonevillage.com/

Malone is a village located in the Town of Malone in Franklin County, New York, USA. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census.

The Village of Malone is in the center of the Town of Malone. Malone is the county seat of Franklin County.

A campus of the North Country Community College is in Malone.

History

The community was first settled around 1802 and the village incorporated in 1853.

The British sacked the village during the War of 1812.

Malone was a staging point for one arm of the 1866 and 1870 Fenian Raids of Canada, which took place at many points along the U.S.-Canada border. The Fenian Brotherhood (Fenians) attempted to capture Canada as a bargaining tool in the British occupation of Ireland. (Also see: http://www.canadiangenealogy.net/fenian/fenian-mobilization.htm)

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the book Farmer Boy about Almanzo Wilder, who attended Franklin Academy here. The school is now the site of the Malone Middle School. The Wilder Homestead is a historical site that lies about five miles from the village of Malone in the town of Burke.

The First Congregational Church, likely the one mentioned in Farmer Boy, was the first Christian congregation founded and the first church building built in Franklin County, NY. There is anecdotal evidence that the second church building (1852–1883) was one of the final stops in the Underground Railroad. A tunnel for the persons seeking freedom can still be found in the church's basement.

The 19th Vice President of the United States, William Almon Wheeler, resided here. His mansion is now the site of the Elks Lodge on Elm Street. For more History on Wheeler see the U.S. Senate website.

In 1935, Dutch Schultz had his tax evasion trial moved from Manhattan to Malone. After a media-saturated trial before a Malone-area jury, he was acquitted.

The town suffered a natural disaster in the 1998 Ice Storm.

Economy

Primarily a farming community, Malone is surrounded by dairy farms and potato producers. Once known for growing hops.

The New York Central and Rutland Railroads once had major switching and maintenance yards here.

Products produced included Sno-Pruf waterproofer for boots, woolen winter wear produced by Ballard Mill, and Sioux-Mocs slippers. Malone became known as the snowmobile capital of the US when a local farm equipment dealer agreed to become exclusive distributor for Bombardier Recreational Products east of the Mississippi.

A number of prisons have been built in the vicinity, becoming major employers. Some residents see this shifting of primarily urban-based prisoners and their accompanying visitors as degrading quality of life and safety for the community, while others value the economic benefit the prisons bring.

Unintended consequences of New York State policy may have impacted Malone's water quality. Once the public water supply system was a gravity-fed source of untreated spring water drawing from a natural aquifer several miles south of the village in Chasm Falls. NYS health regulations required the village to remove long-used iron pipes which locals would use as a safe water source when visiting their summer camps on local lakes and ponds. Next, the initial feeder reservoir was ordered to be roofed over, then the influx of prisons caused a number of water towers to be built. The formerly untreated, pure spring water was then ordered to be chlorinated for the sake of the general population, prompted by the development of significant prisoner populations.

A once growing and popular local microbrewery based in nearby Lake Titus was put out of business by a requirement to install expensive water treatment and purification equipment. The local brewer which was expanding into a regional footprint, could not afford to treat water as directed, both because of costs, and because the very nature of the Titus Brewery's offerings would have been changed by using treated water. Ironically, brewing, once an important aspect of providing safe drinking water for communities, was done in by a desire to provide safe drinking water. Titus Brewery

The latest economic controversy to impact the community is the advent of significant wind farms in the region. Seen by local landowners as a prospective source of income, wind farms are embraced as being sources of clean energy by some, and eyesores by others. Several decades ago, local farmers staged protests against the eminent domain-backed incursion of 765mw transmission lines which crossed their pastures to bring Saint Lawrence Seaway power through Northern New York to downstate urban users. Windfarms have spawned fewer safety concerns and more equitable economics for locals, which seems to be accelerating community acceptance.

Tourism is a major economic contributor, with Titus Mountain drawing skiers, and the 36-hole Robert Trent Jones designed Malone Golf Club drawing golfers from Montreal.

Geography

Malone is located at 44°51′2″N 74°17′20″W / 44.85056°N 74.28889°W / 44.85056; -74.28889 (44.850676, -74.28907)^[1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²), of which, 3.2 square miles (8.2 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.94%) is water.

Malone is at the convergence of US Route 11, New York State Route 11B, New York State Route 30, and New York State Route 37. County Road 25 enters the village from the south.

The Salmon River flows through the village.

Climate

The climate of Malone is hemiboreal (Köppen climate classification "Dfb")

Climate data for Malone, NY
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °F (°C)	23 (−5)	26 (−3)	35 (2)	49 (9)	64 (18)	72 (22)	76 (24)	74 (23)	66 (19)	54 (12)	41 (5)	29 (−2)	50.8 (10.4)
Average low °F (°C)	4 (−16)	7 (−14)	18 (−8)	31 (−1)	44 (7)	53 (12)	57 (14)	55 (13)	47 (8)	36 (2)	27 (−3)	13 (−11)	32.7 (0.4)
Precipitation inches (mm)	2.36 (59.9)	2.00 (50.8)	2.24 (56.9)	2.74 (69.6)	2.92 (74.2)	3.87 (98.3)	4.19 (106.4)	4.63 (117.6)	3.65 (92.7)	3.27 (83.1)	3.41 (86.6)	2.53 (64.3)	37.81 (960.4)
Source: The Weather Channel[2]

Notable natives

Notable natives include:

• William Almon Wheeler served as Vice President of the United States under Rutherford Hayes. Is buried at Morningside Cemetery in Malone.
• Almanzo Wilder, is often thought to be a Malone native. However, he actually grew up on a farm in the nearby town of Burke, New York. He was the husband of Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder, who told his story in the novel Farmer Boy. The son of James and Angeline Day Wilder, he was born on his family's farm near Malone on February 13, 1857. The family left the area in 1871 to settle in Minnesota.
• Bob Mould, the frontman for 1980s punk rock group Hüsker Dü
• Major League Baseball pitcher Tom Browning also graduated from the local high school, Franklin Academy.
• Brian Doe, author of "Barley & Gold" and more known as co-author for the first book in a three part series, "Waking God" currently lives in Malone and teaches English at Malone's Franklin Academy High School.
• Child Actor Jaymie Dornan also currently lives in Malone and attends Franklin Academy High School, in the eleventh grade.
• Howard Siler, former USA bobsledder, also coached the 1988 Winter Olympic Games Jamaican Bobsled Team. In the movie "Cool Runnings", though very fictional, John Candy's character portrayed Siler.
• Orville Gibson, known for creating the Gibson Guitar Corporation, was born in nearby Chateaugay and is buried at Morningside Cemetery in Malone.

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 6,075 people, 2,583 households, and 1,511 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,920.0 people per square mile (742.3/km²). There were 2,847 housing units at an average density of 899.8 per square mile (347.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.58% White, 0.49% Black or African American, 0.46% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.44% from other races, and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.05% of the population.

There were 2,583 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.6% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.5% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the village the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 81.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.9 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $25,200, and the median income for a family was $35,077. Males had a median income of $29,200 versus $20,163 for females. The per capita income for the village was $15,960. About 10.8% of families and 16.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 11.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

1. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
2. ^ "Monthly Averages for Malone, NY". Weather.com. 2010. http://preview.weather.com/outlook/health/fitness/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USNY0854. Retrieved 2010-11-18. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Early history of the Malone area
• North Country Community College
• Titus Mountain Ski Area
• Malone Golf Club
• Read or listen to the Oral history of Malone in the late 19th early 20th Centuries
• Franklin County Historical & Museum Society