This article is about the city in New York. For other uses, see Utica. Utica (Yunę́ˀnare•θ[1] in Tuscarora) is a city in the American state of New York, and the county seat of Oneida County. The City of Utica is situated within the region referred to as the Mohawk Valley and the Leatherstocking Region in Central New York State. Utica has an extensive park system, with winter and summer sports facilities. Utica and the neighboring city of Rome are principal cities of the Utica–Rome, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Oneida and Herkimer counties.
History
Early history
Utica was first settled in 1773, on the site of Fort Schuyler which was built in 1758 and abandoned after the French and Indian War. The settlement eventually became known as Old Fort Schuyler when a miliary fort in nearby Fort Stanwix was renamed Fort Schuyler during the American Revolution, and gradually evolved into a village. The perhaps apochrophal account of Utica's naming suggests that around a dozen citizens of the Old Fort Schuyler settlement met at the Bagg's Tavern to discuss the name of the emerging village. Unable to settle on one particular name, the name Utica was drawn from several suggestions, and the village thereafter became associated with Utica, Tunisia, the ancient Carthagian city; Utica expanded its borders in subsequent charters in 1805 and 1817[2] During the American Revolution the original settlement was destroyed by Tories and Native Americans.
The Welsh
Utica, Oneida County in Central New York witnessed the development of one of the largest and certainly the most influential Welsh community in the United States. Suffering from poor harvests in 1789 and 1802 and dreaming of land ownership, the initial settlement of five Welsh families soon attracted other agricultural migrants, settling Stueben, Utica and Remsen townships. Adapting their traditional agricultural methods, the Welsh became the first to introduce dairying into the region and Welsh butter became a valued commodity on the New York market. Drawing on the size of the local ethnic community and the printing industry of Utica, Oneida County became the cultural center of Welsh-American life by 1830. The Welsh-American publishing industry included 19 different publishers who published 240 Welsh language imprints, 4 denominational periodicals and the influential newspaper Y Drych (see Y Drych).
Utica rises to national prominence
Bird's-eye view of Utica in 1855
Utica's location on the Erie Canal stimulated its industrial development. The middle section of the Canal, from Rome to Salina, was the first portion to open in 1820. The Chenango Canal, connecting Utica and Binghamton, opened in 1836, and provided a further stimulus for economic development by providing water transportation of coal from Northeast Pennsylvania.
Utica was well positioned to benefit from the Erie Canal, the civil engineering marvel of its time. Utica was the virtual half-way point for canal travelers, thus making the town the perfect stop-over point for weary travelers. During the planning stage of the canal the cotton looms that would make Utica famous were in their infancy, and a vigorous real estate market in the town had ballooned lot prices tenfold since the turn of the 19th century. An anonymous traveler noted that by 1829, nearly a decade since the canal's completion, Utica had become "a really beautiful place . . . [and Utica's State Street] in no respect inferior to [Broadway] in New York." Utica, along with other burgeoning towns such as Syracuse, would benefit from the fact that the Erie Canal ran directly through town.[3]
By the late 19th century, Utica had become the home of the textile industry of the United States, boasting dozens of mills. The city still served as a Northeast crossroads, hosting the day's most celebrated personalities. Samuel Clemens lectured to a sold-out Utica crowd in 1870, where Clemens noted in personal correspondence that he brought down the house "like an avalanche."[4]It was during this time that Utica hosted the 1884 New York State Republican Convention, an event covered in great detail in Edmund Morris' Pulitzer Prize winning biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, in which Morris describes Utica at this time as "a shabby canal-town in the middle of the Mohawk Valley."[5]. Senator Roscoe Conkling, a leading GOP lawmaker of the Stalwart political faction, resided in the city at this time, and figured as the region's most historically significant politician until local native James Schoolcraft Sherman was elected the 27th Vice President of the United States, serving under President William Howard Taft.
Utica during the World War years
In the wake of the demise of the textile industry, Utica became a major player in the tool and die industry, which thrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eventually declining in the late 20th century. Like the textile industry before it, the machine tool industry largely forsook Utica for the American South, with one notable example being The Chicago Pneumatic Company, which shuttered its extensive manufacturing facility in Utica in 1997 and relocated to Rock Hill, South Carolina.
By the mid-20th century, virtually all of the textile mills closed and migrated to the American South. In the 1930s through the 1950s Utica became nationally if not internationally known as "Sin City" for the extent of its corruption and control by the political machine of Rufus P. Elefante.[6][7][8]
In the early and mid-20th century, Utica had become a major manufacturing center for radios, manufactured by the General Electric company, which, at one time, employed some 8,000 workers there, and was once known as: "The radio capital of the world." However, by the mid-1960s, General Electric had moved its radio manufacturing to the Far East. In the early 1990s, GE's Light Military Electronics operation in Utica was sold to Lockheed Martin and soon closed altogether.
Utica synonymous with "Rust Belt" decline
Like many industrial towns and cities in the northeastern Rust Belt, Utica has experienced a major reduction in manufacturing activity in the past several decades, and is in serious financial trouble; many public services have been curtailed to save money. Suburban Utica, particularly the towns of New Hartford and Whitesboro, have begun to experience suburban sprawl; this is common in many Upstate New York cities, which are suffering from what the Sierra Club termed "sprawl without growth," although recently notable efforts have been made to revitalize the Downtown and Oneida Square areas of Utica by planning the construction of quality apartment housing. The city's economy is heavily dependent on commercial growth in its suburbs, a trend that is characterized by development of green sites in neighboring villages and does little to revitalize the city itself. Because of the decline of industry and employment in the post-World War II era, Utica became known as "The City that God Forgot." In the 1980s and early 1990s, some of Utica's residents could be seen driving cars with bumper stickers that read "Last One Out of Utica, Please Turn Out The Lights," clearly taking a more humorous stand on their city's rapid population loss and continued economic struggles.
'Second Chance City': Utica in the 21st century
Boehlert Center at Union Station
City leaders and local entrepreneurs tried to build on the city's losses. In 1996 the former GE-cum-Lockheed facility was purchased by Oneida County's Industrial Development Association for lease to ConMed Corporation (founded by Utica local Eugene Corasanti) for use as a manufacturing facility and the company's worldwide headquarters, bringing 500 new jobs to the area [1]. The Boehlert Center at the newly restored, historic Union Station in downtown Utica is a regional transportation hub for Amtrak and the Adirondack Scenic Railway.
Despite the obvious economic growth in its suburbs, Utica continues to be the focus of regional economic revitalization efforts, most notably in the area of arts and entertainment. The recent expansion of the Stanley Theatre and the popularity of Utica College Pioneer Men's Division III Hockey continue to attract people to a downtown that was quite desolate in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Night life in Utica has been significantly affected with the recent Saranac Thursday Night party sponsored by the F.X. Matt Brewing Company with proceeds donated to the United Way. Since its inception in 1998, the festivities, which include beer, soft drinks, food, and live music, has continued to draw thousands to Utica's westside brewery district, invigorating nearby taverns and eateries.
The arrival of a large number of Bosnian immigrants over the past several years has stanched a population loss that had been steady for more than three decades.[9] Bosnian immigrants now constitute about 10% of the total population of Utica. Other recent immigrant groups have arrived from Somalia, Cambodia, and Thailand.
This influx of refugees from many war-torn nations and politically oppressive regimes has drawn mainstream national media attention, from The New York Times (see citation above) to Reader's Digest. Reader's Digest dubbed Utica the "Second Chance City" in an article chronicling the crucial role that immigrants have traditionally played in invigorating Utica's political, economic, and social life; the article argues that Utica now hosts thousands of immigrants that have taken advantage of the city's affordable housing and entry-level skilled manufacturing jobs to start a new life, a trend that began nearly thirty years ago.[10]
Building off of this trend, Mayor David Roefaro has recently given Utica the moniker "Renaissance City." [11]
Geography and climate
The Erie Canal, the Mohawk River, and the New York State Thruway pass through the north part of the city. The city is adjacent to the border of Herkimer County, New York.
Utica is located at 43°5′48″N, 75°13′55″W (43.096569, -75.231887)[12] in the Mohawk River Valley region of New York State.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.6 square miles (43.0 km²), of which, 16.4 square miles (42.3 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km²) of it (1.57%) is water.
Snowfall
Average Season Snowfall : 98.9"
2004-05 Final Snowfall Total: 93.4" 2005-06 Final Snowfall Total: 106.8"
Demographics
| Historical populations |
| Census |
Pop. |
|
%± |
| 1820 |
2,972 |
|
—
|
| 1830 |
8,323 |
|
180% |
| 1840 |
12,782 |
|
53.6% |
| 1850 |
17,565 |
|
37.4% |
| 1860 |
22,529 |
|
28.3% |
| 1870 |
28,804 |
|
27.9% |
| 1880 |
33,914 |
|
17.7% |
| 1890 |
44,007 |
|
29.8% |
| 1900 |
56,383 |
|
28.1% |
| 1910 |
74,419 |
|
32% |
| 1920 |
94,156 |
|
26.5% |
| 1930 |
101,740 |
|
8.1% |
| 1940 |
100,518 |
|
−1.2% |
| 1950 |
100,489 |
|
0% |
| 1960 |
100,410 |
|
−0.1% |
| 1970 |
91,611 |
|
−8.8% |
| 1980 |
75,632 |
|
−17.4% |
| 1990 |
68,637 |
|
−9.2% |
| 2000 |
60,651 |
|
−11.6% |
| Est. 2007 |
58,475 |
|
−3.6% |
As of the 2000 census,[13] there were 60,651 people, 25,100 households, and 14,231 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,710.0 people per square mile (1,432.3/km²). There were 29,186 housing units at an average density of 1,785.3/sq mi (689.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.42% White, 12.92% African American, 0.28% Native American, 2.21% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.16% from other races, and 2.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.79% of the population.
There were 25,100 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.5% were married couples living together, 16.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.3% were non-families. 37.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,916, and the median income for a family was $33,818. Males had a median income of $27,126 versus $21,676 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,248. About 19.8% of families and 24.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.0% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.
Culture
Cultural venues
Utica is the home of the Utica Memorial Auditorium, a 4,000 seat multi-purpose area, built in 1959, and was fully renovated in the 1990s. The "new" Madison Square Garden, in New York City, was modeled after the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The Utica Devils, one-time farm affiliate of the NHL New Jersey Devils, featured several future NHL stars. The "Utica Aud" now hosts the Utica College Pioneers Division III Hockey Program. The men's hockey program set a NCAA Division III Men's Hockey attendance record for the 2007-2008, averaging 2,791 fans a game.[14]
Utica contains several different music venues. Utica Monday Nite features exceptional blues and jazz musicians from the area. Utica is also home to the Utica Symphony Orchestra.
The Stanley Theatre for the Performing Arts, a 2,945 seat Mexican-baroque movie palace, built in 1928, and designed by prolific theater architect Thomas Lamb, that is fully restored and serves as the premier cultural showcase for the region. The theatre reopened in the spring of 2008, immediately hosting live music acts and performances by the Broadway Theatre League.
The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Museum of Art, housed in an imposing International-style building, built in 1960, and designed by noted architect Philip Johnson, who considered it to be his finest work.
Sculpture Space,Inc.,<http://www.sculpturespace.org> founded in 1975 in a former building of the Utica Steam Engine and Boiler Work, is an award winning residency program for professional sculptors that is known world wide.
The Utica Public Library was founded in 1838, and its current home, a handsome structure on Genesee Street, was dedicated in 1903, and the suject of intensive renovations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The library was funded by local business men Theodore Faxton, and Thomas and Frederick Proctor. [15]
Open throughout the year, The Children's Museum of History, Natural History, Science and Technology attracts local visitors and global tourists.
The Utica Zoo is home to the world's largest watering can. The 2,000 pound can is 15 feet 6 inches (4.7 m) in height and 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter.citation needed
Utica is home of the Hotel Utica, a Renaissance Revival structure, built in 1912, that was meticulously restored in 1999-2001, and was patterned on the restoration of The Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., at a cost of $13 million, by Joseph R. Carucci and Charles N. Gaetano. It is currently part of the Clarion Collection hotel chain.
Annual events
Utica is the site of the annual Boilermaker Road Race (the largest 15K road race in the United States), and the National Distance Running Hall of Fame. Universities in Utica include Utica College, State University of New York Institute of Technology, Pratt at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Mohawk Valley Community College, and Utica School of Commerce. Nearby colleges include Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, Herkimer County Community College in Herkimer, New York, and Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. The Stanley Theater of Utica is one of the best known theatres in the eastern U.S.
In the winter, Utica hosts Central New York's largest winter festival, Snowfari. The event draws thousands of winter recreational enthusiasts while raising funds for the Utica Zoo. Snowfari offers regional qualifiers for Winter Empire State Games events, SBX (snowboarder cross), mountain bike races, and The Cardboard Sled Race, to name a few events.
Throughout the summer, Utica has a celebration of Visual Arts, Performing Arts, History and Heritage, called Utica Monday Nite.
Music and art
Utica is also home to a thriving art community, largely due to the existence of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Museum of Art, Sculpture Space, Inc., and community art space The Resonance Center, as well as the Central New York Community Arts Council. The music scene in Utica is also the birthplace of noted musicians such as Joe Bonamassa.
Food and drink in Utica
Utica has a vast array of ethnic cuisines. The Utica area has a plethora of Italian-American restaurants, some that date back generations. More recent immigrant groups to the city have contributed distinct culinary options including Bosnian, German, Chinese, Lebanese, and Thai.
Unique foods that are popular in the area include:
- Halfmoons (a black and white pastry made with a large (5") dark chocolate cake style cookie iced on one half with white cream frosting and the other half with dark chocolate frosting) [2]
- Tomato Pie (a rectangular thick-crust bread covered with a sweet tomato sauce, served cold)citation needed
- Chicken Rigatoni (Chicken Riggies as called by the locals) Riggie Fest occurs every May in the city[3].
- Greens (a generally spicy dish made of escarole with various ingredients (depending on recipe) such as potatoes, sausage, hot peppers)citation needed
- Sausage and peppers on Italian Bread
Utica has many offerings of ethnic food, mostly Italian and Polish but also Greek and Lebanese.
Media
Television
- WKTV-NBC NEWSChannel 2 - Central New York's NBC Affiliate
- WTVH-CBS 5 Central New York's CBS Affiliate
- WUTR- Central New York's ABC Affiliate
- WFXV- Central New York's FOX Affiliate
Newspapers
Education
Utica's sole remaining public high school is Thomas R. Proctor High School, its original public high school, Utica Free Academy, founded in 1814, having shuttered its doors in 1987. Utica is also home to Notre Dame High School, a small parochial high school, founded in 1959 by the Xaverian Brothers.
Utica is the home of Utica College, founded in the 1946, as a four-year college affiliated with Syracuse University. While Utica College became fully independent from Syracuse University in 1995, its undergraduates still receive Syracuse degrees. Utica College was originally an urban campus in the Oneida Square area of the city. In 1961, it relocated to a modern 128-acre (0.52 km2) campus on the west side of Utica. Currently a new science wing and additional buildings are being added to the campus.
Utica is also the home of Mohawk Valley Community College, which was founded in 1946 as the New York State Center of Applied Arts and Sciences at Utica, and was the first community college established in New York State. MVCC found its true raison d'etre during the 1950s as a training facility for unemployed textile workers looking operate technical equipment at a new General Electric plant.[16] The college became a fully-accredited institution in 1960, and has gradually expanded its campus along Utica's Culver Avenue.
State University of New York Institute of Technology is located along the Utica and Marcy New York border, though it was first established in 1969 on Utica's westside. A four year institution, SUNY-IT offers a variety of technology based majors and master's degree programs.
Educational institutions
Local inventions
The "Union Suit"- a type of red-colored long underwear jumpsuit with a buttoned flap on the backside was invented in Utica.citation needed
The first color newspaper, "The Utica Saturday Globe" was published in Utica.[17]
The Utica Crib was named for the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica where it was heavily used in the 19th century to confine patients who refused to stay in their beds [4].
Utica in popular culture
- In an episode of The Office, Michael, Jim and Dwight drive to Utica, where Karen is the Regional Manager of the town's Dunder-Mifflin branch. Although they did not film this in Utica, locals from there had to send in objects to decorate the set in order for it to look like an actual Utica-style office. The Utica branch is one of a handful of the fictional company's satellite offices, and has been mentioned sporadically throughout the show.
- Jenny McCarthy's character in Jenny was originally from Utica.
- Superintendent Chalmers of The Simpsons mentions to Principal Skinner in an episode that he is from Utica (and has never heard of a steamed ham) after Skinner says he is from Upstate New York
- Also in "The Simpsons" episode from season 5 titled "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)", Grampa watches an old newsreel of Springfield's early period of prosperity. The newsreel ends with the narrator declaring, "So watch out, Utica, Springfield is a City on...the Grow!"
- Dick Clark got his start in a mailroom at Utica radio station WRUN
- In the film Poor Pretty Eddy, Leslie Uggams character is from Utica.
- Is mentioned in Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl.
- Bobbi Anderson, the protagonist of Stephen King's novel The Tommyknockers, is from Utica. Her family still lives there, and some small portions of the book take place in Utica. Ironically enough, Stephen King's daughter is a preacher in a church located in Utica, who also resides in Utica.
- In the 2000 made for MTV movie 2ge+her about a fictional boy band, the final contestant in the Mr. Teen New York pagent is Mr. Utica. When asked what the biggest problem with the world today was, he can't think of the right words and flubs the answer. It is unknown who wins the pagent as the scene cuts before they announce the winner.
Notable Uticans
- T.J. Allard, Television host (most notably from "Good Day Live" and "3 Men & A Chick Flick")
- Vaughn Bodé, famed underground cartoonist, creator of Cheech Wizard
- Joe Bonamassa, internationally touring blues musician and songwriter
- Steven Brill, film writer/director
- Dave Cash, Major League Baseball player (most notably of the Philadelphia Phillies - retired - member of first All-Black starting lineup)
- Gary Chalmers, school superintendent on The Simpsons (fictional)
- Roscoe Conkling, US Senator and leading Republican party leader in late 19th century
- Robert Esche, NHL hockey player (Philadelphia Flyers/Team USA 2006)
- Wayne R. Felton, Bishop
- Annette Funicello, Former Mouseketeer, actress
- Matt Hamill, UFC Fighter
- Ward Hunt, Supreme Court Justice
- Francis Kernan, United States Senator
- Lech Kowalski, documentary film maker
- Mark Lemke, Major League Baseball player (most notably of the Atlanta Braves - retired - World Series Champion, 1995)
- Mark Mowers, NHL hockey player (Anaheim Ducks)
- Ron O'Neal, actor
- Tiffany Pollard, reality star ('New York' - I Love New York)
- Horatio Seymour, 1868 Democratic Party presidential nominee
- James Schoolcraft Sherman, 27th Vice President of the United States
- Will Smith, NFL football player (New Orleans Saints)
- Andy Van Slyke, Major League Baseball player (most notably of the Pittsburgh Pirates - retired - All-Star in 1988, 1992, 1993; 5 consecutive Golden Gloves; 2 Silver Slugger awards)
- Steve Wynn, developer
- Michael S. Zarnock, Published Author/Columnist and 2 Time Guinness World Record Holder
- James Zogby, political advocate, founder of Arab-American Institute
- John Zogby, pollster, founder/CEO of Zogby International
- John Frink, writer for "The Simpsons", and person for which the character Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr is based on
- Tommy DeCarlo, Lead vocalist for the band Boston
- Lou Lazzaro, Hall of fame racecar driver
References
- ^ Rudes, B. Tuscarora English Dictionary Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999
- ^ .["Utica." from The History of Oneida County; Oneida County Historical Society, 1977].
- ^ Wedding of the Waters, by Peter Bernstein, 2005.
- ^ Mark Twain: A Life, by Ron Powers, 2005.
- ^ The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, by Edmund Morris, 1979
- ^ In Gotham's Shadow, Alexander R Thomas, State University of New York Press, 2003
- ^ "The Sin City Scandals" at Utica College
- ^ Guts and Glory, Tragedy and Triumph: The Rufus P. Elefante Story, Nancy Kobryn, Mohawk Valley Community College Library Collection
- ^ Zielbauer, Paul (1999-05-07). "Looking to Prosper as a Melting Pot; Utica, Long in Decline, Welcomes an Influx of Refugees", The New York Times.
- ^ "Second Chance City," Reader's Digest, August 2007, pp. 116-123.
- ^ New city slogan: 'Renaissance City' - Utica, NY 13501 - The Observer-Dispatch
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Home is where the hockey is - Utica, NY 13501 - The Observer-Dispatch
- ^ Utica: Then and Now, by Joseph Bottini and James Davis, Arcadia Publishing, c. 2007 p. 16
- ^ "General Electric Helps Rebuild the Mohawk Valley," by Julia G. Diliberto, pp. 85-103, from Building the Mohawk Valley, David G. Wittner, ed., Center for Historical Research, Utica College, 2003.
- ^ Utica:then and Now, by Joseph Bottini and James Davis, Arcadia Publishing, 2007, p. 48
External links
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