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Greater Binghamtons Current Claims to Fame Early history The city was named after William Bingham, a wealthy Philadelphian who bought the surrounding land in 1792. Before that, the first known people of European descent to come to the area were the troops of Gen. John Sullivan in 1779, during the American Revolutionary War. Binghamton was incorporated as a village in 1834 within the Town of Binghamton and became a city in 1867. Binghamton was nicknamed the “Parlor City” for its neat streets and attractive homes, including many stately mansions. Ironically, many of those stately mansions are now “funeral parlors” (i.e., funeral homes.) During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many immigrants moved to the area, finding an abundance of jobs, leading them to call it the “Valley of Opportunity.” From 1923 to 1927 Binghamton was the Northeast headquarters of the infamous Ku Klux Klan. Binghamton is noted as being the birthplace of both IBM and the Link flight simulator. Until the Cold War ended, the area never experienced an economic downfall, due in part to the generosity of employers (IBM and Endicott-Johnson) and also because of its defense-heavy industries. This concentration of the defense industry made the area the seventh most likely area in the nation for a nuclear attack during the Cold War, and the population peaked at around 85,000 in 1950. Binghamton is known as the "Carousel Capital of the World" for its collection of historic carousels located in public parks around the area. Famous residents
Geography Binghamton is located at (42.102225, −75.911797). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.6 km² (11.0 mi²). 27.0 km² (10.4 mi²) of it is land and 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (5.43%) is water. The north branch of the Susquehanna River passes through downtown Binghamton. This branch rises in eastern New York and receives a number of tributaries above Binghamton, most notably the Chenango, which joins from the north just outside of the business district. Major floods occurred in the city during 1865, 1936 and 2006. In 1935 the Chenango suffered a flash flood, which was damaging, but less severe once it joined the larger Susquehenna. So much water came from the Chenango, that the Susquehanna flowed backwards for some distance above the confluence. In 1972 the remnants of Hurricane Agnes flooded the entire Susquehanna basin downstream from Binghamton, but the damage in the city was minor. In 2006, the Susquehanna flooded again in Binghamton causing massive amounts of damage in the city and the entire metropolitan area. The Exchange Street and Washington Street bridges were flooded and the height of the river surpassed the floodwalls on North Shore Drive, Court Street, and Conklin Ave. The damage was extensive enough to force large scale evacuations, including that of Lourdes Hospital which was unable to pump water out of its basement fast enough. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 47,380 people, 21,089 households, and 10,417 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,752.3/km² (4,539.2/mi²). There were 23,971 housing units at an average density of 886.5/km² (2,296.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.18% White, 8.41% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 3.33% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.71% from other races, and 3.07% from two or more races. 3.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 21,091 households out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.6% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.6% were non-families. 40.3% 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 2.19 and the average family size was 2.96. In the city the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 13.2% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males. The area surrounding Binghamton, referred to in marketing as "Greater Binghamton" - or the Binghamton MSA by the census bureau - is approximately 252,000 people. The Binghamton MSA is comprised of all of Broome County and neighboring Tioga County. Alternatively defined, the number of people living in an approximately 40 mile radius of the city is approximately 300,000. This count includes Broome, Tioga, and portions of Cortland, Delaware and Chenango Counties in New York and portions of Susquehanna and Bradford counties in Pennsylvania. The median income for a household in the city was $25,665, and the median income for a family was $36,137. Males had a median income of $28,774 versus $23,014 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,067. About 16.5% of families and 23.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.4% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over. Binghamton University, the top ranked public school in the Northeast United States has a significant impact on the Greater Binghamton area. Students add 14,000 people to the population each school year. The University contributes an economic impact of $700 million in Greater Binghamton and $894.5 million in New York State. The region today Binghamton refers to itself as the “carousel capital of the world,” with six antique Herschell carousels in the region - one of the world's largest functional collections of old-style carousels. The Ross Park Zoo is the fifth-oldest zoo in the nation. The Binghamton area is the home of the regional dish known as the spiedie, celebrated at the annual Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally, held at Otsiningo Park. The area’s Kopernik Observatory is the largest public observatory in the northeast. Employers Current major companies in the area include Binghamton University, Rockwell Collins, L-3 Communications, Lockheed-Martin, Endicott Interconnect Technologies, The Raymond Corporation, Gannett, Frito Lay, Maines Paper & Food, BAE Systems, American International Group and Universal Instruments. Education Primary and secondary education in Binghamton is provided by the Binghamton City School District, Broome County Catholic Schools, and the Susquehanna School at South Bridge. The city's school district (http://www.binghamtonschools.org) serves over 6,100 students in 7 elementary schools(Calvin Cooledge, Horrace Mann, Thomas Jefferson, (Arthur) McArthur, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson) 2 middle schools (East Middle School & West Middle School), and 1 high school (Binghamton High School Patriots). The are 6 Catholic schools in the county (http://www.broomecatholicschools.org), 3 of them, 2 grade schools (Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Thomas Aquinas) and 1 high school (Seton Catholic Central Saints), are located in the city. The Susquehanna School is a private middle school which has a capacity of 72 full-time students. Binghamton University, part of the SUNY system, is located in nearby Vestal. It offers not only highly ranked education, but a great deal of arts, and division 1 athletics (Bearcats). Broome Community College (Hornets), also a part of the SUNY system, is located in nearby Dickinson and Davis College (formerly Practical Bible College) also call Greater Binghamton home. The Ridley-Lowell Business & Technical Institute and the Elmira Business Institute provide short-term career-oriented training. Metro area The nearby suburb of Vestal has many strip malls along a five-mile stretch of the Vestal Parkway (NY 434). Johnson City has the region’s largest indoor mall, the Oakdale Mall. Other area shopping centers include the MetroCenter, in downtown Binghamton. Sports The area is home to the Eastern League's Binghamton Mets (AA affiliate of the New York Mets) and the Binghamton Senators (AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators). Division I College Sports are played at Binghamton University (a member of the America East Conference). Division III College Sports are played at Broome Community College. The area is also home to two semi-pro football teams, the Broome County Dragons (members of the Empire Football League) and the Southern Tier Green Machine (members of the North American Football League). The area is also home to an annual Professional Tennis Challenger, the dBI Tennis Challenger, part of the USTA pro circuit (Known as the Frito-Lay Tennis Challenger in years past). Tennis greats such as Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake and more recently Andy Murray found their start with this tournament, using it as a spring board to the U.S. Open (tennis) *. The B.C. Open was an official PGA Tour event that was held annually from 1971 to 2006 at Endicott's En-Joie Golf Course. (note the 2006 B.C. Open, had to be played in Verona, N.Y. due to extensive damage during the June 2006 Flooding of the Susquehanna River.) Since 1978 a round of the American Motorcyclist Association's Motocross Championship has been held at the nearby Broom-Tioga Sports Center each year. Transportation The area is served by a medium-sized regional airport, Greater Binghamton Airport. Destinations served by the airport include Philadelphia (US Airways), Detroit (Northwest Airlines), Atlanta (Delta Air Lines), and Dulles Airport serving Washington, D.C. (United). Intercity bus service is also available out of downtown Binghamton via Greyhound (with destinations including Syracuse, Albany, Rochester, Scranton, Toronto, Washington, D.C., and New York City.) Shortline/Coach USA also service the region, with daily departures to Olean, Elmira, Turning Stone Casino, Utica, Atlantic City, Monticello, and New York City. Public transportation in Binghamton and outlying areas is served by BC Transit, a service of the Broome County Department of Transportation. Students at Binghamton University are also served by OCCT (Off-Campus College Transport). Government The current Mayor of Binghamton is Matthew T. Ryan (D). Points of interest Binghamton in Books Sister Cities Binghamton has two sister cities, according to Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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