NYS Geographic Glossary (New York, Buffalo, Cheektowaga: house, subdivision, commission)

[Walter Greenspan]

Cities, Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Postal Zones in New York State


New York State is divided into counties.

County
A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to perform state functions; a "regional" government. All counties are divided into cities, towns and Indian reservations.

City
A city is a unique governmental entity with its own special charter. Cities are not sub-divided, except into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas.

Town
A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the state except that within cities or Indian reservations. Towns can be sub-divided into villages and hamlets.

Village
A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with municipal services. The pattern of village organization is similar to those of a city. A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas.

Hamlet
A hamlet is an unincorporated area in one or more towns that is governed at-large by the town(s) it is in. A hamlet is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas.

Postal Zone "City" and "Town"
A postal zone "City" and "Town" is an administrative district established by the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the mail. Postal zone "City" and "Town" may not (but are encouraged to) conform to municipal or community borders. Thus, postal zone location does not always determine city, village or hamlet location.


Please be aware: In many areas of New York State, the problem of non-conforming postal zones leads to a situation where the majority of places have a different community name in their mailing address than the community where that place is actually located.


Source: Local Government Handbook, Division of Local Government Services, NYS Department of State, 4th Edition, 1987.

[BuffaloTransplant]

Think quick: What Hamlet sided with the Confederates so they would not be drafted for service in the Civil War?

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant

Think quick: What Hamlet sided with the Confederates so they would not be drafted for service in the Civil War?

?*?*?*?*?*?

[BuffaloTransplant]

Town Line, NY (between Alden & Lancaster). They were farmers and wanted to farm the land. I didn't beleive it, but locals who have lived here for generations convinced me.

I just checked, so you can look it up: just use 'Town Line NY' as a search term and even Wikipedia has it. I was told that many of the people were Mennonites and that it was religious, but Wikipedia has different reasons.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant

Town Line, NY (between Alden & Lancaster). They were farmers and wanted to farm the land. I didn't beleive it, but locals who have lived here for generations convinced me.

According to Wikipedia, the Hamlet of Town Line is partly in the Town of Lancaster and partly in the Town of Alden in Erie County, east of Buffalo.

[Walter Greenspan]

Here's one for you:

What hamlet in which town and county in New York State has a Connecticut ZIP Code?

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant

What Hamlet sided with the Confederates so they would not be drafted for service in the Civil War?

The information supplied in the Wikipedia article on Town Line is a good story but is a myth:

According to Wikipedia, "In 1861, in the small hamlet of Town Line in upstate New York, 125 voters met and voted 85 to 40 to secede from the Union and join the Confederate States of America." ... and ... "During World War II, it was discovered that Town Line had not rejoined the Union, and on 26 January 1946, Town Line voted to officially join the Union."

Hamlets have no legal authority to vote on anything.

Because hamlets are not municipal corporations and are governed by the town(s) they are in, any vote by residents of a hamlet has no, none, nada official standing, other than as a sentiment of the residents who voted in what was nothing more than a poll.

In order for such a vote to be official, the Town Board of the Town of Lancaster, for the part of the Hamlet of Town Line in the Town of Lancaster, and the Town Board of the Town of Alden, for the part of the Hamlet of Town Line in the Town of Alden, would have needed to take such a vote.

[BuffaloTransplant]

Actually, Town Line had a railroad station (it was recently torn down, sad to say the least) and it evidentally has a weather station ( you can go to NOAA and punch in Town Line and get more accurate weather for my house than if you use Lancaster or Alden). I live on the border of the towns of Alden and lancaster, but NOT in the hamlet. I really do not know its physical boundaries, except for the road markers and the fact there is a road called, amazingly, Townline ( I think most areas have that).

However, if you search the Lancaster Historical Society, you can find the information on the Civil War. I found it bizzarre -- but older residents with families here for years say they voted to secede and the main reason was theri religion and the farming. Whether it was legal or not is another thing. I doubt it would be in papers at the Historical Society if it never occurred; it was printed up in the local paper in the past 2 or so years.

I checked the zipcode of Town Line NY and it is the same as Alden, not Lancaster. If you ever find a map of its boundaries, I'd love a link.

BTW, when you come on this site and check cities for population and demographics, there is no 'Town Line'.... and "Lancaster" ONLY refers to the Village! They do not have the right states for the town... it says about 12,000 people for Lancaster, NY and we have at least 3.5 times that, not counting any part of the (semi-existant) TownLine or the Village of Depew (yep, Depew is a village in 2 towns: Lancaster and Cheektowaga)

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant

I checked the zipcode of Town Line NY and it is the same as Alden, not Lancaster. If you ever find a map of its boundaries, I'd love a link.

You might want to check with the county planning commission/department to see if they have a map of, what they might refer to as, census communities and a map of postal ZIP Codes, and then overlay one map on the other map.