We are pleased to welcome you to the historic Town of Butternuts,
situated in the Southwestern part of Otsego County.
Butternuts has that "home town main street America" atmosphere with all of the character and friendliness of a small town while maintaining its quiet country charm.
Our goal for this website is to bring you factual information about our local government and some of the services our municipality offers its residents and visitors.
But most importantly, visit Butternuts and meet its people who know that it is not only a fine place to visit, but also a fine place to live.
History
Butternuts is generally believed to be named for three butternut (a.k.a. white walnut) trees growing from one stump that originally marked the corner of the townships of what is now New Lisbon, Pittsfield and Morris when this entire section of the county was surveyed by Richard Smith before the Revolution. Said tree was depicted as the corporate logo of the Butternuts Woolen & Cotton textile firm, but was cut down by the Lull family to build their log cabin.
In 1787, Abijah Gilbert and Jacob Morris, early owners of land in the county, were among the first who settled the town, Morris giving Gilbert land of his choice as payment for his services. Ample waterpower sites allowed for many industries in addition to agriculture that benefitted by the wide fertile valley floor along the Butternut and Unadilla.
Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 1,792 people, 715 households, and 502 families residing in the town. The population density was 33.1 people per square mile (12.8/km²). There were 902 housing units at an average density of 16.7 per square mile (6.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.32% White, 0.78% African American, 0.39% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.45% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.17% of the population.
There were 715 households out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 29.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,536, and the median income for a family was $45,368. Males had a median income of $31,473 versus $25,446 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,223. About 6.6% of families and 8.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.