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Essex is a town in Essex County, New York, United States overlooking Lake Champlain. The population was 621 at the 2020 census. The town is named after locations in England.

The town is on the eastern edge of the county. It is south-southwest of Burlington, Vermont, which is on the opposite shore of Lake Champlain, south of Plattsburgh, south of Montreal, Quebec, and north of Albany. Essex is inside the Adirondack Park.

History

At the time of first European contact ca. 1530, the area on the western shores of Lake Champlain were inhabited by Mohawk people of the Iroquois confederacy, with substantial Abenaki (Algonquian) contact.

Essex was part of a land grant made to Louis Joseph Robart by King Louis XV of France. The land grant was lost after the British took over the region after 1763.

The region was first settled around 1765 with the intention of forming a baronial estate like those of the lower Hudson River for landowner and investor, William Gilliland.

The town was formed from a part of the town of Willsboro in 1805. It was an important shipbuilding location and port, but that economy collapsed after 1849 with the beginning of railroad lines in the region.

The Essex Village Historic District, Foothills Baptist Church, and the Octagonal Schoolhouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 15.88%, is water.

The eastern border of Essex is the Vermont state line in the middle of Lake Champlain.

New York State Route 22 is a north–south highway in Essex.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 713 people, 302 households, and 202 families residing in the town. The population density was 22.5 people per square mile (8.7/km² ). There were 522 housing units at an average density of 16.5 per square mile (6.4/km² ). The racial makeup of the town was 99.7% White, 0.1% Native American, and 0.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.1% of the population.

There were 302 households, out of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.3% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $37,596, and the median income for a family was $40,104. Males had a median income of $26,905 versus $19,583 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,087. About 10.8% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The Town of Essex is a municipal corporation governed by a five-member elected town board. The board is composed of one Supervisor (two-year term beginning every even-numbered year) and four Councilmembers (four terms, of which two begin concurrently with each new supervisor term). The Town Clerk is an elected two-year term position, beginning every even numbered year. The Highway Superintendent is an elected two-year term position beginning every even numbered year and is run independently from the Town Board, except for receiving annual funding of the Highway Department budget. The Town Justice is an elected four-year position and is run independently from the Town Board, except for receiving funds on a monthly basis. There are three duly elected Assessors who each serve a four-year term, with two of them staggering their term two years apart from the other.

Education and culture

Most of Essex is served by Willsboro Central School District, though the Boquet Valley Central School is also used. Additionally, some travel across Lake Champlain to Vermont or drive north to Plattsburgh for private school.

For twenty years,