Litchfield is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 1,513 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Litchfield, Connecticut, the source of some early settlers of the city. The town of Litchfield is in the southwestern part of the county and is southeast of Utica.

History

Settlement began around 1786 at Wheelocks Hill. The town of Litchfield was established from part of the town of German Flatts in 1796. Part of the town was used to form the town of Winfield in 1816. 12-year-old Sara Anne Wood disappeared from Litchfield in 1993. "Litchfield Penitentiary", a fictional women's prison in Litchfield, is the setting for the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 77.8 km2, of which 77.7 km2 are land and 0.2 km2, or 0.20%, are water. The western town line is the border of Oneida County.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,453 people, 515 households, and 399 families residing in the town. The population density was 49.1 PD/sqmi. There were 670 housing units at an average density of 22.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 98.62% White, 0.07% African American, 0.55% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population. There were 515 households, out of which 39.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.0% were married couples living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.18. In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.3% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $42,404, and the median income for a family was $48,750. Males had a median income of $30,163 versus $23,587 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,431. About 5.3% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Communities and locations in Litchfield