Gideon Hawley, a missionary, arrived in this area in 1753. William Cooper purchased land that now is marked, in part, by Cooperstown. Major settlement began around 1788. The Town of Otsego was organized while still in Montgomery County in 1788 and is the oldest town in the county.
People of note
James Fenimore Cooper, author who lived much of his life in Cooperstown and died there.
Daniel DeWitt Tompkins Davie, American photographer, was born in Otsego.
Isaac Singer, inventor who worked at a machine shop in Fly Creek in the 1830s. The family of his future business partner, Edward C. Clark, has been a major benefactor of Cooperstown since the 19th century.
Jane Lippitt Patterson, writer, editor
David Shipman, the "Leatherstocking" and "Deerslayer" of James Fenimore Cooper’s novels, was a resident of Town of Otsego living in a log cabin on the east bank of Oaks Creek.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which, of it is land and of it is water. Otsego Lake forms most of the eastern boundary, and Canadarago Lake forms part of the western boundary. New York State Route 80 is a highway along the west side of Otsego Lake. New York State Route 28 comes into Cooperstown from the south. At Cooperstown, NY-80 joins NY-28 and they run concurrent towards Fly Creek. Past Fly Creek the NY-28/NY-80 concurrency ends at New York State Route 205 in the western part of Otsego. NY-80 joins NY-205 and continues concurrently toward the west. NY-28 continues on northward out of the town.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,904 people, 1,701 households, and 1,029 families residing in the town. The population density was 72.0 people per square mile. There were 2,193 housing units at an average density of 40.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.75% White, 0.64% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.69% Asian, 0.26% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.54% of the population. There were 1,701 households out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.85. In the town, the population was spread out with 22.0% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $40,036, and the median income for a family was $48,320. Males had a median income of $33,684 versus $22,868 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,305. About 4.5% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.
