Ovid is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 2,311 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the Roman poet Ovid, a name assigned by a clerk interested in the classics. The Town of Ovid contains a village also called Ovid, one of the county seats of Seneca County. The town is in the southern part of the county, extending between Seneca Lake to the west and Cayuga Lake to the east, and southeast of Geneva, New York.
History
The town was the native land of the part of the Iroquois. The Sullivan Expedition passed through this area in 1779. The region was part of the Central New York Military Tract used to pay soldiers of the American Revolution. Andrew Dunlap, the first settler in the town, is believed to be also the first settler in the county. The town was formed in 1794, while still part of Onondaga County. Part of Ovid was taken in 1802 to form the Town of Hector. In 1817, part of Ovid was used to form the Town of Covert. Ovid was, at times, on the south border of Seneca County as some of the other county towns were assigned to adjacent counties.
As of the census of 2010, there were 2,311 people, 958 households, and 592 families residing in the town. The population density was 74.8 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.1% White, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.6% of the population. There were 958 households out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.2% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.99. In the town, the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 20, 6.6% from 20 to 24, 19.5% from 25 to 44, 31.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $43,702, and the median income for a family was $53,750. Males had a median income of $35,476 versus $35,385 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,015. About 10.9% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 21.7% of those age 65 or over.
Housing
There were 1,211 housing units at an average density of 39.2 per square mile. 20.9% of housing units were vacant. There were 958 occupied housing units in the town. 712 were owner-occupied units, while 246 were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% of total units. The rental unit vacancy rate was 8.5%. NOTE: It is common for resort communities to have higher than normal vacant house counts. Many are vacation homes which are seasonal and not regularly occupied.
