Amherst, NY – History and Facts

Popular Place near Buffalo

The town of Amherst is found in Erie County, New York.  According to the latest census figures about 122,000 people dwell here.  That’s 5% more than in the decade before.  The town takes its name from Jeffrey Amherst who was a British Army officer back in the colonial era.  CNNMoney.com recently ranked the city among the top 100 places to live in the U.S.

Amherst is the biggest suburb of Buffalo both in size and population.  The region has enveloped most of the territory occupied by an earlier series of villages and towns such as Getzville, Eggertsville, Swormville, Snyder, and East Amherst.  Amherst lies in the northern portion of Eerie County and abuts a portion of the Eerie Canal.

Amherst is home to a number of institutions of higher learning including Medaille College, Bryant and Stratton College, Daemen College, the State University of New York, and the University of Buffalo.

The State of New York established Amherst on April 10, 1818.  Timothy Hopkins was elected as the first Town Supervisor in 1839.  In 1839, a slice of land was taken from Amherst to create the town of Cheektowaga.

Amherst covers 53 and a half square miles.  Much of the land is located on a floodplain.  Marshes were drained to allow for the building of homes and businesses.  The southern and central portions of Amherst present a highly suburban look. But the southernmost portion retains some of the rural character of the earlier villages that were located there.  Some northern sections are also relatively undeveloped.  A few working farms manage to hold on here.  Ellicot Creek and Tonawanda Creek flow through Amherst

Good Transportation Routes

3 Interstate Highways fringe Amherst.  The New York State Thruway, Interstate 90 runs through the southern portion of town.  The Youngmann Expressway, Interstate 290, cuts diagonally from US 62 to I 90.  The Lockport Expressway, I 990, is a brief stretch of Interstate that runs north and south through town.

The western border of Amherst is marked by U.S. Route 62.  The northern part is called Niagara Falls Boulevard until Sheridan Drive when it becomes Bailey Avenue.  Transit Road is also State Route 78.  It forms the eastern boundary of Amherst.  State Routes 240, 263, 270, 277, and 324 also run through town.

There are almost 49,000 households in Amherst and about a quarter of them contain children under 18.  The average household size is 2.33 with average family size 2.33.  Median income for households is $55,428 and median income for families is $68,950.  Males registered median incomes of $51, 665 while female median income was $32,030.

47.4% of adults over the age of 25 hold Bachelor Degrees or more advanced degrees including 22.6% with professional and graduate degrees.

Amherst ranks as one of the ten snowiest cities in towns with a population greater than 50,000.

Amherst has 4 separate school districts.  The Amherst Museum is sited in a historic house.  Amherst also has a Symphony Orchestra which gives free concerts at several locations throughout the year.

For more information call Colleen Kulikowski

(716) 650-0051

 

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