Snyder, New York
Snyder | |
---|---|
716 | |
Average Household income | $87,700 |
Average Household size | 2.49 |
Snyder (originally Snyderville) is a
As of 2009, the hamlet had several commercial districts, including a modest business district along Main Street that includes the original town focal point at Main Street and Harlem Road, and several educational institutions. The educational institutions are both public and private and range from kindergarten through college. The Snyder community has above-average affluence and education compared to the Buffalo region. The hamlet also hosts two structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places that serve as architectural artifacts of the early residential developments in the hamlet.
The traditional definition of the hamlet is the "Snyder" postal service area, now merged into the 14226
History
In 1804, Timothy Hopkins was the first settler in the area that would later become Snyderville and subsequently Snyder.
In 1830, a stagecoach was established. It was the first regularly scheduled public means of transportation between Buffalo and Batavia, and sometimes Albany, and operated along Buffalo Road, which was later renamed Main Street.[7] By the 1850s, the Amherst economy thrived on agriculture. Snyder also had a pottery and brick factory.[6] Throughout the 19th Century Snyder evolved as a small scale business community catering to surrounding farmers and the stagecoach line along Main Street.[8] In 1879, the hamlets of Amherst began receiving newspaper service from the Amherst Bee, which continues to exist as of the beginning of the 21st century as a weekly newspaper.[7] L. F. Crout opened a hotel in 1883.[6]
In 1892, an
Geography
Snyder is located in the southern part of Amherst,[2] which is located in Erie County.[7] As a hamlet it has no formal boundaries, but was originally defined by the area served by its post office.[7] The traditional boundaries of the hamlet are Getzville and Brantwood Road on the west, Sheridan Drive, also known as
When defining the Snyder community market area using census data, the western boundary extends a little further to include parts of the hamlet of Eggertsville, which was built around the Main Street and Eggert Road intersection,[12] with a western boundary from north to south of Millersport Highway, also known as New York State Route 263, Longmeadow Road, Westfield Road, Main Street, LeBrun Road, and Eggert Road.[1] When defined this way, Snyder includes (using a Main Street and Harlem Road origin, starting with the northwest quadrant, and moving clockwise) census block groups 1–3 from census tract 94.01; census block groups 3 & 4 from census tract 94.02; census block groups 3–5 from census tract 95.02; and census block groups 1, 3–5 from census tract 95.01.[1] The center of town at Main Street and Harlem is at an elevation of 673 feet (205 m).[4]
The business district is located between Burroughs Drive to the east and Campus Drive to the west on Main Street.[2] In this region, the Snyder Fire Department, the Eggertsville-Snyder Branch of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (4622 Main Street),[13] the Amherst YMCA (4433 Main Street),[14] and the Main Harlem Plaza as well as the former location of the United States Postal Service office for the 14226 zip code that includes Snyder and the neighboring hamlet of Eggertsville are located. The post office for the zip code was formerly located at Main Street and Chateau Terrace with a 25 Chateau Terrace address until May 1, 1990.[15]
Harlem road crosses through the business district and connects three of the hamlet's four commercial districts. Sheridan Harlem Plaza and adjacent commercial property are located at the north end of Harlem. Both Kensington Avenue and Wehrle Drive intersect the southern part of the Snyder portion of Harlem in a commercial region that extends into Cheektowaga.[16] The Harlem–Kensington commercial district is historic.[17] The fourth commercial district is located in the eastern edge of the hamlet at the intersection of Main Street and Kensington Avenue near the entrance to the Youngmann Expressway.[16] The extended Snyder community has additional commercial areas along the highly commercial Sheridan Drive and on Millersport Highway.[16]
Transportation
Snyder is bounded by I-290, and has two interchanges on the eastern edge of the hamlet with this
Historically, transportation through town has been active on Main Street. In 1836, the street became a Macadam toll road.[20] On April 5, 1893, the trolley line opened for business between Main Street and Bailey Avenue and the east end of Williamsville 4.5 miles (7.2 km) to the east. It was later extended another 3 miles to Transit road.[21]
Landmarks
The hamlet has two National Register of Historic Places listings: Entranceways at Main Street at Lamarck Drive and Smallwood Drive and Entranceway at Main Street at Roycroft Boulevard. The former were built in 1926 and the latter in 1918. Both were added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 7, 2005. These stone wall entrances to residential developments are common throughout Eggertsville and Snyder along Main Street and serve to give residential developments the appearance of having entrances similar to the former grand estates that were previously common along Main Street in the area.[22]
Economy
Snyder is an affluent and well-educated community in Metropolitan Buffalo.
The traditionally defined Snyder portion of Main Street had 180 businesses as of January 2002.
Starting in the 1950s zoning laws required that all new buildings be set back from the street and have private on-site parking.[29] The 21st Century zoning laws date back to 1976.[30]
Government
There is no formal Snyder government. The hamlet, like the rest of the town of Amherst, is served by the Town of Amherst Government and receives municipal services from the town. It is serviced by entities such as the Amherst Police Department, Snyder fire department and the Town of Amherst Highway Department, although Main Street and Harlem Road are serviced by the New York State Department of Transportation.[31] Residents of Amherst, including those in Snyder, pay taxes both to the Town of Amherst and the County of Erie. However, the town tax is solely a school tax and the county collects the remaining town taxes for municipal services.
Education
Amherst Central High School, the town's public high school, is located at 4301 Main Street, just west of the business district.[32] The school started when the new Amherst school district was created in the late 1920s.[33] Previously students from Eggertsville and Snyder either attended Bennett High School at 2885 Main Street in Buffalo or what is now called Williamsville South High School at 5950 Main Street in Williamsville and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Williamsville Junior and Senior High School.[34]
Other schools located in the district include Smallwood Drive Elementary School (K-5),
References
- ^ a b c "Snyder Action Plan", p. 16.
- ^ a b c d e f "Snyder Action Plan", p. 3.
- ^ a b Grande, p. 15
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Snyder, New York
- ^ a b Grande, p. 34.
- ^ a b c White, Truman C., ed. (1898). "History of Amherst, NY". The Boston History Company. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ Amherst Museum. Archived from the originalon September 2, 2009. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ a b "Snyder Action Plan", p. 4.
- ^ Grande, p. 35.
- ISBN 0-528-85756-8.
- ^ The Talking Phone Book: Yellow Pages for Buffalo & All Suburbs. White Directory Publishers, Inc. 1988–89. p. 50.
- ^ Grande, p. 29
- ^ "Amherst Public Library: Eggertsville-Snyder Branch". Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Archived from the original on September 17, 2002. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ "Northeast Family YMCA". YMCA Buffalo Niagara. 2009. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ "Amherst To Get New Post Office". The Buffalo News. November 4, 1989. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Snyder Action Plan", p. 8.
- ^ "Snyder Action Plan", p. 54.
- ^ a b c d "Snyder Action Plan", p. 61.
- ^ a b "Erie County System Map" (PDF). Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
- ^ Grande, p. 50
- ^ Grande, p. 51
- ^ Grande, p. 97
- ^ Grande, p. 100
- ^ a b "Snyder Action Plan", p. 7.
- ^ a b c d "Snyder Action Plan", p. 18.
- ^ "Snyder Action Plan", p. 17.
- ^ "Snyder Action Plan", p. 63.
- ^ "Snyder Action Plan", p. 64.
- ^ "Snyder Action Plan", p. 9.
- ^ "Snyder Action Plan", p. 13.
- ^ "Snyder Action Plan", p. 52.
- ^ "High School". Amherst Central Schools. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ Grande, p. 69
- ^ Grande, p. 82
- Daemen College. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ "Middle School". Amherst Central Schools. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ "Smallwood". Amherst Central Schools. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ "The Park School". The Park Schools. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ Valone, Jan. "Church of Christ the King". Church of Christ the King. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ Grande, p. 81
References
- "Snyder Action Plan" (PDF). Parsons. July 2002. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- Grande, Joseph A. (2004). Images of America: Amherst. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3680-6.
External links
- Snyder Homepage
- Amherst homepage
- Eggertsville-Snyder branch of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library