Spoonerville

Downtown Spoonerville looking northwest in 1903

Spoonerville, New York is located in Delaware County and has a great skyline and is a large city. It hold one of the tallest skyscrapers in the USA which is the At&T Tower at 1,183 feet tall. Spoonerville mostly consists of industry and business and also borders Lake Spoonerville, one of the largest lakes in Southern New York which is 9 miles long and 6 miles wide at its largest. At the 2010 census, Spoonerville had a population of 1,323,478 making it the 6th largest in the United States.

History

Spoonerville was founded in 1882 in Delaware county when Edward Spooner bought over 500 acres of land. Spoonerville started out as a small unincorporated town through the 1880s and was finally incorporated in 1890 with a population of 1,412. From there until the early 1930s, growth was somewhat slow and the town mainly focused on farmland and some small businesses in the towns center. By 1901, the city hall was constructed and had a unque look to it since Edward Spooner wanted a unique feel to the town. Also in 1922, the first high school was built which made education in Spoonerville more efficient.

By 1930, Spoonerville had become a small city with a population of 42,672 and had 9,023 households and over 3,000 jobs. Also in 1932, Lake Spoonerville was established for an efficient water source.

Mid 1900s and Population Boom

Downtown Spoonerville in 1944

After Lake Spoonerville was established, and more land and businesses had popped up in the town, Spoonerville experienced a population boom which lasted up until the 90s and is still in effect to present just less so. By 1940, Spoonerville had almost tripled in population to 112,938 with over 20,000 households. A second high school was also built along with multiple elementary and middle schools in the Late 30s and early 40s due to this population boom. Also more homes apiece built and land developed. Farming land had gone down from 62% to 23% and developed land from 41% to 77%. The city's land had also doubled in size in 1944 and by 1950, the population was 286,402.

Sixties and Seventies

Between 1960 and 1970, Spoonerville had a problem with controlling its population growth. In 1960, Spoonervilles population was 508,623, almost doubling its size from 1950. Lake Spoonerville was also shrinking due to overusing its water supply and land not very fertile. Marcus Ferguson, Mayor at the time was having much problems with his citizens complaining about dirty water and electrical problems in the western part of town. Mayor Ferguson made an address at the foot of City hall on October 8, 1963 telling citizens that he will fix these electrical and water problems. By 1965, a new solar and oil power plant was built 2 miles outside of town to the north to supply electricity to the northern and eastern part of town with clean electricity. Mayor Ferguson also told citizens to not use water unless it is absolutely needed and that helped conserve water in the lake. By 1968, Lake Spoonerville had reached its full capacity and two new water treatment plants built in 1970. New land was purchased as well and population control was contained after 6 years. Mayor Ferguson had left office at the peak of the cities best conditions in 1971, and later died in 1985. He was known as Mr. Goodwill.

Eighties to the 21st Century

City street in Spoonerville, 1985

Spoonerville was in great condition by 1980, with a population of 897,623 with over 150,000 households, 5 high schools, 23 middle schools and almost 40 elementary schools. During the early 1980s, Spoonerville had many high rise projects in downtown which included the Mercantile Bank Tower, the second tallest skyscraper in Spoonerville in present day.

Historic Population

Year	Population	% Change
1883	150	+0%
1885	589	+292.6%
1890	1,752	+197.4%
1900	6,490	+270.4%
1910	13,164	+102.8%
1920	31,509	+139.3%
1930	49,036	+55.6%
1940	112,938	+130.3%
1950	286,402	+153.5%
1960	508,623	+77.5%
1970	689,355	+35.5%
1980	897,627	+30.2%
1990	1,003,683	+11.8%
2000	1,143,769	+13.9%
2010	1,323,478	+15.7%
July 1, 2018 (est.)	1,429,139	+8% (est.)