Willink, New York (sometimes "Willinck") is a former town in Western New York, United States. The name was derived from Willem Willink, one of the original investors of the Holland Land Company.
Willink was originally formed in Genesee County, from the Town of Batavia in 1804, before becoming part of Niagara County in 1808. When Erie County was formed from the south part of Niagara County, Willink became the south part of that new county. Willink already had been divided to form the towns of Cambria and Clarence in 1808, Clarence forming the northern part of the yet created Erie County.
New towns continued to be formed from Willink until 1818, when Holland and Wales were the last to be partitioned. The citizens of the remaining portion of Willink voted to change the town's name to Aurora, effective the same date as the formation of Holland and Wales.
The village of Willink continued to exist and incorporated in 1849, but eventually was renamed East Aurora. In 1874 the village disincorporated, but a post office remained at the west end of the new village of East Aurora until 1913, when it was consolidated with the East Aurora Post Office. [1] [2]
Towns formed from multiple "children" towns of Willink include:
Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York State. As of the 2020 census, the population was 954,236. The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population. Both the county and Lake Erie were named for the regional Iroquoian language-speaking Erie tribe of Native Americans, who lived in the area before 1654. They were later pushed out by the more powerful Iroquoian nations tribes.
Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra; meaning the strait or thunder of waters.
Amherst is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census.
Aurora is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 13,782 at the 2010 census. It is one of the "Southtowns" of Erie County and is also erroneously called "East Aurora", the name of its principal village. The town is centrally located in the county, southeast of Buffalo.
Clarence is a town and affluent suburb located in the northeastern part of Erie County, New York, United States, northeast of Buffalo. The population was 32,950 according to the 2020 census estimate. This represents an increase of 7.4% from the 2010 census figure. The Clarence census-designated place occupies the southeast part of the town and roughly corresponds to a postal district with ZIP code 14031 and 14221 in the western side which it shares with nearby Williamsville. The town is named in honor of Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews (1765–1837), the third son of King George III and later king himself, as William IV.
Evans is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 16,356 at the 2010 census. The town derives its name from David E. Evans, an agent of the Holland Land Company and nephew of land agent Joseph Ellicott.
Cambria is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 5,743 at the 2020 census. Cambria is an early name for Wales.
Hartland is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 4,117 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Hartland, Vermont, the homeplace of some early settlers.
Royalton is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 7,660 at the 2010 census.
Lockport is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 20,529 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from the series of canal locks on the Erie Canal. The locks lift boats from the lowland of Lake Ontario past the Niagara Escarpment.
Eden is a town located south of Buffalo, in Erie County, New York, the United States. The population was 7,688 at the 2010 census. The basis for choosing the town's name is unknown.
The Holland Land Company was an unincorporated syndicate of thirteen Dutch investors from Amsterdam, headquartered in Philadelphia, who purchased large tracts of American land for development and speculation. Their primary purchase was that of the western two-thirds of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase in 1792 and 1793, an area that afterward was known as the Holland Purchase. Additional lands were purchased in northwest Pennsylvania. Aliens were forbidden from owning land within New York State, except by special acts of the New York State Legislature, so investors placed their funds in the hands of certain trustees who bought the land in central and western New York State. The syndicate hoped to sell the land rapidly at a great profit. Instead, for many years they were forced to make further investments in their purchase; surveying it, building roads, digging canals, to make it more attractive to settlers. They influenced state policy in New York to allow foreign ownership of the land, avoid new taxes, and promote the construction of the Erie Canal and government roads on the company lands. They supported Governor Dewitt Clinton's faction in the state government to achieve these goals. The company finished selling its New York lands in 1839 and its Pennsylvania lands in 1849, and the company was liquidated in 1858.
Willem Willink was a wealthy Amsterdam merchant, and one of the investors in the Holland Land Company, and the Louisiana Purchase.
The Erie County Fair is a fair held in Hamburg in Erie County, New York every August. Based on 2018 attendance statistics, The Erie County Fair is the second largest fair in New York and the fourth largest county fair in North America, often drawing over one million in attendance.
Ellicott Creek is a stream in Western New York, United States. It is a tributary of Tonawanda Creek, which in turn flows into the Niagara River.
New York State Route 78 (NY 78) is a 73.49-mile-long (118.27 km) state highway in western New York in the United States. While it is signed north–south, the southern portion runs in an east–west direction across Wyoming and Erie counties, from its beginning at a junction with NY 19 north of the village of Gainesville to the village of East Aurora. The part of the route north of East Aurora follows a generally north–south alignment to an intersection with NY 18 in the Niagara County town of Newfane, just south of the Lake Ontario shoreline. The route is most closely identified in the region with Transit Road, a major north–south trunk road through the center of Erie and Niagara counties; however, NY 78 does not follow Transit Road for its entire length, nor does Transit Road comprise more than half its length. The highway joins Transit Road north of East Aurora and stays with the road until nearly its end in the city of Lockport.
Cazenovia Creek is a creek in Western New York, United States. It is a tributary of the Buffalo River, which empties into Lake Erie. Cazenovia Creek and its watershed are entirely within Erie County.
New York State Route 93 (NY 93) is a 43.08-mile (69.33 km) state highway in western New York in the United States. The route begins at an intersection with NY 18F in the village of Youngstown and runs in a general northwest–southeast direction across Niagara and Erie counties to its east end at an intersection with NY 5 in the town of Newstead, just south of the village of Akron. NY 93 serves as a connector between several major arterials, including NY 104 in Cambria, NY 31 just west of the city of Lockport, and NY 78 south of the city.
The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is located on Lafayette Square, Buffalo, New York. The current facility, designed by Kideney Architects and built in 1964, replaced the original Cyrus Eidlitz Buffalo Public Library Building dedicated in February 1887. The first Buffalo Public Library, in turn, replaced the Erie County, New York courthouse, which occupied the parcel from 1816-1876.
The Southtowns is a region of Western New York, United States, that lies within the snowbelt or ski country. It includes the southern suburbs of Buffalo, New York. This is the common name for the southern part of Erie County, New York.