Hamlet (New York)

In New York, a hamlet is a community that is not incorporated as a village, i.e. an unincorporated community. Hamlets usually have names based off of a local school district, post office, or fire district.[1] Because a hamlet has no government of its own, the town it is in provides municipal services and government.[2]

Suffolk County makes maps that give hamlet boundaries,[1] but towns with Suffolk County also publish maps that conflict both in the number of hamlets and their boundaries.[3] Nevertheless, all land not within a village is administered by the town.

Most of the rest of New York's hamlets have less defined boundaries, and most towns have areas that are not considered to be a part of any hamlet. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) puts hamlet names on rectangular green signs with white lettering at roadside locations of its choosing.[4] The NYSDOT and local governments also provide community identification signs on some scenic byways to be placed at the roadside boundaries of hamlets, as decided by the sign provider.[5] Many hamlets have welcome signs at the gateways to the hamlets.[6]

Some hamlets are former villages that have ended their incorporation (Old Forge in Herkimer County; Rosendale, in Ulster County; and Andes in Delaware County, for example).[7]

Sign for the Hamlet of Sand Lake within the Town of Sand Lake

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 General Land Information (Map). Suffolk County Department of Information Technology. Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  2. ↑ Local Government Handbook, p. 67.
  3. ↑ "Map of hamlets and villages within the Town of Islip". "Map of North Bay Shore CDP". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Appendix 11B Decorative Community Gateway Signing and/or Landscaping on State Highway Right of Way" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. p. 8. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  5. ↑ The Urban Design Project. "The Western New York Southtowns Scenic Byway: Volume 2- Corridor Management Plan; Section VII. The Signage Plan" (PDF). University at Buffalo (SUNY). p. XII–3 (PDF 5). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-22. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  6. ↑ "Town of Williamson Route 21 & 104 Gateway Study: Executive Summary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 26, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2009.
  7. ↑ Local Government Handbook, pp. 72–73.
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