| Little Valley, New York | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Pushpin Map: | USA New York inset |
| Pushpin Label: | Little Valley |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of New York |
| Coordinates: | 42.2494°N -78.7997°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | New York |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Cattaraugus |
| Government Type: | Town Council |
| Leader Title: | Town Supervisor |
| Leader Name: | Peter Wrona (R) |
| Leader Title1: | Town Council |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 29.92 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 29.91 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.01 |
| Area Total Km2: | 77.49 |
| Area Land Km2: | 77.47 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.02 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 1672 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 56.47 |
| Population Density Km2: | 21.80 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 14755 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 36-009-42840 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Est: | 1663 |
Little Valley is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 1,672 at the 2020 census.[2] The town is named after its local geographical setting, a relative comparison of two tributaries (the other being the neighboring Great Valley) of the Allegheny River.
The town of Little Valley is centrally located in the county, north of the city of Salamanca. The town contains a village also named Little Valley, which is the county seat.
The first settlement was made circa 1807, but was vacated due to frontier warfare in the War of 1812; settlement resumed in 1816, after the war ended. The town of Little Valley was formed in 1818 by splitting the town of Perry, which at the time covered the entire western half of the county. The northwest quadrant of the county became Perrysburg, while the southwest quadrant became Little Valley (also known as the town of Elkdale); at the same time, the town of Great Valley was split off from Olean, and the two towns' proximity and comparable topography gave the towns their names. Little Valley was once an important rail station on the Erie Railroad and notable for its cheese and dairy industry. The location of the railroad resulted in moving the county seat to the village of Little Valley, which was also later connected to Salamanca by a streetcar line.
The towns of Conewango (1823), Napoli (1823), Mansfield (1830), New Albion (1830), and Bucktooth (1855, renamed Salamanca in 1864) were all formed from Little Valley.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 77.2sqkm, of which 0.02sqkm, or 0.02%, is water.[3]
New York State Route 242 and New York State Route 353 are major truck roads through the town. They converge at Killborn Corners just east of the village of Little Valley. County Routes 88 (Baker Road) and 96 (Killborn Corners Road) act as bypasses. County Route 15 (Dublin Road), which picks up where Route 88 leaves off, continues northeast parallel to Route 242 between Little Valley and Ellicottville. County Routes 5 and 14 start in the northwest corner of the town and head toward New Albion and East Otto, respectively.
The Pat McGee Trail, a hiking and snowmobile rail trail that follows the path of the now-removed railroad, runs through the town parallel to Route 353. The Conservation Trail, a subset of the Finger Lakes Trail (itself a subset of the North Country Trail), passes through the town connecting the state forests therein; the two trails share a roughly one-mile wrong-way concurrency in the town.
Little Valley Creek flows through the town, as does a small tributary named Lees Hollow in the west central part of town. Whig Street Creek runs northeast-to-southwest across the town.
Little Valley is north of the town of Salamanca and south of the town of Mansfield. The town is east of the town of Napoli and west of the town of Great Valley; a series of hills separate Little Valley and Great Valley, and they can only be traveled between each other directly through one seasonal highway (Mutton Hollow Road) or by a network of pedestrian, bicycle and horse trails. (Otherwise, major highways run through either Salamanca or Ellicottville.)
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 1,788 people, 688 households, and 462 families residing in the town. The population density was 59.7sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 845 housing units at an average density of 28.2sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the town was 95.92% White, 1.29% Black or African American, 1.23% Native American, 0.06% from other races, and 1.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.23% of the population.
There were 688 households, out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.8% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $31,000, and the median income for a family was $37,361. Males had a median income of $30,100 versus $21,897 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,191. About 8.8% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.5% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.
Attractions and organizations in the town of Little Valley (not counting those in the village) include: