Welcome to Our Town

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We invite you to explore our scenic town and enjoy the natural beauty and  openness of this great place that we call home. The Town of Hector was established in 1802 and has traditionally been an agriculturally centered community.  Recent trends indicate a decrease in farming activity and a shifttoward a rural residential community along with a significant influx of tourism based industry.

 

The Town of Hector is situated in northeastern Schuyler County. The nearest sizable cities are Ithaca approximately 20 miles to the east with a population 30,500; Elmira approximately 25 miles to the south with a population of 29,000; and Corning approximately 25 miles to the southwest with a population of 11,000.  The town is bordered to the west by Seneca Lake, to the north by Seneca County, to the east by Tompkins County and to the south by the Schuyler County towns of Catharine, Montour, and the Village of Watkins Glen which houses the county seat.  The town has a total area of 112.5 square miles. Of this, 102.5 square miles is comprised of land and 10.0 square miles is water. Hector is the largest township in Schuyler County, containing 66,122 acres. The Village of Burdett is the only incorporated village within the town. Other community centers include the hamlets of Bennettsburg, East Steamburg, Hector, Logan, Mecklenburg, Perry City, Reynoldsville, Searsburg, Valois and Smith Valley.

 

From the lake, on its entire western outline, rise rocky bluffs, nearly perpendicularly to the height of from 50 to 100 feet on the cliffsides, except the points of land that jut into it at the mouths of the various streams which empty into the lake. From this elevation, the land rises in a gradual slope to from 500 to 700 feet above Seneca Lake, and from 1200 to 1400 feet above tide, with the highest elevation in the Town being on Burnt Hill at 1880 feet. The surface is a rolling upland, much broken by deep valleys and high ridges. The soil consists mostly of clay, or sandy and gravelly loam.  On the western slope, bordering on the lake, the soil is particularly adapted to the culture of fruit, and much attention is given to the raising of cherries, peaches, and grapes which are raised in large quantities and are of fine quality. 

 

The town has many creeks, one of which, Cranberry Creek which rises in the centre of the town, flows in a northwesterly direction into Logan Creek, on through the villages of Bennettsburg and Burdett, down over Hector Falls and empties into Seneca Lake.  Several other streams in the northwest part of the town empty into Seneca Lake, one which is Breakneck Creek near north Hector.  The other streams are Taughannock, and its tributaries Bolter and Mecklenburg Creeks, flow in an easterly direction through the town and unite in Ulysses, gliding along towards Taughannock Falls.