1.
Classical Athens
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Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, the peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles. The radical politician of aristocratic background, Cleisthenes, then took charge, the reforms of Cleisthenes replaced the traditional four Ionic tribes with ten new ones, named after legendary heroes of Greece and having no class basis, which acted as electorates. Each tribe was in divided into three trittyes, while each trittys had one or more demes —depending on their population—which became the basis of local government. The tribes each selected fifty members by lot for the Boule, the public opinion of voters could be influenced by the political satires written by the comic poets and performed in the city theaters. Most offices were filled by lot, although the ten strategoi were elected, prior to the rise of Athens, Sparta, a city-state with a militaristic culture, considered itself the leader of the Greeks, and enforced a hegemony. In 499 BC Athens sent troops to aid the Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor and this provoked two Persian invasions of Greece, both of which were repelled under the leadership of the soldier-statesmen Miltiades and Themistocles. In 490 the Athenians, led by Miltiades, prevented the first invasion of the Persians, guided by king Darius I, in 480 the Persians returned under a new ruler, Xerxes I. Simultaneously the Athenians led a naval battle off Artemisium. However, this action was not enough to discourage the Persian advance which soon marched through Boeotia, setting up Thebes as their base of operations. This forced the Athenians to evacuate Athens, which was taken by the Persians, subsequently the Athenians and their allies, led by Themistocles, defeated the Persian navy at sea in the Battle of Salamis. It is interesting to note that Xerxes had built himself a throne on the coast in order to see the Greeks defeated, spartas hegemony was passing to Athens, and it was Athens that took the war to Asia Minor. These victories enabled it to bring most of the Aegean and many parts of Greece together in the Delian League. He fostered arts and literature and gave to Athens a splendor which would never return throughout its history and he executed a large number of public works projects and improved the life of the citizens. Hence, he gave his name to the Athenian Golden Age, silver mined in Laurium in southeastern Attica contributed greatly to the prosperity of this Golden Age of Athens. During the time of the ascendancy of Ephialtes as leader of the democratic faction, the conflict marked the end of Athenian command of the sea. The war between Athens and the city-state Sparta ended with an Athenian defeat after Sparta started its own navy, Athenian democracy was briefly overthrown by the coup of 411, brought about because of its poor handling of the war, but it was quickly restored. The war ended with the defeat of Athens in 404
2.
Athens, Ontario
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Athens is a township in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located approximately 25 km north of the St. Lawrence River, near Brockville, west of Addison, formerly, it was a part of Yonge township before becoming Rear of Yonge and Escott with Athens as its own census division and finally, Athens township. The township consists of the town of Athens and a few small communities. Formerly known as Farmersville, Benoni Wiltse, a United Empire Loyalist, currently, the town of Athens is known for a series of large outdoor murals depicting historical local life, painted on the sides of various buildings. Each year, a fair is held, called Cornfest. This fair celebrates the harvest of corn and is held on the 3rd Saturday of August annually, another celebration that is held each year is called the Farmersville Exhibition, and is also known as Steam Fair. This fair celebrates the heritage of the town, and includes steam engines. Aside from Athens, the township consists of the communities of, Anoma Lea, Beales Mills, Charleston, Glen Elbe, Glen Morris, Hayes Corners, Beales Mills, Ontario is a small settlement located southwest of the town of Athens, close to Charleston. The community was settled around the century by a Benjamin Beale for whom the settlement was named. Beale established a sawmill, gristmill, and a mill along the creek located through the settlement, now known as Beales Creek. The community relied on the hamlet of Charleston for most of its needs, such as a post office. Eventually, around the 1900s, the settlement began to decline as the mills closed, presently, the site of Beales Mills consists of a few residential buildings most of which are modern. The ruins of a mill and dam can still be seen today. The settlement is considered a ghost town. The township of Athens is home to quite a few old burying grounds or cemeteries, in the settlement of Wiltsetown, there is a cemetery called Wiltse Pioneer Cemetery that was established around 1795. Wiltse Pioneer Cemetery holds close to 300 interments, most of which are unmarked or marked by field stones instead of engraved tombstones, in the town of Athens, there is a Roman Catholic cemetery called St. Denis Roman Catholic Cemetery, as well as a non-denominational community cemetery. The community of Glen Elbe has its own cemetery which is no longer is use and this cemetery dates to around 1840. East of Athens there is a Quaker cemetery simply called Quaker Cemetery which was established in the 1830s, most of the stones here are badly deteriorated with only two being legible
3.
Athens, Alabama
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Athens is a city in Limestone County, in the State of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 21,897, the city is the county seat of Limestone County and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. Limestone County was also created by an act of the Alabama Territorial Legislature in 1818, the town was first called Athenson, but was incorporated as Athens after the ancient city in Greece. The towns first mayor was Samuel Tanner, and the Tanner area, south of Athens, was named on his behalf. The Athens area was the home of William Wyatt Bibb, the first Governor of Alabama, and its second Governor, his brother Thomas Bibb, in 1822, local residents purchased 5 acres of land and constructed a building to house the Athens Female Academy. The school became affiliated with the Methodist church in 1842, and was eventually renamed Athens Female College, after becoming coeducational in 1932, the school changed its name again to Athens College. After being taken over by the State of Alabama in 1974 and it is today known as Athens State University. Many homes in the part of modern Athens date to the antebellum period. On May 2,1862, during the Civil War, Athens was seized by Union forces under the command of Col. John Basil Turchin, Athens was the home of Governor George S. Houston, Alabama’s first post-Reconstruction Democratic governor, who served from 1874 through 1878. Houston was noted for reducing the debts incurred to benefit private railroad speculators and others by his Reconstruction Republican predecessors, during Reconstruction, Athens was the home of the Trinity School, a school founded for the children of former slaves by the American Missionary Association. In 1934, Athens became the first city to get its electricity from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Athens is the home of Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, a Tennessee Valley Authority installation first operated in 1974, that was once the worlds largest nuclear plant. It provides many jobs to the area and most of the electricity for the Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area. On March 22,1975, the Browns Ferry plant became the scene of what was, with the exception of the Three Mile Island accident, the most serious nuclear accident in United States history. A worker using a candle to check for air leaks started a fire among control wires, Athens is midway between Nashville and Birmingham on Interstate 65. Athens shares a boundary with Huntsville, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 39.4 square miles, of which 39.3 square miles is land and 0.1 square miles is water. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers, according to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Athens has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated Cfa on climate maps. As of the census of 2000, there were 18,967 people,7,742 households, the population density was 482.3 people per square mile. There were 8,449 housing units at a density of 214.8 per square mile
4.
Athens, Georgia
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Athens is a consolidated city–county in the U. S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former city of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia, the flagship public research university, is located in this college town. In 1991, after a vote the preceding year, the city abandoned its charter to form a unified government with Clarke County. As of the 2010 census, the consolidated city-county had a population of 115,452. Athens is the sixth-largest city in Georgia, and the city of the Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Athens-Clarke County has the smallest geographical area of a county in Georgia, in the late 18th century, a trading settlement on the banks of the Oconee River called Cedar Shoals stood where Athens is located today. On January 27,1785, the Georgia General Assembly granted a charter by Abraham Baldwin for the University of Georgia as the first state-supported university. Sixteen years later, in 1801, a committee from the board of trustees selected a site for the university on a hill above Cedar Shoals in what was then Jackson County. On July 25, John Milledge, one of the trustees and later governor of Georgia, bought 633 acres from Daniel Easley, Milledge named the surrounding area Athens after the city that was home to the academy of Plato and Aristotle in Greece. The first buildings on the University of Georgia campus were made from logs, the town grew as lots adjacent to the college were sold to raise money for the additional construction of the school. By the time the first class graduated from the university in 1804, completed in 1806 and named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin College was the University of Georgias and the City of Athens first permanent structure. This brick building is now known as Old College, Athens officially became a town in December 1806 with a government made up of a three-member commission. The university continued to grow, as did the town, with cotton mills fueling the industrial and commercial development, Athens became known as the Manchester of the South after the city in England known for its mills. The university essentially created a reaction of growth in the community which developed on its doorstep. During the American Civil War, Athens became a significant supply center when the New Orleans armory was relocated to what is now called the Chicopee building, fortifications can still be found along parts of the North Oconee River between College and Oconee St. In addition, Athens played a part in the ill-fated Stoneman Raid when a skirmish was fought on a site overlooking the Middle Oconee River near what is now the old Macon Highway. As in many towns, there is a Confederate memorial. It is located on Broad Street, near the University of Georgia Arch, during Reconstruction, Athens continued to grow
5.
Athens, Ohio
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Athens is a city in and the county seat of Athens County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Hocking River in the part of Ohio. A historic college town, Athens is home to Ohio University and is the city of the Athens. The official population of Athens in the 2010 U. S. Census was 23,832, Athens is a qualified Tree City USA as recognized by the National Arbor Day Foundation. By the middle of the century, the Shawnee, an Algonquian tribe, were the primary tribe of Native Americans living in what would become Athens County. According to a 1794 map by Thomas Kitchin, no settlement existed in the Athens area during the immediately prior to the founding of the city. The first permanent European settlers arrived in Athens in 1797, more than a decade after the United States victory in the American Revolutionary War, in 1800, the town site was first surveyed and plotted, but it was not incorporated as a village until 1811. In the meantime, Ohio had become a state in 1803, Ohio University was chartered in 1804, the first public institution of higher learning in the Northwest Territory. Previously part of Washington County, Ohio, Athens County was formed in 1805, named for the ancient center of learning, Athens, Ohio University in Athens was established with the first federal endowment of an educational institution in the United States. In July 1787, the Congress of the Confederation gave to the Ohio Company of Associates two townships of land for the support of a literary institution in the newly created Northwest Territory. The act was approved by Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory on January 9,1802, however, no university with the name of American Western University would be established. Ohio became a state in 1803 and on February 18,1804, Athens received city status in 1912, following the 1910 census showing the population had passed 5,000 residents, the requirement for city status in Ohio. These lands were given to Ohio University by the Federal government and this was the first federal land grant for a university, pre-dating the Morrill Act by more than 70 years. At first, lands were leased out, but the failure of many lessors to pay their rents resulted in most of the land being sold. The sale of these lands funded the growth of Ohio University, today it is one of the largest institutions of higher learning in Ohio, with an enrollment of over 19,000 on the Athens campus and over 28,000 for all campuses. The earliest industry in the area was salt production, followed by iron production, today, the largest employer in the county is Ohio University. In 1843, the Hocking Canal opened, enabling shipping from the Ohio River up the Hocking River, which passes through Athens, to Nelsonville, Ohio, however, the canal was closed during cold winters when it froze over. The first railroad reached Athens in 1857, in the late 19th century, an interurban line opened between Athens and Nelsonville and operated for some years
6.
Athens, Tennessee
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Athens is a city in McMinn County, Tennessee, United States. It is the county seat of McMinn County and the city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,220 at the 2000 census and 13,458 at the 2010 census, the Cherokee were living in McMinn County at the time of the arrival of the first Euro-American explorers. The Athens area was situated halfway between the Overhill Cherokee villages of Great Tellico to the north in Monroe County and Great Hiwassee along the Hiwassee River to the south. In 1819, the Cherokee signed the Calhoun Treaty, selling the land north of the Hiwassee to the United States, McMinn County was organized on November 13,1819 at the home of John Walker in what is now Calhoun. The Native American village, Pumpkintown, was located on a farm two miles east of present-day Athens. It is sometimes identified as a forerunner of Athens. Athens was laid out and chosen as the county seat in 1822, the name Athens may have been chosen due to perceived topographical similarities to Athens, Greece. By 1834, the population of Athens had grown to over 500, prominent early settlers included William Henry Cooke, who operated an iron forge near modern Etowah, and Samuel Clegg, a construction entrepreneur. Jesse Mayfield, whose descendants founded Mayfield Dairy Farms, arrived in the early 1820s, the Hiwassee Railroad received a charter in the mid-1830s to build a railroad connecting Knoxville, Tennessee and Dalton, Georgia. The railroad began construction in 1837, although financial and legal problems delayed its completion until 1851, in 1836, General John Wool arrived in Athens to help coordinate the Cherokee Removal. Although initially voluntary, the became a forced removal in 1838 when many Cherokee refused to leave. The removal culminated in the march west that became known as the Trail of Tears. Wool set up his headquarters at the Bridges Hotel, which was located across the street from the McMinn County Courthouse, McMinn County was divided during the American Civil War. The well-established railroad brought numerous pro-secessionist and anti-secessionist speakers to the county, including Andrew Johnson, Horace Maynard, John Bell, in 1861, McMinn County voted against secession by a narrow 1, 144-904 margin. The county sent 12 units to the Union army and 8 units to the Confederate army, General William Tecumseh Sherman was briefly headquartered at the Bridges Hotel in McMinn County while preparing his March to the Sea. After the Civil War, the railroad lured business opportunists to McMinn County, textile mills, flour mills, and timber mills dominated the countys industry by the late 19th century, complemented by furniture and appliance factories in the 1920s. In 1946, several McMinn County World War II veterans ran for office in hopes of removing a county government deemed corrupt
7.
Athens, Texas
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Athens is a city in Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,710 and it is the county seat of Henderson County. The city also calls itself the Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World, Athens was selected as one of the first Certified Retirement Communities in Texas. It was named after Athens, Alabama by one of the residents who came from there. Athens is located at 32°12′10″N 95°50′57″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.0 square miles, of which 14.6 square miles is land and 2.3 square miles is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 12,710 people,4,110 households, the population density was 772.8 people per square mile. There were 4,549 housing units at a density of 311.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 72. 14% White,19. 23% African American,0. 31% Native American,0. 64% Asian,0. 06% Pacific Islander,6. 17% from other races, and 1. 45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17. 37% of the population, of 4,110 households,131 are unmarried partner households,106 heterosexual,14 same-sex male, and 11 same-sex female households. 28. 6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.13. In the city, the population was out with 26. 4% under the age of 18,11. 6% from 18 to 24,25. 0% from 25 to 44,19. 1% from 45 to 64. The median age was 35 years, for every 100 females there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males, the median income for a household in the city was $29,372, and the median income for a family was $35,359. Males had an income of $27,388 versus $19,375 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,561, about 14. 7% of families and 18. 3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21. 5% of those under age 18 and 16. 7% of those age 65 or over. The structure of the management and coordination of city services is, the United States Postal Service operates the Athens Post Office. The city of Athens is served by the Athens Independent School District, the main campus of Trinity Valley Community College is located in Athens. Jess Sweeten, Henderson county sheriff and mayor of Athens, according to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Athens has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated Cfa on climate maps
8.
Athens University of Economics and Business
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Athens University of Economics and Business was founded in 1920 in Athens, Greece. Its buildings are housed on Patision Street, before 1989, the university was known in Greek as the Supreme School of Economics and Business. Though the university of businesss official name has changed, it is known popularly in Greek by this former acronym. AUEB is the one of the best universities for economics and business in Greece and it is the third oldest higher educational institute and the oldest in the fields of economics and business in Greece. The Athens University of Economics and Business was founded in 1920 under the name of Athens School of Commercial Studies. It was renamed in 1926 as the Athens School of Economics and Business, a name that was retained until 1989 when it assumed its present name and it is the third oldest university in Greece and the oldest in the fields of economics and business. Up to 1955 the school offered only one degree in the area of economics. In 1955 it started two separate programs leading to two degrees, one in economics and the other in business administration. In 1984 the school was divided into three departments, namely the Department of Economics, the Department of Business Administration and the Department of Statistics and Informatics, in 1989, the university expanded to six departments. Each Department is run by the Chairman of the Department, the Vice-Chairman, each Department accepts students at the undergraduate level, after successfully passing the pan-Hellenic exams, and offers a 4-year undergraduate program of studies, leading a Degree. Each academic department also offers one or more graduate programs of studies, leading to a degree, as well as a Doctoral Program. An external evaluation of all departments in Greek universities will be conducted by the Hellenic Quality Assurance. In addition, teaching and research assistants, foreign language and athletics instructors, faculty members are assisted by teaching and research assistants. The resident academic staff of the University is currently composed of 37% professors, 18% associate professors, 23% assistant professors, resident faculty has to have a doctorate in order to assume any level. An additional 9% of the resident faculty holds a doctorate from other European countries, in a research carried out by Der Spiegel magazine among 500 European universities, AUEB ranked in 15th place. In the field of econometrics, AUEB comes internationally in 48th place according to the Journal of Econometric Theory, the economics department ranks in the 76th place worldwide. The European Documentation Center of the AUEB is the coordinator of all the European Documentation Centers of Greek universities, the MBA International Program, has 9 specializations / majors and is offered in English. The Program is accredited by the Association of MBAs, and ranked among the top 10 MBA prograin Europe, the Athens University of Economics and Business is centrally located in downtown Athens
9.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
10.
Athens County, Ohio
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Athens County is a county in southeastern Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 64,757, the county was formed in 1805 from Washington County. Because the original university was founded there in 1804, the town. The Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Athens County, the county has a total area of 508 square miles, of which 504 square miles is land and 4.8 square miles is water. Athens County is located in the Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau region of Ohio and it features steep, rugged hills, with typical relief of 150 to 400 feet, deeply dissected by stream valleys, many of them remnant from the ancient Teays River drainage system. Most of Athens County is within the Hocking River watershed, with areas in the Shade River. The Hocking River joins the Ohio River at the village of Hockingport in Athens County. The population density was 123 people per square mile, there were 24,901 housing units at an average density of 49 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 93. 48% White,2. 39% Black or African American,0. 28% Native American,1. 90% Asian,0. 02% Pacific Islander,0. 36% from other races, and 1. 56% from two or more races. 1. 03% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,21. 4% were of German,13. 9% American,12. 9% Irish,11. 1% English and 5. 6% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 28. 30% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.92. In the county, the population was out with 18. 30% under the age of 18,30. 70% from 18 to 24,23. 70% from 25 to 44,18. 00% from 45 to 64. The median age was 26 years, for every 100 females there were 95.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.30 males, the median income for a household in the county was $27,322, and the median income for a family was $39,785. Males had an income of $30,776 versus $23,905 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,171, about 14. 00% of families and 27. 40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21. 20% of those under age 18 and 12. 90% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 64,757 people,23,578 households, the population density was 128.6 inhabitants per square mile. There were 26,385 housing units at a density of 52.4 per square mile
11.
Athens, Wisconsin
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Athens is a village in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,105 at the 2010 census and it is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. Athens is located at 45°1′58″N 90°4′35″W, Athens is almost halfway between the Equator and North Pole, as well as almost halfway between the Prime Meridian and 180th meridian. The Athens area is agricultural with a small industrial park on the south side of the village limits. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has an area of 2.46 square miles. As of the census of 2010, there were 1,105 people,471 households, the population density was 449.2 inhabitants per square mile. There were 503 housing units at a density of 204.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 96. 2% White,0. 2% African American,0. 2% Native American,0. 2% Asian,2. 4% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 4. 9% of the population. 30. 1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.96. The median age in the village was 39.5 years. 24. 7% of residents were under the age of 18,7. 6% were between the ages of 18 and 24,25. 7% were from 25 to 44,24. 3% were from 45 to 64, and 17. 7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 51. 0% male and 49. 0% female, at the 2000 census, there were 1,095 people,443 households and 299 families residing in the village. The population density was 448.2 people per square mile, there were 469 housing units at an average density of 192.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 98. 72% White,0. 09% Native American,0. 55% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 2. 10% of the population. 29. 1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16. 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.08. Age distribution was 26. 8% under the age of 18,8. 5% from 18 to 24,27. 2% from 25 to 44,19. 3% from 45 to 64, the median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males. The median household income was $39,286, and the family income was $52,727
12.
Athens (village), New York
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Athens is a village in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 1,668 at the 2010 census, the village is named after the classical city of Athens. It is in the part of the town of Athens. The history of the village and historic sites worth preservation are detailed in a New York State study, the land was purchased from the natives in 1665. The community was once called Loonenburgh and Esperanza, the village was incorporated in 1805. In the late 1830s, Athens had a ferry, or team boat built for crossing the Hudson. This was a single vessel of the treadmill type requiring six horses for power. The treadmills, on side, were each trod by three horses always facing in the same direction. To reverse the paddlewheels it was necessary to stop the horses a minute. The 1935 completion of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge several miles to the south put an end to the ferry service across the Hudson. However, the ferry is portrayed in the 2005 film War of the Worlds, when Martian tripods attack the town, the ferry, and refugees from New York City attempting to flee across the Hudson. Athens is located along the edge of Greene County, in the eastern part of the town of the town of Athens. The village is situated on the west bank of the Hudson River, and the village limits extend to the center of the river, middle Ground Flats, an uninhabited island in the Hudson, is within the village limits. The village is bordered to the east across the Hudson River by Columbia County, New York State Route 385 passes through the village as Washington Street, running roughly parallel to the river. The state highway leads north 6 miles to Coxsackie and southwest 5 miles to Catskill. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has an area of 4.6 square miles, of which 3.4 square miles is land and 1.2 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,695 people,687 households, the population density was 503.0 people per square mile. There were 793 housing units at a density of 235.3 per square mile