Rossie, New York
Rossie is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 877 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the sister of an early land owner. The Town of Rossie is located on the southwestern border of the county and is west of Gouverneur. History. The first settler arrived "circa" 1807. The town was formed in 1813 from a section of the Town of Russell. During the War of 1812, residents constructed a block house in the southern part of Rossie. The iron industry was important to the early town economy , and the Rossie Furnace of 1815 was the first to be built in northern New York. Lead mining was also important. The Rossie Shot Tower is still standing. Geography. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (2.53%) is water. The southwestern town line is the border of Jefferson County. The Oswegatchie River, looping back, flows in two directions in the south of Rossie. U.S. Route 11 crosses the town. Yellow Lake and Grass Lake are partly in the town. A very small southern bay of Black Lake is  at the north end of Rossie. Demographics. As of the census of 2000, there were 787 people, 298 households, and 214 families residing in the town. The population density was 20.7 people per square mile (8.0/km). There were 482 housing units at an average density of 12.7 per square mile (4.9/km). The racial makeup of the town was 97.59% White, 0.89% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.25% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population. There were 298 households, out of which 35.2 % had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.09. In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.5% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were  65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $27,566, and the median income for a family was $35,893. Males had a median income of $29,167 versus $19,028 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,205. About 16.1% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.7% of those under age 18 and 13.3 % of those age 65 or over.