The original settlement was called "Long Falls" and was first settled around 1798. of Carthage and list of landmarks from 1888 by L.R. Burleigh The village was chartered in 1869. It is one of only twelve villages in New York still incorporated under a charter, the other villages having incorporated or re-incorporated under the provisions of Village Law. In 1861, a major fire destroyed about twenty buildings in the village, and a smaller fire at the end of the year destroyed more property. A somewhat less destructive fire occurred in 1872. Another large fire in 1884 spread across the river from West Carthage and caused extensive damage, reducing more than 150 buildings to ruin. The First Baptist Church and Cook Memorial Building, State Street Historic District, and United States Post Office are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2002, another fire destroyed eight buildings in the downtown area, displacing nearly 150 residents and leaving a pile of ruin.
Carthage is located in eastern Jefferson County at . Its southwestern border is the Black River, which is in part the border with the town of Champion and the village of West Carthage in Jefferson County, and in part the border with the town of Denmark in Lewis County. The village is south of the southern border of Fort Drum. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of, of which are land and, or 6.35%, are water. The village is located at the junction of New York State Routes 3 and 126. NY-3 leads west to Watertown, following the Black River, and northeast to Harrisville. NY-126 leads west by a more direct route to Watertown and southeast to Croghan.
Media
Champion Hill, located between Carthage and Watertown, is the birthplace of the majority of Watertown local TV stations. It hosted the original facilities for WWNY-TV and later WPBS-TV. WWNY's city of license still officially names Carthage, even though WWNY's studios have now moved to downtown Watertown.
Demographics
At the 2000 census, there were 3,721 people, 1,417 households and 956 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,480.4 per square mile. There were 1,626 housing units at an average density of 646.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 91.32% White, 4.27% African American, 0.21% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.10% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.69% of the population. There were 1,417 households of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.08. Age distribution was 28.3% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.9 males. The median household income was $23,583, and the median family income was $32,083. Males had a median income of $31,397 versus $18,713 for females. The per capita income for the village was $13,029. About 18.6% of families and 23.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 14.4% of those age 65 or over.
