Lansing, located on the Eastern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes district of New York, is known best as a small town close to Ithaca, New York. Lansing was within the realm of the Cayuga tribe. The Sullivan Expedition of 1779 passed through the area to destroy native villages in retaliation for raids on colonists. In 1780, the area was divided into lots to pay the Revolutionary war soldiers for their service. The first settlers came to Lansing in 1781. John Lemming, Jr., secretary to General Schuyler, was charged with granting this land. The Town of Lansing was formed in 1817 from the Town of Genoa, Cayuga County, when Tompkins County was founded. From 1942, the Watchtower Bible College of Gilead was in South Lansing, established to train Christian Missionaries from Jehovah's Witnesses until 1960. Later the name was changed to the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and moved to New York City. The Rogues' Harbor Inn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 69.9 square miles, of which, 60.7 square miles of it is land and 9.2 square miles of it is water. The north town line is the border of Cayuga County, and the west town line is delineated by Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. Salmon Creek flows into the lake near Myers.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,521 people, 4,374 households, and 2,668 families residing in the town. The population density was 173.3 people per square mile. There were 4,634 housing units at an average density of 76.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 84.09% White, 4.09% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 8.86% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.73% from other races, and 2.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.35% of the population. There were 4,374 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.95. In the town, the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $48,250, and the median income for a family was $59,758. Males had a median income of $38,146 versus $31,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,634. About 4.2% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.
