The Town of Ulysses is a tranquil community located in the heart of New York State’s Finger Lakes Region, nestled in the northwest corner of Tompkins County.  Natural beauty is part of the rural landscape of the Town and urban conveniences are just minutes away.  The Town is home to Taughannock Falls, with its 215-foot-vertical-drop waterfall—one of the highest waterfalls east of the Rocky Mountains.  Taughannock Falls is part of a State Park which is situated along picturesque Cayuga Lake, the longest of the Finger Lakes, offering water activities and hiking trails.  The Town is well known for its agricultural character, natural beauty and serene atmosphere that contribute a superb quality of life for area residents, while Taughannock Falls State Park, nearby wineries and Cayuga Lake create tourism opportunities for the community.  The Village of Trumansburg acts as the Town’s village center and boasts good restaurants, small locally-owned shops, and charming bed-and-breakfasts.  The City of Ithaca lies a few minutes south of Ulysses and provides a significant number of cultural, recreational, and educational resources most notably Cornell University and Ithaca College.  All of these features make Ulysses a great place to live as well as an exciting place to visit.




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Brief History and Additional Information
The Town of Ulysses was settled in 1790 and was named for the hero of Homer’s Odyssey.  The Town was incorporated in 1794 as part of a land grant payment to Revolutionary War soldiers.  Ulysses is 36.84 square miles, including 32.98 square miles of land and 3.86 square miles of water.  Ulysses is bounded by the Town of Covert in Seneca County to the north, the Towns of Ithaca and Enfield to the south, and Town of Hector in Schuyler County to the west.  The eastern town line is Cayuga Lake.  The Town’s character is defined by agricultural lands and open space interspersed by pockets of residential development, a variety of small-scale commercial uses, and a well-defined village center in Trumansburg.  The Village of Trumansburg was incorporated in 1872 and became the commercial and residential center of the Town of Ulysses.  While much of the Town is devoted to farms, the proximity to Ithaca has brought a large number of professionals, academics and artists to the Town.  There were historically a number of small “communities” within the larger Town, including: DuBois Corner, Halseyville, Jacksonville, Krums Corner, Podunk Waterburg and Willow Creek.

2010 Census Data Summary
As of the 2010 Census, there were 4,900 people, 2,075 households and 1,406 families residing in the Town.  There were 2,200 housing units, 2,138 of which are occupied and 73.4% are owner-occupied.  The population is made up of 95% White, 1% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1% Asian and 2% Hispanic or Latino.  There were 2,319 males and 2,581 females with a median age of 45.9.  34.4% of households had one or more children under the age of eighteen (18) and 26.9% of households had one or more individual over the age of sixty-five (65).  The average household size is 2.32 and the average family size is 2.85.  There were 1,068 three-year-olds and older enrolled in school.  Of the population of 25 years or older, 47% have a bachelor’s degree or higher and 94.8% have a high school degree or higher.  The median income for a household was $61,023 and the median income for a family was $70,179.  Males had a median income of $52,238 versus $45,545 for females.