Chatham, New York
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Chatham town. It lies in ZIP code area 12037. It stands on Indian Creek. The Survey maps it on the Chatham quadrangle. 1,529 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 466 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1903 to 1986The same ground, surveyed 83 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Chatham
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 10 records
Crandell Theatrelisted 2017
Peck Houselisted 1999
Riders Mills Historic Districtlisted 2000
Spengler Bridgelisted 1973
Tracy Memorial Village Hall Complexlisted 2016
Union Stationlisted 1974- Blinn-Pulver Farmhouselisted 2003
- Sanford W. and Maude Smith Houselisted 2020
- Van Valkenburgh, James G. Houselisted 2002
- John S. Williams House and Farmlisted 1996
Population over time
2 figuresChatham fell from 1,770 to 1,529 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,770 | |
| 2020 | 1,529 | -241 (-14%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 23 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1903 USGS Kinderhook quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1933 USGS Kinderhook quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1948 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Kinderhook quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Chatham quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Pittsfield quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
109 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 109 fires within 5 miles of Chatham between 1992 and 2020, burning about 128 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 11 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 46 |
| Debris and open burning | 27 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 11 |
| Natural | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 23 September 2010 | Smoking | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 19 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 15 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 25 August 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 16 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 15 August 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 12 August 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
54 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chatham in 54 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 38 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 5 hail, 3 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2008 | Flash Flood | Chatham | $45,000 | Several roads were closed in various portions of Columbia County due to flash flooding from very heavy rainfall.||In Hillsdale, Rodman, Wolf Hill, and Pumpkin Roads were closed due to significant flooding. A high volume of water, seven feet deep and backed up over a 20 acre swamp, was believed to have burst from a beaver dam, sending a cascade of water down Wolf Hill Road.||In addition, School Street in Chatham was also closed due to flooding. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Lightning | North Chatham | $5,000 | A suspected lightning strike split a tree in half which then fell onto a home causing damage on Eberle Road. |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $4,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Lightning | Old Chatham | $1,000 | A lightning strike was reported to have downed wires across Albany Turnpike in Chatham. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | A local 911 call center reported a tree and wires down on Slate Hill Road at Route 66 in Ghent. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Wires were downed along Route 203 near Route 32 in Chatham. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | A tree and wires were downed along Route 203 near Crestview Drive near Niverville. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Tree and wire damage was reported along Little Lake Road near Route 203 near North Chatham. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Tree and wire damage was reported along Jefferson Hill Road near Route 23 near Malden Bridge. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Chatham | - | One inch hail fell in Chatham. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees and wires were reported down in multiple locations in the Town of Chatham. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | A trained spotter reported an estimated thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | A tree was snapped and came down on wires connected to a residential home. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees were reported down at multiple locations in Chatham. |
| March 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | A utility pole and power lines were reported down on East Shore Drive. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Old Chatham | - | Trees were reported down on Rock City Road as well as County Route 13 near Spath Street in the town of Chatham. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | A tree was reported down on Elm Street near Chatham. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Chatham | - | Trees and wires were downed along the Albany Turnpike and Decker Street in Chatham. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | State Route 66 at the intersection of Dardess Drive was flooded. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Two large trees were downed in Chatham. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Route 203 was closed due to a tree downed on wires. |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees were downed in several locations throughout Columbia County. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | Route 66 was closed in Village Center due to heavy rain. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | State Route 66 was closed at Payn Ave due to flooding. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | State Route 66 was closed to Highbridge Road due to flooding. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Numerous wires down in Ghent. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Trees and power lines were reported down on Electric Park Road on the east side of Kinderhook Lake in Niverville as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Old Chatham | - | Trees were reported down on County Route 13 in the town of Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2015 | Hail | North Chatham | - | Nickel size hail was reported during a thunderstorm at 433 Rapp Road North in the town of Kinderhook. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Trees and wires were downed at the intersection of Round Lake Road and County Route 28B in the hamlet of Niverville as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Trees and utility poles were downed near a farm located at 433 Rapp Road North in the town of Kinderhook as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2015 | Funnel Cloud | Chatham | - | A funnel cloud was spotted during a thunderstorm from the front of a supermarket to the north of Ghent. The funnel cloud never reached the ground. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Old Chatham | - | Trees and power lines were reported down on Hamilton Lane in the town of Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2013 | Hail | Chatham | - | A spotter reported half dollar size hail fell from a thunderstorm in Chatham. |
| October 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Numerous trees and wires were reported down in Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees and wires were reported down in Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2011 | Hail | East Chatham | - | Half dollar size hail was reported during a thunderstorm approximately 2 miles west-northwest of Canaan. The hail broke some windows. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | A tree was reported down on a property in North Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees were reported down in Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | A large tree and wires were reported down across Bunker Hill Road in North Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | An estimated wind gust of 65 mph was reported by a storm chaser during a thunderstorm in Niverville. Also, a tree was reported down on wires. |
| July 2009 | Flood | Chatham | - | A roadway was flooded at Elm Street and Payne Avenue in Chatham due to heavy rainfall. |
| July 2009 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | Heavy rain resulted in flash flooding in Chatham at the intersection of Elm Street and Payne Avenue. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees were reported down in Chatham as a result of strong thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Trees and wires were reported down from thunderstorm winds on Route 32 in North Chatham. |
| June 2004 | Lightning | Chatham | - | Telephone outages due to lightning strikes. |
| June 2002 | Hail | Chatham | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buckleyville | 1.4 miles | 23 | |
| Arnolds Mill | 1.6 miles | 23 | |
| Moorhouse Corner | 1.6 miles | 23 | |
| Ghent | 2.7 miles | 23 | |
| Rock City | 2.9 miles | 21 | |
| Golden Acres | 3.0 miles | 21 | |
| Spencertown | 3.8 miles | 23 | |
| Chatham Center | 3.9 miles | 21 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Chatham | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1000105 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 946448. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









