BATAVIA, N. Y. town and county-seat of Genesee County, 37 miles east of Buffalo and 33 miles west of Rochester, on Tonawanda Creek, and on the New Yorjc Central, the Lehigh Valley and Lake Erie and Western rail roads. It is in an agricultural region; has manufactories of plows, threshers and agricul tural implements, rubber goods, shoes, cut-glass, sheet metal goods, paper-boxes, monuments, electrical equipment, shot-guns, stampings and metal specialties, and there are also flour mills and canning factories. In 1914 there were in Operation 57 establishments, employing 2,833 persons, who received $1,733,000 for their serv ices. The capital invested in these enterprises totalled $7,847,000; the raw materials used were valued at $2,423,000 and the finished products at $5,340,000. It has three banks and taxable property valued at $11,252,827. Batavia is the home of individual instruction in public schools, of which there are seven besides one high school. Among the public buildings are the
courthouse, countyjail, surrogate's office, county clerk's office, Holland Purchase museum and land office, containing interesting historical relics, the State Institution for the Blind and the Dean Richmond Memorial Library. There are daily and weekly newspapers. Batavia has the charter form of government; the water works and electric-light plant are owned by the municipality. A new filtration plant for sewage disposal is about to be constructed. The village was founded in 1811, and first incorporated in 1826. It was the home of William Morgan, made famous through the Anti-Masonic ex citement in 1826. Pop. (1910) 11,613; (1916) 15,300. Consult Seaver, Sketch of the Village of Batavia' (Batavia 1849).