SENECA FALLS

village and town (township), Seneca county, west-central New York, U.S. The village lies in the Finger Lakes district on the Seneca River (connecting Seneca and Cayuga lakes), once the site of 50-foot (15-m) falls. Hydroelectric power is generated locally, and there are important manufacturing industries making pumps, knitted textiles, and metal products. Summer tourism is also important. The town was settled about 1787 and the village incorporated in 1831. Seneca Falls was the home of Amelia Jenks Bloomer, pioneer of women's dress reform, and (184762) of feminist, suffragist, and abolitionist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The Seneca Falls Convention for women's rights was held there in 1848; the village is the location of the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Women's Rights National Historical Park. Area town, 24 square miles (63 square km). Pop. (1990) village, 7,370; town, 9,384; (1998 est.) village, 7,005; town, 8,971.