The town was settled around 1740. The town of Olive was established in 1823 from parts of the towns of Hurley, Marbletown, and Shandaken. A limited edition 1973 commemorative plate, shown below, includes this text on the back:
The town of Olive, Ulster County, New York, was taken from Shandaken, Marbletown, and Hurley and erected by law on April 15, 1823. At that time a name was suggested for the new town by quoting the following verse from the Bible: 'and Noah sent out a Dove from the Ark and when the waters subsided she returned with an Olive leaf in her mouth.' 'Let us call it the Town of Olive. 'The first town meeting was held on the second Tuesday in May 1824. the seal was adopted by the Olive Town Board on November 9, 1971. It was suggested by the Town Historian, Vera Sickler, and designed and executed by Mrs. Tisanne Gardner of Boiceville, N.Y.
The creation of the Ashokan Reservoir in 1917 covered some of the communities of Olive. The reservoir is owned by New York City and is part of the city's water system.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which, of it is land and of it is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,579 people, 1,869 households, and 1,263 families residing in the town. The population density was 78.0 people per square mile. There were 2,306 housing units at an average density of 39.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 96.68% White, 0.61% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.92% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.51% of the population. There were 1,869 households out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.4% were married couplesliving together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.91. In the town, the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 31.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $45,409, and the median income for a family was $50,931. Males had a median income of $33,125 versus $27,008 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,569. About 3.5% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.
