Seneca County is a
county located in the
U.S. state of
New York. As of the
2000 census, the population was 33,342. Two villages share the duty as the
county seats:
Ovid and
Waterloo.
Seneca County is the only county in New York to officially have two county seats.The name is from the
Iroquois (
Seneca) that occupied part of the region.
History
The area covered by Seneca County straddles the prehistoric territories of both
Seneca and
Cayuga Nations of the
Iroquois League. When counties were established by Europeans in New York in 1683, the present Seneca County was part of
Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York as well as all of the present state of
Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the
Pacific Ocean. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766 by the creation of
Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770 by the creation of
Gloucester County, both containing territory now in Vermont.
On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the other pieces,
Tryon County, contained the western portion (and thus, since no western boundary was specified, theoretically still extended west to the Pacific). The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of
Schenectady, and the county included the western part of the
Adirondack Mountains and the area west of the West Branch of the
Delaware River. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for
William Tryon, colonial governor of New York.
In the years prior to 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to
Canada. In the fall of 1779 on orders from commander-in-chief General
George Washington the
Sullivan Expedition conducted a
scorched earth campaign against the
Iroquois who sided with the Loyalists in the
Revolutionary War.
Sullivan's path destroyed
Cayuga and
Seneca villages along the east shore of
Seneca Lake.
In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the
American Revolutionary War, the name of Tryon County was changed to
Montgomery County in honor of the general,
Richard Montgomery, who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of
Quebec, replacing the name of the hated British governor.
In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting off of
Ontario County. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, also including the present
Allegany,
Cattaraugus,
Chautauqua,
Erie,
Genesee,
Livingston,
Monroe,
Niagara,
Orleans,
Steuben,
Wyoming,
Yates, and part of
Schuyler and
Wayne Counties.
Herkimer County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery County (the others being
Otsego and
Tioga Counties) in 1791.
Onondaga County was formed in 1794 by the splitting of Herkimer County.
Cayuga County was formed in 1799 by the splitting of Onondaga County. This county was, however, much larger than the present Cayuga County. It then included the present Seneca and
Tompkins Counties and part of
Wayne County.
In 1804, Seneca County was formed by the splitting of Cayuga County.
In 1817, Seneca County was reduced in size by combining portions of Seneca and the remainder of Cayuga County to form
Tompkins County. Part of this territory, the current towns of
Covert and
Lodi, were returned to Seneca County in 1819.
In 1823, Seneca County was reduced in size by combining portions of Seneca and Ontario Counties to form
Wayne County.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 391 square miles (1,011 km²), of which, 325 square miles (842 km²) of it is land and 66 square miles (170 km²) of it (16.80%) is water.
Seneca County is in the western part of New York in the
Finger Lakes Region, bounded on the east by
Cayuga Lake and on the west by
Seneca Lake.
The
Finger Lakes National Forest is in the south part of the county.
Both the
New York State Thruway and the
Erie Canal cross the northern part of the county.
The former
Seneca Army Depot occupies a portion of land between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. The
Willard Drug Treatment Center and
Five Points Correctional Facility are two NYS
DOCS prisons located in the county.
Sampson State Park is located next to the former Army base.
Adjacent counties
Major highways
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 33,342 people, 12,630 households, and 8,626 families residing in the county. The
population density was 103 people per square mile (40/km²). There were 14,794 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.02%
White, 2.27%
African American, 0.25%
Native American, 0.68%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander, 0.67% from
other races, and 1.09% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.98% of the population. 18.9% were of
Italian, 16.7%
German, 14.6%
English, 13.4%
Irish and 8.9%
American ancestry according to
Census 2000. 95.3% spoke
English and 1.6%
Spanish as their first language.
There were 12,630 households out of which 31.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.60% were
married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.70% were non-families. 25.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 28.80% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 100.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.50 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $37,140, and the median income for a family was $45,445. Males had a median income of $32,512 versus $24,320 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $17,630. About 8.00% of families and 11.50% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 14.80% of those under age 18 and 7.30% of those age 65 or over.
Government and Politics
The County is governed by a fourteen-member
Board of Supervisors.
Towns and Villages
See also
