Tompkins County is a
county located in the
U.S. state of
New York, and comprises the whole of the
Ithaca metropolitan area. As of the
2000 census, the population was 96,501. The
county seat is
Ithaca, and the county is home to
Cornell University,
Ithaca College and
Tompkins Cortland Community College. The name is in honor of
Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as
Governor of New York and
Vice President of the United States of America.
History
When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Tompkins County was part of
Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State 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 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.
In 1804, Seneca County was formed by the splitting of Cayuga County.
In 1817, Tompkins County was created by combining portions of Seneca and the remainder of Cayuga County. Named after then Vice-President (to President
James Monroe) and former New York Governor
Daniel Tompkins. Tompkins almost certainly never visited the county named for him.
In 1854, the county lost the town of Hector and the west line of lots in Newfield to the newly-formed
Schuyler County,
New York.
Government and Politics
In February 2008, Tompkins County was the only county in New York State in which Senator
Barack Obama beat Senator
Hillary Clinton in the
Democratic primary. In the
2008 U.S. Presidential election, Obama carried the county by a huge 41% margin over
John McCain, with Obama winning by 25.5% statewide. It was his highest percentage by county in
Upstate New York. Tompkins County is the most Democratic county in New York State outside
New York City.
Tompkins County is governed by a 15 member legislature. Members are elected from single member districts.
Geography
McGraw Tower, Cornell University on East Hill above downtown Ithaca
Tompkins County is in the west central part of New York State, south of
Syracuse and northwest of
Binghamton. It is usually geographically grouped with the
Central New York region, but locals often consider themselves to be part of the
Southern Tier.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 492
square miles (1,273
km²), of which, 476 square miles (1,233 km²) of it is land and 16 square miles (40 km²) of it (3.17%) is water.
Adjacent counties
Major highways
Demographics
In 2006, the population was estimated to be 100,407 .
As of the
census of 2000, there were 96,501 people, 36,420 households, and 19,120 families residing in the county. The
population density was 203 people per square mile (78/km²). There were 38,625 housing units at an average density of 81 per square mile (31/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.50%
White, 3.64%
African American, 0.28%
Native American, 7.19%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 1.09% from
other races, and 2.26% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 3.08% of the population. 12.4% were of
German, 11.7%
English, 11.1%
Irish, 9.2%
Italian and 6.0%
American ancestry according to
Census 2000 . 2.85% of the population reported speaking
Spanish at home, while 1.86% speak
Chinese, 1.07%
Korean, and 1.00%
French.
There were 36,420 households out of which 25.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.20% were
married couples living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.50% were non-families. 32.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the county the population was spread out with 19.00% under the age of 18, 26.00% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 19.30% from 45 to 64, and 9.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 97.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $37,272, and the median income for a family was $53,041. Males had a median income of $35,420 versus $27,686 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $19,659. About 6.80% of families and 17.60% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 11.00% of those under age 18 and 5.40% of those age 65 or over.
Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets
Towns, cities, villages, and census divisions of Tompkins County
- Town of Danby, containing
- Town of Dryden (town), containing
Colleges and Universities in county
See also
