Schuyler County, New York
Schuyler County is a
county located in the
U.S. state of
New York. As of 2000, the population was 19,224. The
county seat is
Watkins Glen. The name is in honor of General
Philip Schuyler, one of the four major generals in the Continental Army in the
American Revolutionary War.
When counties were established in New York State in
1683, the present Schuyler 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,
Ontario County was split off from Montgomery. 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 and
Tioga Counties were two of three counties split off from Montgomery County (the other being
Otsego County) in
1791.
In
1794,
Onondaga County was formed by the splitting of Herkimer County. This county was larger than the present Onondaga County, however, including the present
Cayuga,
Seneca, and
Tompkins Counties.
In
1796,
Steuben County was created, split off from Ontario County. It was rather larger than the present county, however.
In
1798,
Chemung County was formed from Tioga County, but the county at that time was rather larger than the present county, containing a portion of what would later become Schuyler County.
In
1799,
Cayuga County was formed 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, as well as part of what would become Schuyler County.
In
1804,
Seneca County was formed by the splitting of Cayuga County. Then in
1817, in turn, a portion of Seneca County was combined with a piece of the remainder of Cayuga County to form
Tompkins County.
In
1823, Steuben County was reduced in size by the combination of a portion of the county with a portion of
Ontario County to form
Yates County.
In
1854, portions of
Steuben,
Chemung and
Tompkins Counties were combined to form Schuyler County.
Schuyler County is in the western part of New York State, west of
Ithaca at the south end of
Seneca Lake.
The
Finger Lakes National Forest is in the north part of the county.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 886
km² (342
mi²). 851 km² (329 mi²) of it is land and 35 km² (14 mi²) of it (3.95%) is water.
As of the
census2 of 2000, there were 19,224 people, 7,374 households, and 5,191 families residing in the county. The
population density was 23/km² (58/mi²). There were 9,181 housing units at an average density of 11/km² (28/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.48%
White, 1.45%
African American, 0.40%
Native American, 0.29%
Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 0.36% from
other races, and 0.99% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.22% of the population.
There were 7,374 households out of which 32.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were
married couples living together, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the county the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 26.60% from 25 to 44, 25.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 100.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,010, and the median income for a family was $41,441. Males had a median income of $31,549 versus $21,928 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $17,039. About 8.80% of families and 11.80% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 17.10% of those under age 18 and 6.20% of those age 65 or over.
*
Burdett (village)
*
Catharine (town)
*
Cayuta (town)
*
Dix (town)
*
Hector (town)
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Montour (town)
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Montour Falls (village)
*
Odessa (village)
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Orange (town)
*
Reading (town)
*
Tyrone (town)
*
Watkins Glen (village) :
==> label within parentheses is official political designation.*
Schuyler County government *
Schuyler County information *
Early history of Schuyler County 
