Tompkins County, New York
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 2000, the population was 96,501. The
county seat is
Ithaca, and is home to
Cornell University and
Ithaca 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.
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.
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 1,273
km² (492
mi²). 1,233 km² (476 mi²) of it is land and 40 km² (16 mi²) of it (3.17%) is water.
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 96,501 people, 36,420 households, and 19,120 families residing in the county. The
population density was 78/km² (203/mi²). There were 38,625 housing units at an average density of 31/km² (81/mi²). 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.
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.
*Town of
Caroline, containing
**Brooktondale
**Caroline Center
**Caroline Depot
**Slaterville
**Slaterville Springs
**Speedsville
*Town of
Danby, containing
**Danby
**West Danby
*Town of
Dryden (town), containing
**Village of
Dryden**Village of
Freeville**Etna
**Varna
**West Dryden
*Town of
Enfield*Town of
Groton, containing
**Village of
Groton *City of
Ithaca *Town of
Ithaca, containing
**Village of
Cayuga Heights**
East Ithaca**
Forest Home**
Northeast Ithaca**
Northwest Ithaca**
South Hill*Town of
Lansing**Village of
Lansing *Town of
Newfield, containing
**
Newfield Hamlet*Town of
Ulysses, containing
**Hamlet of
Podunk **Village of
Trumansburg*
Cornell University*
Ithaca College*
Tompkins-Cortland Community College*
Tompkins County, NY official site *
Tompkins County, NY Trip Planner (bus)*
Official brief history of Tompkins County by Carol Kammen, Tompkins County Historian
* Jane M. Dieckmann, A Short History of Tompkins County (Ithaca, 1986)
* W. Glenn Norris, The Origin of Place Names in Tompkins County (Ithaca, 1951)
* The Towns of Tompkins County, Jane M. Dieckmann ed., (Ithaca, 1998)
