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New York Counties
There are sixty-two counties in the State of New York. The first twelve counties in New York were created immediately after the British annexation of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, although two of these counties have since been abolished. The most recent county formation in New York was in 1912, when Bronx County was created from the portions of New York City that had been annexed from Westchester County.Allegany County, New York
Allegany County Education, Geography, and History
Allegany County is a county located in the Southern Tier of the state of New York. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 48,946. Its county seat is Belmont. Its name derives from a Delaware Indian (Lenape) word, applied by European-American settlers of Western New York State, to a trail that followed the Allegheny River and then used for the county.
Etymology - Origin of Allegany County Name
Derived from a Delaware Indian word, applied by settlers of Western New York to a trail that followed the Allegany River
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: Places in Allegany County
Allegany County History
"Allegany County was taken from Genesee in 1806. It is 44 miles long, 28 wide, being part of the tract ceded to Massachusetts. The two western tiers of towns are within the Holland Land Company' s purchase. The Genesee river flows through the county by a deep channel, depressed from five hundred to eight hundred feet below the higher hills. By an act passed in 1828, this river was dechfted a public highway from Rochester to the Pennsylvania line. The soil is of a good quality, there being extensive tracts of alluvion, and the uplands embrace a variety. The northern part is best for grain, but as a whole it is better for grazing. Wheat and corn thrive well in the valley and on the river flats. Of the former, twenty-five bushels an acre are an average crop, and of the latter forty. On the upland, corn, rye, potatoes, oats, and buckwheat, are productive crops. The growth of forest trees being heavy, lumbering is carried on extensively. The Rochester and Olean canal, chartered in 1836, and now constructing, enters the county at Portage and terminates at Olean, in the adjoining county of Cattaraugus. The line of the Erie railroad also passes through it. The county contains 30 towns." (Historical Collections of the State of New York, Past and Present, John Barber, Clark Albien & Co. 1851)
Allegany County is located in the Southern Tier of Western New York in an eroded plateau of the Allegany Mountains, approximately 40-70 miles due south of Rochester and has about 50,000 inhabitants. There are twenty-nine townships, ten villages and numerous hamlets. Our rural county is served by twenty-nine post offices. A geologic feature is that we are the only county in the State that is home to three primary watershed headwaters: The Allegany, Susquehanna and Genesee Rivers. Respectively they end in the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River, Chesapeake Bay and the St. Lawrence River.
Geography: Land and Water
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,034 square miles (2,679 km2), of which, 1,030 square miles (2,668 km2) of it is land and 4 square miles (11 km2) of it (0.41%) is water.
Allegany County is located in the Southern Tier of Western New York in an eroded plateau of the Allegany Mountains, approximately 40-70 miles due south of Rochester and has about 50,000 inhabitants. There are twenty-nine townships, ten villages and numerous hamlets. Our rural county is served by twenty-nine post offices. A geologic feature is that we are the only county in the State that is home to three primary watershed headwaters: The Allegany, Susquehanna and Genesee Rivers. Respectively they end in the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River, Chesapeake Bay and the St. Lawrence River.
Neighboring Counties
Bordering counties are as follows:
- Livingston County, New York - northeast
- Steuben County, New York - east
- Potter County, Pennsylvania - southeast
- McKean County, Pennsylvania - southwest
- Cattaraugus County, New York - west
- Wyoming County, New York - northwest
Education
Higher education facilities include Alfred University, the New York State College of Ceramics (a member of SUNY), Alfred State College, and Houghton College.
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