Columbia County, New York

Columbia County Education, Geography, and History

Columbia County is a county located in the state of New York. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal for the name of the United States of America.

Columbia County comprises the Hudson, NY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Albany-Schenectady, NY Combined Statistical Area. It is located on the east side of the Hudson River.

Etymology - Origin of Columbia County Name

From the Latin feminine form of Columbus, the name was popular at the time as a proposed name for the United States of America

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Columbia County History

Columbia County, taken from Albany in 1786: its greatest length on the E. line 36, medium breadth 18 miles. Centrally distant N. from New York 125, from Albany, SE., 34 miles. The surface of the county is considerably diversified, though no part can be called mountainous. Ranges of small hillocks are interspersed with extensive plains or valleys, and much of rich alluvion. There are some excellent lands, and much of the larger portion may be, by judicious culture, rendered highly productive. Nature, in the abundant beds of lime, has furnished the means, as if by a special providence, of tempering the cold and ungrateful constituents of the clay; and in many places the lime in the form of marl does not require burning to become a stimulant. Scarce any portion of the state is better adapted to the raising of sheep, and the profits from this source, already great, are yearly increasing. This county is famed for the quantity and quality of its Indian corn. Lead and iron ore are found in this county. It is divided into 19 towns. (Historical Collections of the State of New York, Past and Present, John Barber, Clark Albien & Co, 1851)

Formed from a portion of Albany County by legislature action April 4, 1786, Columbia County is bounded on the north by Rensselaer, on the south by Dutchess, on the east by a small portion of Dutchess County and on the west by the Hudson River. As a result of an act passed March 24, 1772, the area now Columbia County was divided into districts: Kinderhook in the northwest, Kings in the northeast; Claverack, in the central portion; and Livingston Manor in the southern.

Geography: Land and Water

Columbia County is in the eastern part of New York State, southeast of Albany and immediately west of the Massachusetts border. The western border is the Hudson River.

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 648 square miles (1,679 km²), of which, 636 square miles (1,647 km²) of it is land and 13 square miles (32 km²) of it (1.93%) is water.

The terrain is gentle, rolling hills, rising sharply into the Taconic and Berkshire Mountains along the state line.

The highest point is on the Massachusetts state line near the summit of Alander Mountain, at approximately 2,110 feet (643 m) above sea level, in the town of Copake. The lowest point is at or near sea level along the Hudson.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Rensselaer County, New York - north
• Berkshire County, Massachusetts - east
• Dutchess County, New York - south
• Ulster County, New York - southwest
• Greene County, New York - west
• Albany County, New York - northwest
• Litchfield County, Connecticut - southeast

Education

Columbia?#8364;"Greene Community College is located in Hudson, NY.

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