Find Online CollegesFind Campus Colleges
Choose a County
Albany,
Allegany, Broome,
Cattaraugus, Cayuga,
Chautauqua, Chemung,
Chenango, Clinton,
Columbia, Cortland,
Delaware, Dutchess,
Erie, Essex,
Franklin, Fulton,
Genesee, Greene,
Hamilton, Herkimer,
Jefferson, Lewis,
Livingston, Madison,
Monroe, Montgomery,
Nassau, New York City,
Niagara, Oneida,
Onondaga, Ontario,
Orange, Orleans,
Oswego, Otsego,
Putnam, Rensselaer,
Rockland, Saratoga,
Schenectady, Schoharie,
Schuyler, Seneca,
St. Lawrence, Steuben,
Suffolk, Sullivan,
Tioga, Tompkins,
Ulster, Warren,
Washington, Wayne,
Westchester, Wyoming,
Yates
New York Counties
 Click Image to Enlarge New York CountiesThere are 62 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. New York's counties are named for a variety of Native American words, British provinces, cities, and royalty, early American statesmen and generals, and state politicians. |
Columbia County, New YorkColumbia County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
Etymology - Origin of County NameFrom 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: Census Bureau Quick Facts County HistoryColumbia 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. Full History at NYSAC GeographyColumbia 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. Neighboring Counties:
Cities and Towns:
County Resources:Enter County Resources and Information Here |
County Resources
The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define
the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local.
And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions,
reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history. Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally." |
