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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. |
Delaware County, New YorkDelaware County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
Etymology - Origin of County NameNamed in honor of Lord Delaware, who was appointed governor of Virginia in 1609, and in recognition of his services to the early colonists Demographics:County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts County HistoryDelaware County, formed from Ulster and Otsego counties in 1797, is centrally distant from New York, via Cattskill, 166, SW. from Albany, 77 miles. Greatest length NE. and SW. 60; greatest breadth SE. and NW. 37 miles. The county has a broken and diversified surface—from the rugged, lofty, and barren mountain side and summit, to the subsiding bill and the high and low plain, with the rich valley, and the low and fertile alluvion. Its climate is subject to sudden and great changes of temperature, yet not unfriendly to health and longevity. It is principally watered by the northeastern sources of the Delaware river. The east branch of the Susquehannah, another large stream of Pennsylvania, forms a part of the northeastern boundary, as does the Delaware a part of. its southwestern. The Cookquago branch of the Delaware, or the true Delaware, as it ought to be called, runs nearly centrally through the county from NE. to SW.; the Popacton branch runs nearly parallel with this, a short distance to the south of it. These streams with their branches, and many smaller streams, spread plentifully over the whole county, and supply a vast profusion of fine sites for mills. The quality of the soil is as various as the surface. On the upland there is a large proportion of chocolate-colored loam, and the valleys and alluvial flats have a rich mould. The whole may be pronounced a good country for farming, well watered by small springs and rivulets. The heavy trade of this county follows the course of its lumber, which goes in rafts by the Delaware and Susquehannah rivers to Philadelphia and Baltimore; while considerable traffic is carried on with the towns on the Hudson, to which there are turnpikes in various directions. The value of the wild lands in the county is from two to three dollars an acre, and the improved lands in the valleys average about 30 dollars, while those on the hills are worth about 5 dollars the acre. West of the Mohawk branch of the Delaware, the county was divided into several patents; but east of it was included in the Hardenburgh patent. In 1768, William, John, Alexander, and Joseph Harper, with eighteen others, obtained a patent here for 22,000 acres of land, and soon after the Harpers removed from Cherry Valley, and made a settlement which was called Harpersfield, but which was broken up by the Indians and tories during the revolutionary war. About one quarter of the county is under improvement. The county has 18 towns. (Historical Collections of the State of New York, Past and Present, John Barber, Clark Albien & Co., 1851) The western slopes of the Catskill Mountains form the land now known as Delaware County. Drainage of these mountains helps form the Delaware, Susquehannah, and Hudson (via Schoharie and Mohawk) Rivers. More Facts GeographyDelaware County is located in the southern part of the state, separated from the state of Pennsylvania by the
Delaware River. It is east of Binghamton and southwest of Albany. The county contains part of the Catskill
Mountains. The county is within a region called the Southern Tier of New York State. 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." |
