Delaware County, New York

Delaware County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Delhi
Year Organized: 1797
Square Miles: 1,446

Court House:

111 Main Street
County Office Building
Delhi, NY 13753-1233

Etymology - Origin of County Name

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

History

Delaware 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

Geography

Delaware 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.

The highest point is an approximately 3,520-foot (1,073 m) summit of Bearpen Mountain along the Greene County line. The lowest point is along the Delaware River.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,468 square miles (3,802 km²), of which, 1,446 square miles (3,746 km²) of it is land and 22 square miles (56 km²) of it (1.48%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Otsego County, New York - north
Schoharie County, New York - northeast
Greene County, New York - east
Ulster County, New York - southeast
Sullivan County, New York - south
Wayne County, Pennsylvania - southwest
Broome County, New York - west
Chenango County, New York - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Andes	town
- Bovina	town
- Colchester	town
- Davenport	town
- Delhi (County Seat)	village	Incorporated Area
- Fleischmanns	village	Incorporated Area
- Franklin	village	Incorporated Area
- Hamden	town
- Hancock	village	Incorporated Area
- Harpersfield	town
- Hobart	village	Incorporated Area
- Kortright	town
- Margaretville	village	Incorporated Area
- Masonville	town
- Meredith	town
- Roxbury	town
- Sidney	village	Incorporated Area
- Stamford	village	Incorporated Area
- Walton	village	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

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County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our 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."

Penn Foster High School

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