Livingston County, New York

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

County Seat: Geneseo
Year Organized: 1821
Square Miles: 632

Court House:

6 Court Street
County Government Center
Geneseo, NY 14454-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

in honor of Robert R. Livingston, a delegate to the 1775 Continental Congress and a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independance

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Livingston County was taken from Ontario and Genesee counties in 1821. Greatest length N. and S. 30; greatest breadth E. and W. 28 miles. Centrally distant NW, from New York 360, and from Albany W. 224 miles. The surface of the country is in some parts hilly, in others quite level, or but gently undulated. Flats of richly alluvion border the Genesee river in its course through the county from 1 to 2 miles in width, but a gravelly loam predominates on the upland. The great staples are wheat, pork, and cattle. Of the first, it is estimated that there is an annual surplus of over a million of bushels.

The Avon Springs, in the village of Avon in this county, about 10 miles from Geneseo, have acquired considerable celebrity. The first, called the New Avon Bath Spring, was discovered in 1835. Its depth is about 36 feet, and the formation through which the water psses is limy slate. analysis and experience have fully tested the sanative properties of these waters; they are found peculiarly efficacious in disorders of the digestive organs, rheumatic complaints, and gout, and in many of the most formidable cutaneous affections.

The Genesee Valley canal enters the county at Caledonia and following the valley of the Genesee, crosses the same near Mount Morris, and passing along the valley of the Cashqua creek, leaves the county in the southern portion of Mount Morris. Four miles south of Mount Morris village a branch runs to Dansville. The county is part of the tract ceded to Massachusetts, and is divided into 12 towns. (Historical Collections of the State of New York, Past and Present, Barber, John, Warner, Clark Albien & Co. 1851)

Livingston County, formed from Ontario and Genesee Counties on February 23, 1821, was named in honor of Chancellor Robert Livingston, an eminent jurist, statesman and distinguished patron of agriculture. Between 1822 and 1857 the county annexed more land from Allegany and Steuben Counties to make up a total of seventeen towns including: Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, Geneseo (county seat), Groveland, Leicester, Lima, Livonia, Mount Morris, North Dansville, Nunda, Ossian, Portage, Sparta, Springwater, West Sparta and York. Full History at NYSAC

Geography

Livingston County is located in Western New York, south of Rochester and east of Buffalo.

A popular tourist location in partly in Livingston County is the Finger Lakes. Letchworth State Park in partly in the western part of the county. The Genesee River flows northward through the county.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 640 square miles (1,659 km²), of which, 632 square miles (1,637 km²) of it is land and 8 square miles (22 km²) of it (1.30%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Monroe County, New York - North
Ontario County, New York - East
Steuben County, New York - Southeast
Allegany County, New York - South
Genesee County, New York - West
Wyoming County, New York - West

Cities and Towns:

- Avon	village	Incorporated Area
- Caledonia	village	Incorporated Area
- Conesus	town
- Dansville	village	Incorporated Area
- Geneseo (County Seat)	village	Incorporated Area
- Groveland	town
- Leicester	village	Incorporated Area
- Lima	village	Incorporated Area
- Livonia	village	Incorporated Area
- Mount Morris	village	Incorporated Area
- North Dansville	town
- Nunda	village	Incorporated Area
- Ossian	town
- Portage	town
- Sparta	town
- Springwater	town
- Tuscarora	town
- West Sparta	town
- York	town

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

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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