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New York Counties

There 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.

Orleans County, New York

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

County Seat: Albion
Year Organized: 1824
Square Miles: 391

Court House:

3 South Main Street

Court House Square
County Clerk's Building
Albion, NY 14411-1495

Etymology - Origin of County Name

named after the French Royal House of Orleans

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Orleans County, was taken from Genesee in 1824. It is 24 miles long E. and W., and 18 miles broad N. and S. It is centrally distant from Albany 257, and from New York 302 miles. The summit of the mountain ridge extends across the county at an elevation of about 340 feet above Lake Ontario. Parallel with this, on the alluvial way, runs the ridge road. With these exceptions, the face of the country 15 generally level. The soil, mostly clay and argillaceous loam, is highly fertile. Grain is raised in considerable quantities. The Erie canal passes centrally through the county. The whole county was included in the grant to Massachusetts. The towns of Barre, Carlton, Gaines, Ridgeway, Shelby, and Yates belonged to the Holland Land Company; while Murray, Clarendon, and Kendall belonged to the Pulteney estate. The county was chiefly settled by New Englanders, and is divided into 9 towns. (Historical Collections of the State of New York, Past and Present, John Barber, Clark Albien & Co., 1851)

Orleans is a small Western New York county, situated on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Its area is generally flat with elevations ranging from 247 to 737 feet above sea level. About two-thirds of the area is developed farmland but 200 years ago it was a swampy wilderness where “Indians came only for hunting and fishing.” To them, the area was known as “the sick country.” Archeologists have discovered numerous Indian campsites but only one permanent fortification destroyed around 1650. It was not until 1804 that the first permanent settler came here to purchase land from the Holland Land Company. After 1809, settlement along the Ridge Road (Route 104) was fairly rapid. Full History at NYSAC

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 817 square miles (2,117 km²), of which, 391 square miles (1,014 km²) of it is land and 426 square miles (1,104 km²) of it (52.12%) is water. The high proportion of water is due to the extension of Orleans County north into Lake Ontario to the Canadian border (a line of latitude running through the middle of the lake). The distance from the Orleans shore north to the international border is greater than the distance from the shore south to the Genesee County line, meaning the area of Orleans underwater is actually greater than that above water.

Orleans County is in western New York State, northeast of Buffalo and west of Rochester, on the southern shore of Lake Ontario.

The Erie Canal passes (east-west) through the middle of the county.

Neighboring Counties:

Lake Ontario and Canada - north
Monroe County, New York - east
Genesee County, New York - south
Niagara County, New York - west

Cities and Towns:

- Albion (County Seat)	village	Incorporated Area
- Barre	town
- Carlton	town
- Clarendon	town
- Gaines	town
- Holley	village	Incorporated Area
- Kendall	town
- Kent	town
- Lyndonville	village	Incorporated Area
- Medina	village	Incorporated Area
- Murray	town
- Ridgeway	town
- Shelby	town
- Yates	town

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

Online High Schools

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."

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