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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.

Steuben County, New York

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

County Seat: Bath
Year Organized: 1796
Square Miles: 1,393

Court House:

3 East Pulteney Square
County Office Building
Bath, NY 14810-1557

Etymology - Origin of County Name

in honor of Baron Steuben, a major general in the Revolution

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Steuben County, named in honor of Major-general Frederick William Baron de Steuben, the celebrated tactician of the revolutionaryarmy, was taken from Ontario in 1796; boundaries since much altered; from Albany centrally distant SW. 216 miles, from New YorkW. 220; length and breadth 40 miles. The surface is broken and hilly, if not mountainous. Along the rivers, the general aspect of the county is uninviting, except that in some parts the alluvial flats are extensive and rich. The river hills are rocky, precipitous, and covered with evergreens; but the upland plains have a rich variety of trees,and fertile tracts principally of clayey loam. The staples of the courtyard lumber, grain, cattle, and wool. The lumbering is the chief business of the southern towns; but as the country cleared of its forests agriculture rises in importance. Chemung river is the great stream of the county; it was called by the Senecas Cononque, “horn in the water.” Its flats are said to be superior in fertility to the Mohawk. This county, excepting the town of Reading on the western shore of the Seneca lake, was included in the extensive cession of New York to Massachusetts, and passed from that state, through Messrs. Phelps and Gorham and Robert Morris, to Sir William Pulteney. It was mostly settled by Pennsylvanians, excepting Prattsburg, which was settled by New Englanders. The county is divided into 27 towns. Source: Historical Collections of the State of New York, Past and Present, John Barber, Clark Albien & Co., 1851

Steuben County’s great-great-grandmother county was Albany, its great-grandmother county was Tryon, its grandmother county was Montgomery and its mother county was Ontario. The County of Steuben was formed by an act of the legislature from Ontario County on March 18, 1796 and was named after Frederic William Augustus “Baron Von Steuben” a German drill master in the Revolutionary War. Steuben County at that time has a population of about 890 people and an area of about 50 miles square. Over the years, portions have been annexed to Allegany, Yates, Livingston and Schuyler Counties, so that the present size of Steuben County is 1,397 Square miles of land area. As a matter of comparison, Steuben County has 348 more miles of land area than the state of Rhode Island. Full History at NYSAC

Geography

Steuben County is in the southwestern part of New York State, immediately north of the Pennsylvania border. The population of Steuben County according to the 2000 U. S. census was 98,726. The county is in the Southern Tier region of New York State.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,404 square miles (3,637 km²), of which, 1,393 square miles (3,607 km²) of it is land and 11 square miles (30 km²) of it (0.82%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Yates County, New York - north
Ontario County, New York - north
Chemung County, New York - east
Schuyler County, New York - east
Tioga County, Pennsylvania - south
Potter County, Pennsylvania - southwest
Allegany County, New York - west
Livingston County, New York - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Addison	village	Incorporated Area
- Arkport	village	Incorporated Area
- Avoca	village	Incorporated Area
- Bath (County Seat)	village	Incorporated Area
- Bradford	town
- Cameron	town
- Campbell	town
- Canisteo	village	Incorporated Area
- Caton	town
- Cohocton	village	Incorporated Area
- Corning	city	Incorporated Area
- Erwin	town
- Greenwood	town
- Hammondsport	village	Incorporated Area
- Hartsville	town
- Hornby	town
- Hornell	city	Incorporated Area
- Hornellsville	town
- Howard	town
- Jasper	town
- Lindley	town
- North Hornell	village	Incorporated Area
- Painted Post	village	Incorporated Area
- Prattsburgh	town
- Pulteney	town
- Rathbone	town
- Riverside	village	Incorporated Area
- Savona	village	Incorporated Area
- South Corning	village	Incorporated Area
- Thurston	town
- Troupsburg	town
- Urbana	town
- Wayland	village	Incorporated Area
- West Union	town
- Wheeler	town
- Woodhull	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."

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