Livingston County, New York

Infobox U.S. County
county = Livingston County
state = New York




map size = 250
founded = 1821
seat = Geneseo | area_total_sq_mi =640
area_water_sq_mi =8
area percentage = 1.30%
census yr = 2000
pop = 64328
density_km2 =39
web = www.co.livingston.state.ny.us
|: "There is also a town named Livingston in Columbia County."

Livingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 census, the population was 64,328. It is named after Robert R. Livingston, delegate to the 1775 Continental Congress, member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and father-in-law of Richard Montgomery, after whom Montgomery County (and similarly named counties in many other states) were named. Its county seat is Geneseo.

Livingston County is part of the Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Livingston County was part of Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766 by the creation of Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770 by the creation of Gloucester County, both containing territory now in Vermont.

On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the other pieces, Tryon County, contained the western portion (and thus, since no western boundary was specified, theoretically still extended west to the Pacific). The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of Schenectady, and the county included the western part of the Adirondack Mountains and the area west of the West Branch of the Delaware River. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for William Tryon, colonial governor of New York.

In the years prior to 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to Canada. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War, the name of Tryon County was changed to Montgomery County in order to honor the general, Richard Montgomery, who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of Quebec, replacing the name of the hated British governor.

In 1789, Ontario County was split off from Montgomery. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, also including the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne Counties.

Genesee County was created by a splitting of Ontario County in 1802. This was much larger than the present Genesee County, however. It contained the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming, and portions of Livingston and Monroe Counties.

Livingston County was formed from Genesee and Ontario Counties in 1821.

Livingston County is home to the State University of New York, College at Geneseo (now SUNY Geneseo), one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.Fact|date=February 2007

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.

Adjacent 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

Major Highways

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Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 64,328 people, 22,150 households, and 15,349 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile (39/km²). There were 24,023 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.04% White, 3.01% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.27% of the population. 22.5% were of German, 17.7% Irish, 14.3% Italian, 12.8% English and 7.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.8% spoke English and 2.0% Spanish as their first language.

There were 22,150 households out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.80% were married couples living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 23.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.40% under the age of 18, 14.20% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 22.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 100.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,066, and the median income for a family was $50,513. Males had a median income of $36,599 versus $25,228 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,062. About 5.80% of families and 10.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.70% of those under age 18 and 6.50% of those age 65 or over.

Towns and Villages

ee also

References

External links

* [http://www.co.livingston.state.ny.us Livingston County webpage]
* [http://fingerlakeswest.com/ Information from the Chamber of Commerce]
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* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyliving/ Brief histories of Livingston towns]
* [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/his/bk8/ch2.html Summary history of Livingston County and its towns]