Lewis County, New York

Lewis County
	Lewis County, New York
	; Seal
	; Seal
	; Location in the state of New York
	; New York's location in the U.S.
Founded	1805
Seat	Lowville
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 1,290 sq mi (3,341 km²); 1,275 sq mi (3,302 km²); 14 sq mi (36 km²), 1.12%
Population; - (2010); - Density	; 27,087; 21/sq mi (8.2/km²)
Website	www.lewiscountyny.org

Lewis County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,087. It is named after Morgan Lewis, the Governor of New York when the county was established. Its county seat is Lowville.

[edit] History

When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the present Lewis 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 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, the size of Montgomery County was reduced by the splitting off of Ontario County 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.

Lewis County is part of Macomb's Purchase of 1791.

In 1791, Herkimer County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery (the other two being Otsego, and Tioga County). This was much larger than the present county, however, and was reduced by a number of subsequent splits. The first one of these, in 1794, produced Onondaga County. This county was larger than the current Onondaga County, including the present Cayuga, Cortland, and part of Oswego Counties.

Oneida County (as well as a part of Chenango County), was split off from Herkimer County in 1798.

Lewis County was split off from Oneida County in 1805.

In January 1997, much of the county was socked in a world record-breaking snowburst, with nearly 6.5 feet (2.0 m) of snow in just a 24-hour period.

Lewis County, once organized, adopted five towns; Leyden, Turin, Martinsburg, Lowville, and Harrisburg. Today there are seventeen and they are Croghan, Denmark, Diana, Greig, Harrisburg, Highmarket, Lewis, Leyden, Lowville, Martinsburg, Montague, New Bremen, Osceola, Pinckney, Turin, Watson, and West Turin. Croghan was adopted in 1841, Denmark was in 1807, Diana in 1830, Greig 1828, Harrisburg 1803, Highmarket 1852, Lewis 1852, Leyden 1797, Lowville 1800, Martinsburg 1803, Montague 1850, New Bremen 1848, Osceola 1844, Pinckney 1808, Turin 1800, Watson 1821, and West Turin in 1830. These towns were adopted in a very short time span of about 55 years years.

[edit] Important Notes

The second survey of Lewis County, there was names appointed to specific creeks and rivers but since then the names have been changed. The Deer Creek has changed to Crystal Creek, Siren Creek has changed to Blake Creek, and Swan Creek has changed to Indian River. There was also the change of Pelican Creek to Swiss Creek, French River to Oswagatchee River, and Linnet Creek has changed to Blake Creek. The names of the Independence Creek, Beaver River and Murmur Creek have been unchanged and are still named the same to this day.

[edit] Geography

Lewis County is located in northwestern New York State, slightly east of due north from Syracuse. The eastern part of the county is in the Adirondack Park. A good portion of the Tug Hill Plateau is in the western part of the county. The county is home to the Black River Valley.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,290 square miles (3,341.1 km²), of which 1,275 square miles (3,302.2 km²) is land and 14 square miles (36.3 km²) (1.12%) is water.

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1810	6,433	—
1820	9,227	43.4%
1830	15,239	65.2%
1840	17,830	17.0%
1850	24,564	37.8%
1860	28,580	16.3%
1870	28,699	0.4%
1880	31,416	9.5%
1890	29,806	−5.1%
1900	27,427	−8.0%
1910	24,849	−9.4%
1920	23,704	−4.6%
1930	23,447	−1.1%
1940	22,815	−2.7%
1950	22,521	−1.3%
1960	23,249	3.2%
1970	23,644	1.7%
1980	25,035	5.9%
1990	26,796	7.0%
2000	26,944	0.6%
2010	27,087	0.5%
^[1]

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 26,944 people, 10,040 households, and 7,309 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 15,134 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.17% White, 0.39% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.28% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.64% of the population. 28.8% were of German, 13.8% French, 13.1% Irish, 9.2% English, 6.5% American and 5.3% Polish ancestry according to Census 2000. 97.3% spoke English and 1.0% Spanish as their first language.

There were 10,040 households out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.40% were married couples living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.20% were non-families. 22.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.80% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 13.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,361, and the median income for a family was $39,287. Males had a median income of $30,479 versus $21,115 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,971. About 10.10% of families and 13.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.40% of those under age 18 and 14.00% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Towns and Villages

Castorland (village)
Constableville (village)
Copenhagen (village)
Croghan (town)
Croghan (village)
Denmark (town)
Diana (town)
Greig (town)
Harrisburg (town)
Harrisville (village)
Highmarket (former town - merged with West Turin)
Lewis (town)
Leyden (town)
Lowville (village)
Lowville (town)
Lyons Falls (village)
Lyonsdale (town)
Martinsburg (town)
Montague (town)
New Bremen (town)
Osceola (town)
Pinckney (town)
Port Leyden (village)
Turin (town)
Turin (village)
Watson (town)
West Turin (town)

==> Label in parentheses is official designation

[edit] See also

New York portal

[edit] References

Hough, Franklin B. 1822-1885

A history of Lewis County, in the State of New York, from the beginning of its settlement to the present time. Merrick, New York :Richwood Publishing Company.