County in New York, United States
County in New York
Cortland County
is a
county
located in the
U.S. state
of
New York
. As of the
2020 census
, the population of Cortland County was 46,809.
[2]
The
county seat
is
Cortland
.
[3]
The county is named after
Pierre Van Cortlandt
, president of the convention at
Kingston
that wrote the first New York State Constitution in 1777, and first lieutenant governor of the state. The county is part of the
Central New York
region of the state.
Cortland County comprises the Cortland, NY
Micropolitan Statistical Area
, which is also included in the
Ithaca
?Cortland, NY
Combined Statistical Area
.
The
Cortland
apple is named for the county.
[4]
History
[
edit
]
Early history
[
edit
]
Located in the glaciated
Appalachian Plateau
area of
Central New York
, midway between
Syracuse
and
Binghamton
, this predominantly rural county is the southeastern gateway to the
Finger Lakes
Region. Scattered archaeological evidence indicates the Iroquois also known as the Haudenosaunee controlled the area beginning about AD 1500.
What was to become Cortland County remained within Indian territory until the
American Revolution
. It became part of the
Military Tract
, when, in 1781, more than 1¼ million acres (5,100 km
2
) were set aside by the State's Legislature to compensate two regiments formed to protect the State's western section from the English and their Iroquois allies, at the close of the Revolution. To encourage settlement in the upstate isolated wilderness, the State constructed a road from Oxford through Cortland County to
Cayuga Lake
in 1792?94. This, and construction of privately financed roads, were the major impetus to settlement.
When counties were established in New York in 1683, the present Cortland County was part of
Albany County
, which encompassed the northern part of New York and all of the present State of
Vermont
, as well as indeterminate territory to west. On March 12, 1772, present day Cortland County became part of
Tryon County
, named for
William Tryon
, colonial governor of New York. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the
American Revolutionary War
, the name of the county was changed to honor General
Richard Montgomery
, who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of
Quebec
, thus replacing the name of the locally unpopular British governor. Present day Cortland County became part of
Herkimer County
in 1791, then became a part of
Onondaga County
when it split from Herkimer in 1794. Cortland County was formed by the splitting of Onondaga County in 1808.
Settlement of the county
[
edit
]
Eastern New Yorkers and New Englanders, wanting new land to farm, welcomed the opening of this frontier. The first white settlement in the county was made in 1791 by Amos Todd, Joseph Beebe and Rhoda Todd Beebe, emigrants from Connecticut who paddled up the
Tioughnioga River
from Windsor, to live near the head of navigation in the Town of
Homer
. Following them came a flood of settlers who, in 1808, petitioned the State Legislature for county status. Thus, Cortland County was created from the southern half of Onondaga County as part of the Boston Ten Towns on April 8, 1808, and was named in honor of the
Pierre Van Cortlandt
family - Pierre, Sr. having been the first lieutenant governor of the state.
Nineteenth century
[
edit
]
The
76th New York Volunteer Infantry
was one of the most famous of the New York units in the
Civil War
. It was raised in 1861 primarily from Cortland County and the surrounding areas (about a third of the men were from the Cherry Valley area). The 76th was in most of the major battles the Army of the Potomac fought from Second Bull Run through Petersburg, at which time the three-year enlistment of most of the men ran out and the 300 or so men remaining from the 1,100 who left Cortland either returned home or transferred to other units.
At the
Battle of Gettysburg
, the 76th New York was one of the first infantry regiments on the field, holding down the extreme right of the Union line on the first day. The regiment took huge casualties in that battle - nearly one-third of its strength - including its commander Major Andrew J. Grover, the first infantry officer killed in the battle.
Modern Cortland County
[
edit
]
Today, Cortland county is noted for the production of
CNC
milling machines
, hospitality supplies,
medical instruments
and components,
textiles
,
electronic components
, plastic consumer goods, components for
NASA
, and a variety of other goods and services. International exporting is an integral part of many of the corporations in the area.
The county's present reflects its past.
Agribusiness
flourishes, yet consistent with the pattern elsewhere in New York State, the number of farms has declined while farm size and yield have increased. Continued growth in the service and
light industry
sectors is contributing to the growing strength of the
Central New York
region and the
Southern Tier
region.
The loss of many of its local businesses has led to the current economic decline of the region.
Cornell University
,
Syracuse University
,
Binghamton University
, and
Ithaca College
are all within a 45-minute drive of the City of Cortland. The
State University of New York College at Cortland
and
Tompkins Cortland Community College
are located in the county.
Government and politics
[
edit
]
United States presidential election results for Cortland County, New York
[5]
Year
|
Republican
|
Democratic
|
Third party
|
No.
|
%
|
No.
|
%
|
No.
|
%
|
2020
|
10,789
|
49.77%
|
10,370
|
47.83%
|
520
|
2.40%
|
2016
|
9,900
|
48.90%
|
8,771
|
43.33%
|
1,573
|
7.77%
|
2012
|
8,695
|
44.31%
|
10,482
|
53.41%
|
447
|
2.28%
|
2008
|
9,678
|
44.15%
|
11,861
|
54.11%
|
381
|
1.74%
|
2004
|
11,613
|
51.02%
|
10,670
|
46.88%
|
477
|
2.10%
|
2000
|
9,857
|
47.56%
|
9,691
|
46.76%
|
1,178
|
5.68%
|
1996
|
7,606
|
39.11%
|
9,130
|
46.94%
|
2,713
|
13.95%
|
1992
|
7,782
|
37.32%
|
7,815
|
37.48%
|
5,254
|
25.20%
|
1988
|
10,934
|
58.26%
|
7,673
|
40.88%
|
162
|
0.86%
|
1984
|
13,691
|
67.70%
|
6,438
|
31.83%
|
95
|
0.47%
|
1980
|
9,885
|
54.77%
|
6,176
|
34.22%
|
1,987
|
11.01%
|
1976
|
11,222
|
61.32%
|
6,947
|
37.96%
|
131
|
0.72%
|
1972
|
12,885
|
70.97%
|
5,234
|
28.83%
|
37
|
0.20%
|
1968
|
10,209
|
60.76%
|
5,791
|
34.47%
|
801
|
4.77%
|
1964
|
6,149
|
35.61%
|
11,110
|
64.33%
|
11
|
0.06%
|
1960
|
12,305
|
67.48%
|
5,921
|
32.47%
|
9
|
0.05%
|
1956
|
14,085
|
79.59%
|
3,612
|
20.41%
|
0
|
0.00%
|
1952
|
13,985
|
77.32%
|
4,079
|
22.55%
|
24
|
0.13%
|
1948
|
10,433
|
68.27%
|
4,614
|
30.19%
|
236
|
1.54%
|
1944
|
10,450
|
67.68%
|
4,967
|
32.17%
|
24
|
0.16%
|
1940
|
12,233
|
70.26%
|
5,147
|
29.56%
|
31
|
0.18%
|
1936
|
11,718
|
70.43%
|
4,606
|
27.69%
|
313
|
1.88%
|
1932
|
9,859
|
67.60%
|
4,425
|
30.34%
|
301
|
2.06%
|
1928
|
11,960
|
75.37%
|
3,662
|
23.08%
|
247
|
1.56%
|
1924
|
10,032
|
76.93%
|
2,170
|
16.64%
|
839
|
6.43%
|
1920
|
9,606
|
76.75%
|
2,541
|
20.30%
|
369
|
2.95%
|
1916
|
4,521
|
59.21%
|
2,693
|
35.27%
|
422
|
5.53%
|
1912
|
2,959
|
39.99%
|
2,283
|
30.86%
|
2,157
|
29.15%
|
1908
|
5,090
|
62.26%
|
2,616
|
32.00%
|
470
|
5.75%
|
1904
|
5,222
|
63.34%
|
2,649
|
32.13%
|
373
|
4.52%
|
1900
|
4,895
|
60.99%
|
2,773
|
34.55%
|
358
|
4.46%
|
1896
|
4,939
|
63.39%
|
2,574
|
33.04%
|
278
|
3.57%
|
1892
|
4,134
|
53.57%
|
2,907
|
37.67%
|
676
|
8.76%
|
1888
|
4,732
|
55.97%
|
3,163
|
37.41%
|
560
|
6.62%
|
1884
|
4,042
|
55.35%
|
2,774
|
37.98%
|
487
|
6.67%
|
Cortland County is a bellwether county, having voted for the national winner in every presidential election from 1976 to 2016. The city of
Cortland
itself, the largest city in the county, leans
Democratic
.
Republican
Ronald Reagan
scored landslide wins in the county in 1980 and 1984. Democrat
Bill Clinton
carried the county with pluralities in 1992 and 1996. Republican
George W. Bush
carried the county in 2000 and 2004, defeating
Al Gore
by less than 1% in 2000, and
John Kerry
by just over 4% in 2004. In 2008,
Barack Obama
defeated
John McCain
54-45%, and in 2012 he defeated
Mitt Romney
by a similar margin.
[6]
The last Democrat to win a majority in Cortland County prior to Obama was
Lyndon Johnson
in 1964.
In 2020, Cortland County's streak of voting for the winner ended, as
Joe Biden
defeated Republican incumbent
Donald Trump
. Had the streak continued, it would have been tied with
Clallam County, Washington
for the longest active streak in the nation, as the streaks of longstanding bellwethers
Valencia County, New Mexico
and
Vigo County, Indiana
also ended in 2020. Cortland was one of five counties in the state that Trump carried by less than 500 votes.
Cortland County's lawmaking body is the legislature, which consists of 17 members. All are elected from single member districts.
Geography
[
edit
]
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
, the county has a total area of 502 square miles (1,300 km
2
), of which 499 square miles (1,290 km
2
) is land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km
2
) (0.5%) is water.
[7]
Cortland County is sometimes considered to be part of
Central New York
and
Southern Tier
regions of New York and is also somewhat to the southwest of the center of New York, south of
Syracuse
and north of
Binghamton
.
Adjacent counties
[
edit
]
Major highways
[
edit
]
Demographics
[
edit
]
Historical population
Census
| Pop.
| Note
| %±
|
1810
| 8,869
| | ?
|
---|
1820
| 16,507
| | 86.1%
|
---|
1830
| 23,791
| | 44.1%
|
---|
1840
| 24,607
| | 3.4%
|
---|
1850
| 25,140
| | 2.2%
|
---|
1860
| 26,294
| | 4.6%
|
---|
1870
| 25,173
| | ?4.3%
|
---|
1880
| 25,825
| | 2.6%
|
---|
1890
| 28,657
| | 11.0%
|
---|
1900
| 27,576
| | ?3.8%
|
---|
1910
| 29,249
| | 6.1%
|
---|
1920
| 29,625
| | 1.3%
|
---|
1930
| 31,709
| | 7.0%
|
---|
1940
| 33,668
| | 6.2%
|
---|
1950
| 37,158
| | 10.4%
|
---|
1960
| 41,113
| | 10.6%
|
---|
1970
| 45,894
| | 11.6%
|
---|
1980
| 48,820
| | 6.4%
|
---|
1990
| 48,963
| | 0.3%
|
---|
2000
| 48,599
| | ?0.7%
|
---|
2010
| 49,336
| | 1.5%
|
---|
2020
| 46,809
| | ?5.1%
|
---|
2020 Census
[
edit
]
2000 census
[
edit
]
As of the
census
[13]
of 2000, there were 48,599 people, 18,210 households, and 11,617 families residing in the county. The
population density
was 97 people per square mile (37 people/km
2
). There were 20,116 housing units at an average density of 40 units per square mile (15/km
2
). The racial makeup of the county was 96.95%
White
, 0.86%
Black
or
African American
, 0.27%
Native American
, 0.41%
Asian
, 0.01%
Pacific Islander
, 0.32% from
other races
, and 1.18% from two or more races. 1.16% of the population were
Hispanic
or
Latino
of any race. 17.3% were of English, 16.9% Irish, 14.2% German, 13.0% Italian and 9.9% American ancestry according to
Census 2000
. 96.0% spoke English and 1.4% Spanish as their first language.
There were 18,210 households, out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.20% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.20% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.70% under the age of 18, 15.50% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 12.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $34,364, and the median income for a family was $42,204. Males had a median income of $30,814 versus $22,166 for females. The
per capita income
for the county was $16,622. About 9.30% of families and 15.50% of the population were below the
poverty line
, including 16.40% of those under age 18 and 10.80% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2014 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Cortland County, New York were:
- English - 17.7%
- Irish - 12.9%
- German - 11.9%
- Italian - 8.8%
- "American" - 6.9%
- French (except Basque) - 2.8%
- Dutch - 2.7%
- Polish - 2.2%
- Scottish - 2.1%
[14]
As of 2015 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Cortland County, New York were:
- English - 18.8%
- Irish - 12.3%
- German - 10.8%
- Italian - 8.1%
- "American" - 7.3%
- Dutch - 2.5%
- Scottish - 2.3%
- French (except Basque) - 2.2%
- Polish - 2.1%
[15]
As of 2016 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Cortland County, New York were:
- English - 19.8%
- Irish - 11.9%
- German - 10.2%
- Italian - 8.0%
- "American" - 6.9%
- Dutch - 2.4%
- Scottish - 2.0%
- French (except Basque) - 2.3%
- Polish - 2.1%
[16]
Education
[
edit
]
Area schools include:
Communities
[
edit
]
Larger settlements
[
edit
]
Towns
[
edit
]
Notable people
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"US Census 2020 Population Dataset Tables for New York"
. United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
January 2,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Cortland County, New York"
. United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
January 3,
2022
.
- ^
"Find a County"
. National Association of Counties. Archived from
the original
on May 31, 2011
. Retrieved
June 7,
2011
.
- ^
"Cortland"
. The State of New York
. Retrieved
March 30,
2020
.
The Cortland variety of apple is named for the county.
- ^
Leip, David.
"Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections"
.
uselectionatlas.org
. Retrieved
April 5,
2018
.
- ^
"Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - State Data"
.
- ^
"2010 Census Gazetteer Files"
. United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from
the original
on May 19, 2014
. Retrieved
January 3,
2015
.
- ^
"U.S. Decennial Census"
. United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
January 3,
2015
.
- ^
"Historical Census Browser"
. University of Virginia Library. Archived from
the original
on August 11, 2012
. Retrieved
January 3,
2015
.
- ^
"Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990"
. United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
January 3,
2015
.
- ^
"Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000"
(PDF)
. United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
January 3,
2015
.
- ^
"P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE ? 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) ? Cortland County, New York"
.
- ^
"U.S. Census website"
.
United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
January 31,
2008
.
- ^
Bureau, U.S. Census.
"American FactFinder - Results"
.
factfinder.census.gov
. Archived from
the original
on February 13, 2020
. Retrieved
April 5,
2018
.
- ^
Bureau, U.S. Census.
"American FactFinder - Results"
.
factfinder.census.gov
. Archived from
the original
on February 13, 2020
. Retrieved
April 5,
2018
.
- ^
Bureau, U.S. Census.
"American FactFinder - Results"
.
factfinder.census.gov
. Archived from
the original
on February 13, 2020
. Retrieved
April 5,
2018
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Sullivan, James; Williams, Melvin E.; Conklin, Edwin P.; Fitzpatrick, Benedict, eds. (1927), "Chapter VI. Cortland County.",
History of New York State, 1523?1927
(PDF)
, vol. 2, New York City, Chicago: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., p. 737-42,
hdl
:
2027/mdp.39015019994048
,
Wikidata
Q114149636
External links
[
edit
]
42°36′N
76°04′W
/
42.60°N 76.07°W
/
42.60; -76.07
Places adjacent to Cortland County, New York
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