Region in New York state
This article is about the region of New York. For the region of the United States that is sometimes referred to by this term, see
Deep South
.
Region in New York, United States
Southern Tier of New York
|
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|
|
Country
| United States
|
---|
State
| New York
|
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Region
| Upstate New York
|
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Counties
| Allegany
,
Broome
,
Chenango
,
Chemung
,
Delaware
,
Steuben
,
Tioga
,
Tompkins
|
---|
Cities
| Binghamton
,
Corning
,
Elmira
,
Hornell
,
Olean
,
Salamanca
,
Dunkirk
,
Jamestown
,
Vestal
|
---|
Time zone
| UTC-5
(
EST
)
|
---|
? Summer (
DST
)
| UTC-4
(
Eastern Daylight Time
)
|
---|
Area code
| 607
,
585
&
716
|
---|
Website
| http://www.steg.com/
|
---|
The
Southern Tier
is a geographic subregion of the broader
Upstate
region of
New York State
, geographically situated along or very near the state border with
Pennsylvania
. Definitions of the region vary widely, but generally encompass counties surrounding the
Binghamton
and
Elmira
-
Corning
metropolitan areas
. This region is adjacent to the
Northern Tier
of Pennsylvania, and both these regions together are known as the
Twin Tiers
.
Geographically, most of the Southern Tier resides in the
Allegheny Plateau
of the
Appalachian Mountains
, with the eastern areas of the region nestled in the western portion of the
Catskill Mountains
. A longtime home of the
Iroquois Confederacy
, European settlers moved to the region after the
American Revolutionary War
. The fertile yet hilly land, combined with sweeping river valleys, led the region to support a combination of manufacturing industries (including large companies such as
IBM
and
Corning Inc.
) and farming, but with less development compared to neighboring subregions of Upstate. Since the 1950s, the area is often considered to be a part of the
Rust Belt
, as manufacturing jobs have left the region.
Constituent counties
[
edit
]
The Southern Tier is commonly considered to consist of 8 counties:
County
|
Major communities
|
Pop. 2020
[1]
|
Allegany County
|
Wellsville
,
Belmont
,
Alfred
|
46,456
|
Broome County
|
Binghamton
,
Endicott
,
Endwell
,
Johnson City
,
Vestal
|
198,683
|
Chemung County
|
Elmira
,
Horseheads
|
81,148
|
Chenango County
|
Greene
,
Norwich
|
47,220
|
Delaware County
|
Delhi
,
Sidney
,
Hancock
,
Walton
|
44,308
|
Steuben County
|
Corning
,
Bath
,
Hornell
|
93,584
|
Tioga County
|
Owego
,
Waverly
|
48,455
|
Tompkins County
|
Ithaca
|
105,740
|
The Southern Tier is not a legally defined region. Due to this, various neighboring counties can be included in the region, while counties near other regions of New York State may be excluded. For example, some organizations consider
Delaware County
,
Otsego County
,
Schoharie County
and
Cortland County
to reside in the Southern Tier.
[2]
[3]
The Encyclopedia of New York State
[4]
lists only
Chautauqua County
,
Cattaraugus County
,
Allegany County
, and
Steuben County
as part of the Southern Tier, with anything east of that being considered
Central New York
. Other definitions define it as comprising the combined Corning-Elmira-Binghamton
Metropolitan Statistical Areas
, which includes Steuben, Chemung, Tioga and Broome Counties but not Chautauqua, Cattaraugus or Allegany, which are considered
Western New York
.
The New York State Division of Local Government Services presently classifies the following fourteen counties as members of the Southern Tier: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins.
[5]
This definition corresponds to the same 14 counties in New York State that are members of the
Appalachian Regional Commission
formed in 1963.
Much of the Southern Tier is in
area code 607
, with the exception of Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua Counties, which are in
area code 716
or
area code 585
. As of 2023, the westernmost portion of the Southern Tier is located in
New York's 23rd congressional district
, and the easternmost portion is located in
New York's 19th congressional district
. The
ZIP code prefixes
147 (Jamestown region), 148 ? 149 (Elmira region), and 137 ? 139 (Binghamton region) are set aside for the Southern Tier.
Geography
[
edit
]
The Southern Tier is generally hilly without being mountainous (with the exception of the Catskill mountains). This can range from low rolling hills to more steep and rugged cliffs and valleys. The highest point in western New York is
Alma Hill
in
Allegany County
near the Steuben County line in the Southern Tier. Both the
Delaware
and
Susquehanna
rivers flow through the Southern Tier in their upper reaches, as does the
Allegheny River
in the western Southern Tier.
The Southern Tier makes up the northernmost portion of
Appalachia
and lies on the
Allegheny Plateau
. It is defined on its western boundary by the Chautauqua Ridge in Chautauqua County, and including this ridge and extending eastward across the northern bounds of the region, the continental divide between the
Great Lakes
and the
Mississippi River
watersheds exists. The
Eastern Continental Divide
runs directly through the region, in Steuben County.
The Southern Tier is more linked, geographically, with Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River valley than it is with the remainder of New York State. Population of the Southern Tier came primarily from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
downstate New York
("Yorkers"). In contrast, the inhabitants of upper New York State came from New England ("Yankees").
[6]
: 11
History
[
edit
]
The Southern Tier has long been home to the people of the
Iroquois
Confederacy. There were major settlements along the Allegheny River in Cattaraugus County (which the Senecas acquired by defeating the
Wenrohronon
during the
Beaver Wars
in 1638) and at
Painted Post
in Steuben County, at what is today the northeast side of Corning, New York. The
Seneca Nation
has a reservation today along the Allegheny River and a headquarters at
Salamanca
. There are also Native lands (with no current Native residents) on
Cuba Lake
in Allegany County.
The colonies that eventually became the states of New York,
Massachusetts
and
Pennsylvania
all laid claim to the Southern Tier at various points in the 17th and 18th centuries, while not making any significant attempt to settle the territory.
The region was quickly settled by whites after the Revolutionary War, when settlers were again allowed west of the Appalachian divide. The Southern Tier shared in the economic growth of the early 19th century, but its hilly terrain made it less suitable to canal-building, and later, railroading, than the more-level corridor to the north between Albany and Buffalo. There was an attempt at a
Genesee Valley Canal
in the western half, and in the eastern half, the
Chemung
and
Chenango
Canals did connect the
Erie Canal
to Elmira and Binghamton respectively. Beset by financial and technical difficulties, the latter two canals nonetheless were important catalysts for economic growth, and indeed for the construction of the railroads that would supplant them. Plans to connect these canals to the
Pennsylvania Canal
system, thus making them much more than feeders to the Erie Canal, never came to fruition.
Railroads did arrive and the
Erie Railroad
, which followed the water-level of the Allegheny, Susquehanna and Delaware watersheds, accelerated industrial progress in the region about the time of the
American Civil War
. The railroad and available fuel from the region's dense forests attracted Corning Glass Works to Steuben County in 1868.
The region became home to prosperous farms and small factory towns (with the exception of larger Binghamton) during the first half of the 20th century. But declines in U.S. manufacturing hit the region hard and it suffered even more than other parts of upstate
New York
and northern
Pennsylvania
.
The region's addition to the
Appalachian Regional Commission
, often credited to the influence of U.S. Sen.
Robert F. Kennedy
, provided economic stimulus over the last 40 years. Government funds built the Southern Tier Expressway, highway links to the
New York State Thruway
, encouraged the growth of state colleges at Wellsville, Alfred and Binghamton and sought with mixed success to attract business interests relocating from the
New York Metropolitan Area
and urban Western New York.
For two decades, the region has tried to remake itself as a tourist destination and relocation area for retirees from big Northeastern cities. Meanwhile, agriculture and manufacturing struggle to compete regionally and globally.
Education
[
edit
]
Binghamton University
(the State University of New York-Binghamton) is one of the
SUNY
system's four
University Centers
. Other 4-year and graduate institutions within the core counties include
St. Bonaventure University
,
Alfred University
,
Elmira College
, and
Houghton College
. Technical and community colleges include
Alfred State College
,
Broome Community College
,
Corning Community College
, and the
State University of New York at Delhi
. The region is also home to E.B.I. Career College, a
vocational school
.
Institutions of higher learning outside the core counties include
Cornell University
,
Hartwick College
,
Ithaca College
, SUNY Colleges in
Cortland
and
Oneonta
,
Jamestown Community College
,
Fredonia
, and
Tompkins Cortland Community College
.
Transportation
[
edit
]
The
Southern Tier Expressway
?
Interstate 86
and
New York State Route 17
? serves the Southern Tier. The highway is the region's major corridor and connects to
U.S. Route 219
in Salamanca,
Interstate 390
in Bath,
Interstate 99
in Corning,
U.S. Route 220
in Waverly, and
Interstates 81
and
88
in Binghamton.
The region is served by three
regional airports
.
Elmira-Corning Regional Airport
has routes to
Atlanta
,
Washington D.C.
,
Detroit
, and several destinations in
Florida
. The
Greater Binghamton Airport
offers
Delta Airlines
flights to Detroit.
Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport
connects to
Pittsburgh
via
Essential Air Service
.
Bus service is provided along the entire I-86/NY 17 corridor by
Coach USA
's
Shortline
/Erie services from Jamestown to New York City and
Buffalo
, and
Trailways
connects the Southern Tier with
Buffalo
,
Dubois
(at the western end in Salamanca),
Sunbury
/
Lock Haven
(at Elmira), and
Syracuse
,
Albany
and
Harrisburg
(at Binghamton). A somewhat-unorganized network of municipally-operated public transportation services operate local and limited intercity bus services between Salamanca and Elmira.
Until the demise of long-distance passenger rail service in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, the
Erie Railroad
operated passenger trains in the region, with
Chicago, Illinois
as the western terminus and
Jersey City, New Jersey
as the eastern terminus, with
ferry
connections to
New York City
. The last Erie Lackawanna passenger train, the "Lake Cities", ran on January 6, 1970.
Amtrak
currently does not serve the area. Proposals for
high-speed rail in New York
have included a route from Binghamton to New York City through
Scranton, Pennsylvania
: a route that could at least partially be upgraded for high-speed rail. As of 2011, the highest priority for high-speed rail projects in New York is in the
Empire Corridor
, of which no part crosses the Southern Tier. The hilly terrain of the Southern Tier's I-86 corridor is not ideal for high-speed rail service, especially compared to the relatively-flat and straight land in the Empire Corridor.
Economy
[
edit
]
Government services are the largest employer in the area. Of second and declining importance is manufacturing. The region's manufacturing economy has suffered for decades, but factories are found in the region's larger communities. Fortune 500 materials maker
Corning Inc.
is headquartered in Steuben County. Broome County has a large high-tech industry, and is the birthplace of
IBM
and
flight simulation
. In addition, other factories in the region make military aircraft, televisions, furniture, metal forgings and machine tools.
The area includes the northern extent of the
Marcellus Formation
and natural gas. Crude oil and oil sands continue to be extracted from Southern Tier wells as they have for over a century.
[7]
[8]
There is significant debate about allowing
hydraulic fracturing
of the Marcellus Shale in the Southern Tier, which is currently banned in New York.
Cummins engine company has a large production facility located in Jamestown, NY. The Jamestown Engine Plant, established in 1974, is one of the top five heavy-duty diesel engine producers worldwide with production in recent years typically exceeding 100,000 engines annually. The JEP also remains one of the company's largest manufacturing facilities, as it accounts for 12 percent of Cummins' total engine production in 2012.
[9]
Agriculture
is also a major part of the economy. Leading products are dairy, vegetables, orchard fruit and wine grapes (the last of which typically grows only on the fringes of the Southern Tier, as the inland areas tend to not have a long enough growing season to support it). In addition, two prominent
microbreweries
, the
Southern Tier Brewing Company
in
Lakewood, New York
and the Ellicottville Brewing Company in
Ellicottville
, operate in the western Southern Tier.
The western and northern edges of the Southern Tier are known as
ski country
, and the hilly terrain (that forms a
continental divide
known as the Chautauqua Ridge) is notorious for frequent and heavy
lake effect snow
. As a result,
Ellicottville
has become a "ski town" with both the Holimont and
Holiday Valley
resorts in the vicinity; the two resorts draw numerous tourists, particularly from
Canada
, for which
U.S. Route 219
provides easy access. At its peak in the 1960s, over a dozen ski resorts resided in the Southern Tier, many in Cattaraugus County, before most of them closed due to various assorted causes by the 1980s.
Culture
[
edit
]
The Southern Tier is home to two professional symphony orchestras: the
Binghamton Philharmonic
in Binghamton and the
Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes
in Corning. Binghamton also has the Binghamton Youth Symphony and the Binghamton Community Orchestra.
The
Tri-Cities Opera Company
present full-scale operas in Binghamton.
Media and entertainment
[
edit
]
Most of the Southern Tier is either served by the Elmira-Corning television market or the Binghamton television market. Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties are out of these stations' ranges, however, and are instead served by the Buffalo and Erie television markets. Two stations (more-or-less independent
WVTT-CD
and
Retro Television Network
owned-and-operated translator
WBUO-LD
) are licensed to Olean but serve Buffalo in practice.
The Olean, Elmira-Corning, and Binghamton radio markets directly serve the Southern Tier, and the Ithaca market indirectly serves some of the area. Seven Mountains Media is the dominant broadcaster in Olean and Elmira-Corning.
iHeartMedia
and
Cumulus Media
own station clusters only in Binghamton.
Notable newspapers include The Leader of Corning, the Elmira
Star-Gazette
, the Binghamton
Press & Sun-Bulletin
, Hornell Evening Tribune, the Wellsville Daily Reporter, the
Olean Times Herald
, the
Salamanca Press
,
The Post-Journal
of Jamestown, and
The Observer
of Dunkirk. The Tribune, Reporter and Leader are all owned by
GateHouse Media
;
Gannett Company
owns the Star-Gazette and Press & Sun-Bulletin.
The Southern Tier has an eclectic history of sports. From 1979 to 2009 the
LPGA Corning Classic
was held at the Corning Country Club. Endicott's En-Joie Golf Course hosted a PGA Tour event, the
B.C. Open
, from 1971 until 2006. It then became the
Dick's Sporting Goods Open
which is a
PGA Tour Champions
event still played each summer.
[10]
Binghamton has a AA baseball team, the
Binghamton Rumble Ponies
, and a
Federal Prospects Hockey League
franchise, the
Binghamton Black Bears
. Depending on the boundary definition,
Watkins Glen International Speedway
, a
NASCAR
and
Indy Racing League
sanctioned
road racing
track, is located in the Southern Tier region.
From 2000 to 2017, Elmira had a professional ice hockey team in the
Elmira Jackals
. They played in the
United Hockey League
from 2000 to 2007 and the
ECHL
for the franchise's remaining years. The Jackals were replaced by a new
Federal Hockey League
franchise called the
Elmira Enforcers
from 2018 to 2021.
[11]
The last
minor league baseball
team in the Southern Tier west of Binghamton, the
Jamestown Jammers
, relocated out of the area in 2016, ending an era in which the
New York?Penn League
featured pro teams in Jamestown, Olean, Wellsville, Hornell, Corning, Elmira and Oneonta over the course of its history;
collegiate summer baseball
still thrives in the region in the form of the
New York Collegiate Baseball League
and
Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League
, both with multiple teams in the region, and
Town Team Baseball
also operated in the form of the Southwestern New York Men's Baseball League from 2014 to 2016. Only one major league franchise has ever resided in the Southern Tier: the professional basketball team
Elmira Colonels
, which played from 1952 to 1953.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Bureau, US Census.
"New York State Population Topped 20 Million in 2020"
.
Census.gov
. Retrieved
May 21,
2024
.
- ^
"Southern Tier"
.
Look Upstate NY
. Retrieved
May 20,
2024
.
- ^
"Southern Tier of New York Regional and Economic Profile"
.
southerntier8.org
. Retrieved
May 21,
2024
.
- ^
Eisenstadt, Peter, ed. (2005).
" Southern Tier"
.
The Encyclopedia of New York State
. Syracuse University Press. p. 1437.
ISBN
0-8156-0808-X
.
- ^
"Appalachian Regional Commission Overview"
.
State of New York
. Division of Local Government Services
. Retrieved
May 16,
2009
.
The Appalachian portion of New York State ("Appalachian New York"), contains the following fourteen counties: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins. This region is most commonly known as New York's "Southern Tier."
- ^
Sernett, Milton C.
(2002).
North star country : upstate New York and the crusade for African American freedom
. Syracuse, New York:
Syracuse University Press
.
- ^
Ross, Kathryn.
There’s still oil in them thar hills
. Wellsville Daily Reporter. February 12, 2008.
- ^
Fanelli, Patrick.
Untapped Resource: Boom Expected Around Region
. Jamestown Post-Journal. June 26, 2008.
- ^
Cummins.com.
"News Article"
.
phx.corporate-ir.net
.
- ^
"Home"
.
dsgopen.com
.
- ^
"Home"
.
elmiraenforcers.com
.
External links
[
edit
]