County Tips

Erie County is situated on the western border of New York State.

Located in the center of New York State, Madison County is bordered on the north by Oneida County; on the east by Oneida and Otsego; on the south by Chenango; and on the west by Onondaga and Cortland counties.

Rockland County lies 9.5 miles north of Manhattan and is bounded on the east by the Hudson River, on the north and west by the Ramapo Mountains, and on the south by New Jersey. At 176 square miles, it is the smallest county outside of New York City. According to the U.S.

Originally used as a hunting ground by the Mohawk Nation, Fulton County was purchased from the Mohawk and settled by American colonists. Major land transactions include the Kayaderosseras Patent of 1708, the Sacandaga Patent of 1741, and the Kingsborough Patent of 1753.

Schuyler County, originally settled by Native Americans dating as far back as 2500 BC, and inhabited by the Seneca at the time of European arrival, was permanently settled by Europeans by 1788.

Established by Dutch settlers on November 1, 1683, Orange County, NY was primarily inhabited by native Munsee people, with a handful of Dutch in the area. Within the next few decades, influxes of European settlers arrived from Germany (Palatines), the Netherlands, and England, and quickly populated the area.

Originally part of Genesee County, Cattaraugus became an independent entity in 1808. Settlers were attracted to Cattaraugus because it was the only area in western New York to have a navigable river that led to Ohio, which at the time was considered the western frontier.

Officially formed on March 3, 1802 from parts of Clinton County that had only been recently acquired from Montgomery and Herkimer Counties, St. Lawrence County is named after the river that serves as the county’s northern boundary.

Located in the southwest of New York, Chemung County borders Pennsylvania and is in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. Europeans first entered the area in 1779 during the Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois League, and Euro-American settlement began in 1784.

Located in eastern New York, Columbia County is bordered by Dutchess, Rensselaer, Greene, Ulster and Albany Counties.  Columbia was one of the first counties in New York to be settled by European colonists.