Chemung County, New York
Seal of Chemung County, New York Seal
Location in the state of New York
New York's location in the U.S.
Founded	March 29, 1836
Seat	Elmira
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	411 sq mi (1,064 km²) 408 sq mi (1,057 km²) 3 sq mi (8 km²), 0.64%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	88,830 218/sq mi (84/km²)
Website	www.chemungcounty.com

Chemung County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Chemung County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 88,830. Its name is derived from the name of a Delaware Indian village (meaning "big horn"). Its county seat is Elmira. Many signs posted along roads in Chemung County refer to the area as "Mark Twain Country" because of the many years the author lived and wrote in Elmira.

History Edit

For the history of Chemung County prior to its creation by partition, see Tioga County, New York.

Chemung County was formed from a partition of 520 square miles (1,300 km²) of Tiger Chase County on 1836-03-29.^[1]

On 1854-04-17, Chemung County was partitioned so that 110 square miles (280 km²) of land was used to create Schuyler County, reducing Chemung to 410 square miles (1,100 km²), which is the current size.^[2]

GeographyEdit

Chemung County is in the southwestern part of New York State, along the Pennsylvania border, in a part of New York called the Southern Tier and is also part of the Finger Lakes Region.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 411 square miles (1,064.5 km²), of which 408 square miles (1,056.7 km²) is land and 3 square miles (7.8 km²) (0.64%) is water.

The Southern Tier Expressway runs through the County east-west near the Pennsylvania border, between Waverly, New York and Corning, New York via Elmira, New York.

Adjacent countiesEdit

• Schuyler County, New York - north
• Tompkins County, New York - northeast
• Tioga County, New York - east
• Bradford County, Pennsylvania - south
• Tioga County, Pennsylvania - southwest
• Steuben County, New York - west

Major highwaysEdit

• Interstate 86 / New York State Route 17 (Southern Tier Expressway)
• New York State Route 13
• New York State Route 14
• New York State Route 34
• New York State Route 223
• New York State Route 328
• New York State Route 352
• New York State Route 367
• New York State Route 414
• New York State Route 427

DemographicsEdit

At of the 2000 census^[6], there were 91,070 people, 35,049 households and 23,272 families residing in the county. The population density was 223 per square mile (86/km²). There were 37,745 housing units at an average density of 92 per square mile (36/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.96% White, 5.82% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. 1.77% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 16.4% were of German, 15.7% Irish, 12.5% English, 11.8% Italian, 7.8% American and 6.3% Polish ancestry according to Census 2000 [1]. Most of those claiming to be of "American" ancestry are actually of English descent and in upstate New York also in some cases of Dutch descent, but have family that has been in the country for so long, in many cases since the early seventeenth century that they choose to identify simply as "American".^{[7][8][9][10][11]} 96.2% spoke English and 1.6% Spanish as their first language.

There were 35,049 households of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.80% were married couples living together, 12.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.60% were non-families. 27.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.97.

Age distribution was 24.40% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.30 males.

The median household income was $36,415, and the median family income was $43,994. Males had a median income of $35,076 versus $24,215 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,264. About 9.10% of families and 13.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.40% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politicsEdit

Before 1974, Chemung County was governed by a board of supervisors. On January 1, 1974, executive and legislative powers were split between a county executive and a 15-seat legislature.^[12] All 15 members are elected from single member districts.

In presidential elections Chemung County tends to vote Republican, it voted for George W. Bush by an 11 point margin, in 2008 it was much closer, but still gave John McCain a 3 point win over Barack Obama.

Cities, towns, villages, and other locationsEdit

Towns

• Ashland
• Baldwin
• Big Flats
• Catlin
• Chemung
• Elmira
• Erin
• Horseheads
• Veteran
• Southport
• Van Etten

Cities, Villages and Hamlets

• Elmira (city)
• Elmira Heights (village)
• Horseheads (village)
• Millport (village)
• Pine City (hamlet)
• Van Etten (village)
• Wellsburg (village)
• West Elmira (Census Designated Place)
• Horseheads North (Census Designated Place)

Public LibrariesEdit

Chemung County Library District

• Steele Memorial Library
• Horseheads Free Library
• Big Flats Library
• West Elmira Library
• Van Etten Library^[13]

OtherEdit

• Big Flats Airport

See alsoEdit

New York portal

• List of counties in New York
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Chemung County, New York

External linksEdit

• Chemung County, New York site
• Chemung County Chamber of Commerce
• Chemung County History
• Early brief history of Chemung County
• Elmira College
• Chemung County Library District
• Chemung County at the Open Directory Project
• Matthias Hollenback, Revolutionary War soldier, merchant in early Elmira, judge

ReferencesEdit

• New York: Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; Compiled by Kathryn Ford Thorne and Edited by John H. Long.

1. ^ New York. Laws of New York.1836, 59th Session, Chapter 077, Section 1, Page 102.
2. ^ New York. Laws of New York.1854, 77th Session, Chapter 386, Sections 1—4 & 6, Pages 913—915.
3. ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/me190090.txt
4. ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov
5. ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
6. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
7. ^ Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America By Dominic J. Pulera.
8. ^ Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?', Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.
9. ^ Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, 'The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns', Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44-6.
10. ^ Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, 'Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites', Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82-86.
11. ^ Mary C. Waters, Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), p. 36.
12. ^ "3 MORE COUNTIES ADOPT CHARTERS", The New York Times (New York, New York): 59, 1973-11-25 
13. ^ http://ccld.lib.ny.us/

		Schuyler County	Tompkins County
	Steuben County		Tioga County
		Chemung County, New York
	Tioga County, Pennsylvania	Bradford County, Pennsylvania

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Chemung County, New York, United States County seat: Elmira City Elmira Towns Ashland Baldwin Big Flats Catlin Chemung Elmira Erin Horseheads Southport Van Etten Veteran Villages Elmira Heights Horseheads Millport Van Etten Wellsburg CDPs Big Flats Horseheads North Southport West Elmira

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Coordinates: 42°08′N 76°46′W / 42.14, -76.76