Cortland County, New York
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Cortland County is a
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population of Cortland County was 46,809. The
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
is Cortland. 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.


History


Early history

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 The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. It became part of the Military Tract, when, in 1781, more than 1¼ million acres (5,100 km2) 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 Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
, as well as indeterminate territory to west. On March 12, 1772, present day Cortland County became part of Tryon County, named for
William Tryon Lieutenant-General William Tryon (8 June 172927 January 1788) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served durin ...
, colonial governor of New York. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, 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 Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, 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

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 Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
. 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

The 76th New York Volunteer Infantry was one of the most famous of the New York units in the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. 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

Today, Cortland county is noted for the production of CNC milling machines, hospitality supplies, medical instruments and components,
textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
,
electronic component An electronic component is any basic discrete electronic device or physical entity part of an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singula ...
s, plastic consumer goods, components for
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
, 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 Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...
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 Light industry are Industry (economics), industries that usually are less Capital intensity, capital-intensive than heavy industry, heavy industries and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consum ...
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 Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
,
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
,
Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...
, 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

Cortland County is a bellwether county, having voted for the national winner in every presidential election from 1980 to 2016. The city of Cortland itself, the largest city in the county, leans Democratic. Republican
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
scored landslide wins in the county in 1980 and 1984. Democrat
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
carried the county with pluralities in 1992 and 1996. Republican
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
carried the county in 2000 and 2004, defeating
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
by less than 1% in 2000, and
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
by just over 4% in 2004. In 2008,
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
defeated
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
54-44%, and in 2012 he defeated
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
by a similar margin. 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 Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
defeated Republican incumbent
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. 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

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water. 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

* Onondaga County - north * Madison County - northeast * Chenango County - east * Broome County - south * Tompkins County - west * Tioga County - southwest * Cayuga County - northwest


Major highways

*
Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...
* U.S. Route 11 * New York State Route 13 * New York State Route 41 * New York State Route 90 * New York State Route 392


Demographics


2020 Census


2000 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 48,599 people, 18,210 households, and 11,617 families residing in the county. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 20,116 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.95%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.86%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.27% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.32% from other races, and 1.18% from two or more races. 1.16% of the population were
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
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 Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the county was $16,622. About 9.30% of families and 15.50% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, 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% 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% 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%


Education

Area schools include: * State University of New York at Cortland * Tompkins Cortland Community College * Cincinnatus Central School District * Cortland City School District * Homer Central School District * Marathon Central School District * McGraw Central School District


Communities


Larger settlements


Towns

* Cincinnatus * Cortlandville * Cuyler *
Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
* Harford *
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
* Lapeer *
Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
* Preble * Scott * Solon * Taylor * Truxton *
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
* Willet


Notable people

* William Dillon, composer, lyricist, and vaudevillian * Ronnie James Dio, former frontman for Rainbow and
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
; a street in the city of Cortland is named for him (Dio Way) * Nancy Duffy, Syracuse news personality; founder of the Syracuse St. Patrick's Day Parade * John McGraw, Hall of Fame Major League Baseball player and manager from the town of Truxton * Alton B. Parker, Democratic candidate for president in 1904 * Arthur C. Sidman, playwright and vaudevillian * Elmer Ambrose Sperry, prolific inventor who invented gyroscopic compass and held over 400 patents; the USS ''Sperry'' is named after him * Sam "Trips" Tripoli, prolific comedian and podcaster who spawned the careers of several comedians and podcasters


See also

*
List of counties in New York There are 62 county (United States), counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The first 12 counties were created in 1683 soon after the British took over the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam; two of these counties were later a ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Cortland County, New York * Svend O. Heiberg Memorial Forest


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
Weather forecast for Cortland County

Cortland County Economic Development

Cortland County Chamber of Commerce

Cortland County Convention & Visitors Bureau



Cortland County Historical Aerial Photographs of New York
Cornell University Library & Cornell Institute for Resource Information Sciences
Cortland public history
{{Authority control Central New York 1808 establishments in New York (state) Populated places established in 1808