Greene 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 was 47,931. Its

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 Catskill. The county's name is in honor of 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 ...

general

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

. The county is part of the Capital District region of the state.

History

On March 25, 1800, Greene County was created by the partitioning of Albany (360 Square Miles) and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

(270 Square Miles) counties, producing a county of .New York. ''Laws of New York.'', 1800, 23rd Session, Chapter 51; Page 493 On April 3, 1801, of land was transferred from

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and Ulster counties, raising the total area to . This transferred Prattsville, Vly Mountain, Halcott Center, Bushnellsville, Highmount, Shandaken, Lanesville, and Pine Hill within Greene County.New York. ''Laws of New York.'', 1801, 24th Session, Chapter 123, Page 290. On May 26, 1812, Greene County lost to Ulster County, lowering the total area to , reassigning Pine Hill, Highmount, and Shandaken to Ulster County.New York. ''Laws of New York.''1812, 35th Session, Chapter 46, Page 382. On April 15, 1814, the county borders were re-surveyed, and the line adjusted with no change in area.New York. ''Laws of New York.''1814, 37th Session, Chapter 211, Page 275. On April 17, 1822, the border was again surveyed, with no change in area, but Palenville was found to be inside Greene County.New York. ''Laws of New York.''1822, 45th Session, Chapter 243, Page 257. On April 23, 1823, the border was again resurveyed, and the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

border with Columbia County realigned accordingly.New York. ''Laws of New York.''1823, 46th Session, Chapter 251, Page 377. On March 3, 1836, of area was lost to Schoharie County, reducing the total area to , and reassigning Manorkill, producing the Greene County that exists today.New York. ''Laws of New York.''1836, 59th Session, Chapter 31, Page 33.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.7%) is water. Greene County is located in southeast central New York State, just west of the

and south of Albany. The northern and eastern regions are mostly low-lying flatlands. Along the

the lowest elevation is at sea level. The southern and western areas rise sharply into the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. Catskill Park takes up much of the south central region. The park contains some of the tallest peaks south of the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

. For example, the highest elevation is Hunter Mountain, at approximately above sea level; In addition, there are many picturesque waterfalls in the park such as the famed,

Kaaterskill Falls Kaaterskill Falls is a two-stage waterfall on Spruce Creek (Kaaterskill Creek tributary), Spruce Creek in the eastern Catskill Mountains of New York (state), New York, between the Hamlet (place)#New York, hamlets of Haines Falls, New York, Haines ...

. The entirety of Greene County is in the 19th Congressional District, and is represented by Democrat Josh Riley. The county is served by Greene County Transit, based in Catskill.

Adjacent counties

* Albany County - north * Rensselaer County - northeast * Columbia County - east * Ulster County - south * Delaware County - west * Schoharie County - northwest

National protected area

* Thomas Cole National Historic Site

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 48,195 people, 18,256 households, and 12,067 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 26,544 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 90.76%

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 ...

, 5.53%

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 ...

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 ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.54% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 1.52% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. 4.31% 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. 18.8% were of Irish, 17.8% Italian, 17.5% German, 8.6% American and 6.9% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 92.3% spoke English, 2.8% Spanish, 1.5% German and 1.3% Italian as their first language. There were 18,256 households, out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.00% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 106.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.2 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,493, and the median income for a family was $43,854. Males had a median income of $35,598 versus $25,346 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 $18,931. About 8.6% of families and 12.2% 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 15.7% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 census, the racial makeup of the county was 90.3% White, 5.7% African American, 0.3% Native American and 0.8% Asian. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.9% of the population.American Fact Finder, U.S. Census, 2010, Greene County, New York, https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF

Politics

Greene County is considered a Republican stronghold. It was one of only eleven counties in New York that did not vote for

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, ...

in 1996, a strong year for Democrats. It supported

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 ...

by a margin just under ten points in 2008 over

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 ...

, another Democratic year. In 2012, 54.1 percent of the county's voters chose Republican challenger

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 ...

, and 43.7 percent chose Democratic incumbent Obama, despite it being again a Democratic year. In 2016, 59 percent of the county's voters chose

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 ...

while 34 percent chose

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

. It has not supported a Democrat for president since 1964, and before that it previously did so in 1912. In some elections, certain towns in Greene County have had a plurality that have voted Democratic, though the county remains very Republican.

Communities

Towns

* Ashland *

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

* Catskill * Coxsackie * Durham * Greenville * Halcott * Hunter * Jewett * Lexington * New Baltimore * Prattsville * Windham

Villages

* Catskill (county seat) * Coxsackie * Hunter * Tannersville

Census-designated places

* Cementon * East Durham * Greenville * Haines Falls * Jefferson Heights *

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

* New Baltimore * Palenville * Prattsville * Round Top * Sleepy Hollow Lake * South Cairo * West Kill * Windham

Hamlets

* Acra * Cornwallville * Climax * Earlton * Freehold * Haines Falls * Hannacroix * Hensonville * Lanesville * Maplecrest * Oak Hill * Surprise

Notable people

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

, (1778–1854), born in Oak Hill, United States Congressman * Levi Hill, claimed early inventor of color photography * Jeff "The Drunk" Curro Howard Stern Wack Packer * Blossom Dearie, (1924-2009), jazz singer * John B. Terry, (1796-1874), pioneer, merchant, soldier, and Wisconsin territorial legislature, born in Coxsackie *

Thurlow Weed Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was an American printer, newspaper publisher, and Whig Party (United States), Whig and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor t ...

, (1797-1882), born in Acra, NY. Newspaper publisher, politician, and party boss * Edwin L. Drake, (1819-1880), invented method to drill oil from the ground, born in Greenville * Scott Adams, born and raised in Windham, NY; an American cartoonist, creator of the '' Dilbert'' comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, business, and general speculation.

References

External links

*
Greene County Government website

Greene County Tourism website

Greene County Historical Society

Greene County History & Genealogy Website

''Hudson Valley Directory''
listings pertaining to Greene County, New York {{authority control Capital District (New York) 1800 establishments in New York (state) Greene County, New York Populated places established in 1800