Orleans 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 ...

in the western part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,343. 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 ...

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

. The county received its name at the insistence of Nehemiah Ingersoll though historians are unsure how the name was selected. The two competing theories are that it was named to honor the French Royal House of Orleans or that it was to honor Andrew Jackson's victory in New Orleans. The county is part of the Finger Lakes region of the state. Located on the south shore of Lake Ontario, Orleans County since the late 20th century has been considered part of the Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

When counties were established by the British authorities in the province of New York in 1683, the present Orleans County was part of the territory of Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of present-day New York State as well as 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 ...

and, in theory, extending westward to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766, by the creation of

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberl ...

, and further on March 16, 1770, by the creation of Gloucester County, both containing territory now in Vermont. On March 12, 1772, the remaining Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. Tryon County contained the large western portion (and thus, since no western boundary was specified, theoretically still extended west to the Pacific). The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of Schenectady, and the county included the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson R ...

valley, the western part of the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern 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 highest point in Ne ...

and the area west of the West Branch of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was 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. This western area was occupied largely by the Onondaga, Oneida and other western nations of the

Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

. The westernmost European settlements were in the area of Little Falls and present-day Herkimer. During the unrest prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, feelings ran high in the Mohawk Valley, and there were local attacks by rebels against known Loyalists. Most of Tryon County's Loyalists fled to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

before 1776, where they were later granted land by the Crown to develop what is now Ontario. 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 ...

, Tryon County's name was changed to Montgomery County to honor the general,

Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish-born American military officer who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and ...

. He 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, ...

. It replaced the name of the now hated colonial British governor. In 1789, Ontario County split off from Montgomery. During this period, thousands of migrants settled in the western part of the state from New England and eastern New York resulting in the creation of more counties. In 1802, Genesee County was created by splitting Ontario County. Genesee County was then divided into Allegany County in 1806, Cattaraugus,

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) is an adult education and social movement in the United States that peaked in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Cha ...

, and Niagara Counties in 1808,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Livingston, and Monroe Counties in 1821, and finally Orleans County in 1824. When Orleans County was formed in 1824, a dispute arose about naming it after President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

or President

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 ...

. During and following the Napoleonic era in France, numerous French refugees came to New York, some settling in the upstate areas.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (52%) is water. The high proportion of water is due to the extension of Orleans County north into Lake Ontario to the Canada–US border (a line of latitude running through the middle of the lake). The distance from the Orleans shore north to the international border is greater than the distance from the shore south to the Genesee County line, meaning the area of Orleans under water is greater than that above water. Orleans County is in western New York State, northeast of Buffalo and west of Rochester, on the southern shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. The

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

passes (east–west) through the middle of the county. When its construction was completed in 1824, it attracted new settlers to the largely rural county. Trade and passenger traffic stimulated the development of local businesses.

Adjacent counties

* Monroe County - east * Genesee County - south * Niagara County - west

National protected area

* Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (part)

State protected areas

* Lakeside Beach State Park * Oak Orchard State Marine Park * Oak Orchard Wildlife Management Area * Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area

Government and politics

Starting in 1824, the county government was run by a board of supervisors, consisting of elected supervisors from each township in Orleans County. This geographic representation meant that the residents of more urbanized areas were underrepresented on the board. In 1980, the state and county established a seven-member elected legislature to replace the board of supervisors. Representatives are elected from

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

s roughly equal in population. It is headed by a chairman. Orleans County is heavily Republican. It has voted Republican in every presidential election since the party's founding in 1856, except for one, 1964. It also voted Whig in every presidential election from 1828 until 1852.

County government

Orleans County legislature

Orleans County elected officials

State and federal government

Orleans County is part of: * The 8th Judicial District of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

* The 4th Division of the

New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York is the intermediate appellate court in New York State. The state is geographically divided into four judicial departments of the Appellate Division. The full title of each is, u ...

Demographics

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 2010, there were 42,883 people, 16,119 households, and 10,872 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 17,347 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 89.8%

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 ...

, 5.9%

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 ...

, 0.6% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.0%

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 ...

, 1.3% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. 4.1% 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. According to Census 2000, 20.3% were of German, 18.3% English, 10.8% Italian, 10.3% Irish, 9.4% American and 7.3% Polish ancestry and 96.0% spoke English and 3.0% Spanish as their first language. Census 2010 showed there were 16,119 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49% 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, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.5 and the average family size was 2.99. In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.8% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 29.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. The median income for a household in the county was $48,731. Males had a median income of $32,450 versus $22,605 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 $16,457. About 15.2% 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 ...

2020 Census

Education

Public schools The county has five school districts, although the actual district boundaries can extend into neighboring counties, and the same is true for neighboring counties' districts. The five districts, from west to east, are: * Lyndonville Central School District (northern half of western third, roughly covering Lyndonville village and the towns of Yates and Ridgeway) * Medina Central School District (southern half of western third, roughly covering Medina village and the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby) * Albion Central School District (middle third, roughly covering Albion village and the towns of Carlton, Gaines, Albion, and Barre) * Kendall Central School District (northern half of eastern third, roughly covering the towns of Kendall and Murray) * Holley Central School District (southern half of eastern third, roughly covering Holley village and the towns of Murray and Clarendon) Each of these school districts participates in Orleans/Niagara BOCES or Monroe #2-Orleans BOCES. Private school There is currently one non-denominational K-12 school in the county. * Orleans County Christian School College One college maintains satellite campuses in Orleans County. * Genesee Community College - Albion (This campus has been declared defunct, with all staff & operations moved to Medina campus) * Genesee Community College - Medina

Recreation

The County of Orleans has created an interactive map of notable places for visitors to see while visiting the county. https://orleanscountytourism.com/history/

Lakes

There are two major dams on Oak Orchard Creek that have created public boating areas.
Waterport Pond
in the town of Carlton also called lake Alice by locals.
Glenwood Lake
in the town of Ridgeway and the village of

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Libraries

Orleans County has 4 public libraries serving its population. * Community Free Library, located in Holley * Hoag Library, located in Albion * Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, located in Medina * Yates Community Library, located in Lyndonville

Museums

Orleans County has 6 museums that are open to the public. * Clarendon Historical Society Museum & Farwell's Settlement
The Cobblestone Museum
* Holley Depot Museum
Medina Railroad Museum
* Murray-Holley Historical Society
Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum

Parks

There are two State Parks and many municipal parks spread throughout the county.
Lakeside Beach State Park

Oak Orchard Marine State Park

Transportation

Orleans County has eight private airstrips and one public-use airport: * Pine Hill Airport (New York) (9G6) RTS Orleans provides bus service to Orleans County. The county's Department of Public Works is headquartered in Albion and is charged with maintaining roads, including: *Overseeing construction and repair of county roads, bridges, and ditches *Removing snow and ice Each town and village within Orleans County maintains its own highway department.

Major roadways

* New York State Route 18 *

New York State Route 31 New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York (state), New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with New York State Route 104, NY ...

* New York State Route 31A * New York State Route 31E *

New York State Route 63 New York State Route 63 (NY 63) is a state highway in the western part of New York (state), New York in the United States. It extends for in a generally southeast–northwest direction from an intersection with New York State Route 15 ...

New York State Route 98 New York State Route 98 (NY 98) is a state highway in the western New York, western part of New York (state), New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 219 in New York, U.S. ...

* New York State Route 104 * New York State Route 237 * New York State Route 269 * New York State Route 272 * New York State Route 279 * New York State Route 387 * Lake Ontario State Parkway * List of county routes in Orleans County, New York The former New York State Route 941M was located in Orleans County.

Communities

Larger Settlements

All larger settlements are Villages

Towns

* Barre * Carlton * Clarendon * Gaines * Kendall * Murray * Ridgeway * Shelby * Yates

Villages

(county seat) * Holley * Lyndonville *

Hamlets

* Ashwood * Barre Center * Baldwin Corner *

Brockville Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and ...

* Carlton Station * Childs * County Line * Eagle Harbor * East Shelby * Fancher * Gaines * Hindsburg * Hulberton * Jeddo * Jones Beach * Kendall Mills *

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

* Kenyonville * Knowlesville * Kuckville * Lomond Shore * Millers * Millville * Oak Orchard * Point Breeze * Sawyer * Shadigee * Shelby Center * Sunset Beach * Yates Center * Waterport * West Barre * West Gaines * West Shelby

References

External links

Official Webpage
*
Genesee Community College in Orleans County

{{authority control Finger Lakes 1824 establishments in New York (state) Populated places established in 1824 Rochester metropolitan area, New York