Erie County, New York

Erie County, New York
Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York State. As of the 2020 census, the population was 954,236. The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population. Both the county and Lake Erie were named for the regional Iroquoian language-speaking Erie tribe of Native Americans, who lived in the area before 1654. They were later pushed out by the more powerful Iroquoian nations tribes.
Erie County, along with its northern neighbor Niagara County, makes up the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area, the second largest in the State of New York behind New York City. The county's southern part is known as the Southtowns. The county has seen one of the highest growth rates of any county in the State of New York from the 2010 to 2020 census.
History
When counties were established by the English colonial authorities in the Province of New York in 1683, present-day Erie County was inhabited by the Iroquois. Significant colonization by White Americans did not begin until after the United States had gained independence with the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783. The U.S. forced the Iroquois to cede most of their lands, as many had been allies of the British during the conflict.
About 1800, the Holland Land Company, formed by American businessmen and their Dutch associates, extinguished aboriginal claims by purchasing the land from New York, acquired the title to the territory of what are today the eight westernmost counties of New York, surveyed their holdings, established towns and began selling lots to individuals. The state was eager to attract settlers and have homesteads and businesses developed. At this time, all of western New York was included in Ontario County.
As the population increased, the state legislature created Genesee County in 1802 out of part of Ontario County. In 1808, Niagara County was created out of Genesee County. In 1821, Erie County was created out of Niagara County, encompassing all the land between Tonawanda Creek and Cattaraugus Creek. The first towns formed in present-day Erie County were the Town of Clarence and the Town of Willink. Clarence and Willink comprised the northern and southern portions of Erie county, respectively. Clarence is still a distinct town, but Willink was quickly subdivided into other towns. When Erie County was established in 1821, it consisted of the towns of Amherst, Aurora, Boston, Clarence, Collins, Concord, Eden, Evans, Hamburg, Holland, Sardinia and Wales.
The county has a number of houses and other properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Erie County, New York.
In 1861, the hamlet of Town Line in the Town of Lancaster voted 85–40 to secede from the Union. Town Line never sought admission into the Confederate States of America and there is no evidence that men from the community ever fought for the Confederacy. Some reporting from that time indicates the vote was a joke. On January 24, 1946, as part of a nationally reported event, Town Line voted to officially return to the Union after 85 years of Union secession.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (85%) is land and (15%) is water.
Erie County is in the western portion of upstate New York, bordering on the lake of the same name. Part of the industrial area that has included Buffalo, it is the most populous county in upstate New York outside of the New York City metropolitan area. The county also lies on the international border between the United States and Canada, bordering the Province of Ontario.
The northern border of the county is Tonawanda Creek. Part of the southern border is Cattaraugus Creek. Other major streams include Buffalo Creek (Buffalo River), Cayuga Creek, Cazenovia Creek, Scajaquada Creek, Eighteen Mile Creek and Ellicott Creek. The county's northern half, including Buffalo and its suburbs, is known as the Northtowns and is relatively flat and rises gently up from the lake. The southern half, known as the Southtowns, is much hillier. It has the northwesternmost foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The highest elevation in the county is a hill in the Town of Sardinia that tops out at around above sea level. The lowest ground is about , on Grand Island at the Niagara River. The Onondaga Escarpment runs through the northern part of Erie County.
Rivers, streams and lakes
Buffalo River
Cattaraugus Creek
Cayuga Creek
Cazenovia Creek
Eighteen Mile Creek
Ellicott Creek
Lake Erie
Niagara River
Scajaquada Creek
Tonawanda Creek
Adjacent counties and municipality
Niagara County - north
Genesee County - northeast
Wyoming County - southeast
Cattaraugus County - south
Chautauqua County - southwest
Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada - northwest
Major highways
Interstate 90 (New York State Thruway)
Interstate 190 (Niagara Thruway)
Interstate 290 (Youngmann Expressway)
Interstate 990 (Lockport Expressway)
U.S. Route 20 (Southwestern Boulevard/Transit Road/Broadway)
U.S. Route 20A (Big Tree Road)
U.S. Route 62 (South Park Avenue/Bailey Avenue/Niagara Falls Boulevard)
U.S. Route 219 (Southern Expressway)
New York State Route 5 (Hamburg Turnpike/Buffalo Skyway/Main Street)
New York State Route 16 (Seneca Street)
New York State Route 33 (Kensington Expressway/Genesee Street)
New York State Route 39
New York State Route 78 (Transit Road)
New York State Route 179 (Milestrip Expressway/Road)
New York State Route 198 (Scajaquada Expressway)
New York State Route 263 (Grover Cleveland Highway/Millersport Highway)
New York State Route 240 (Orchard Park Road/Harlem Road)
New York State Route 277 (Union Road)
New York State Route 324 (Grand Island Boulevard/Sheridan Drive)
New York State Route 354 (Clinton Street)
New York State Route 400 (Aurora Expressway)
Erie County routes
National protected area
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
State protected areas
Amherst State Park, Town of Amherst.
Beaver Island State Park, Town of Grand Island.
Buckhorn Island State Park, Town of Grand Island.
Buffalo Harbor State Park, City of Buffalo.
Evangola State Park, Towns of Brant and Evans.
Great Baehre Swamp Wildlife Management Area, Town of Amherst.
Hampton Brook Woods Wildlife Management Area, Village of Hamburg.
Knox Farm State Park, Town of East Aurora.
Motor Island Wildlife Management Area, Town of Grand Island.
Onondaga Escarpment Unique Area, Town of Akron.
Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, Town of Cheektowaga.
Spicer Creek Wildlife Management Area, Town of Grand Island.
Strawberry Island State Park, Town of Townawanda.
Tillman Road Wildlife Management Area, Town of Clarence.
Woodlawn Beach State Park, Town of Hamburg.
Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area, Town of Collins.
Demographics
As of the 2020, there were 954,236 people living in the county. The population density was . There were 438,747 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 72.6% White, 14.1% Black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 4.9% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.3% from other races and 5.4% from two or more races. 6.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.6% were of German, 17.2% Polish, 14.9% Italian, 11.7% Irish and 5.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 91.1% spoke English, 3% Spanish and 1.6% Polish as their first language.
There were 380,873 households, out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 36.1% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.04. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% older than 65. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $38,567 and the median income for a family was $49,490. Males had a median income of $38,703 versus $26,510 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,357. About 9.2% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under 18 and 7.8% of those older than 65.
2020 Census
County government and politics
Prior to 1936, Erie County predominantly backed Republican Party candidates, with only four Democratic Party candidates winning the county in a presidential election - James Buchanan in 1856, George B. McClellan in 1864, Grover Cleveland in 1892 and Woodrow Wilson in 1912. However, starting with the 1936 election, it has turned predominantly Democratic since then, with only two Republicans carrying the county in a presidential election-- Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 and Richard Nixon in 1972, with Nixon being the most recent. In 2016, like many other counties in the Rust Belt, Donald Trump expanded the Republican vote share thanks to his appeal to working-class whites and Ethnic-Catholic voters. Four years later, in 2020, Joe Biden won 267,270 votes in Erie County, more than Barack Obama in 2008. Biden's margin of victory, however, was smaller than Obama's 2008 victory within the county.
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Erie County executives
Elected officials
County legislature
Education
School districts
School districts include:
Akron Central School District
Alden Central School District
Amherst Central School District
Attica Central School District
Buffalo City School District
Cheektowaga Central School District
Cheektowaga-Maryvale Union Free School District
Cheektowaga-Sloan Union Free School District
Clarence Central School District
Cleveland Hill Union Free School District
Depew Union Free School District
East Aurora Union Free School District
Eden Central School District
Evans-Brant Central School District (Lake Shore) a.k.a. Lake Shore Central School District
Frontier Central School District
Grand Island Central School District
Gowanda Central School District
Hamburg Central School District
Holland Central School District
Iroquois Central School District
Kenmore-Tonawanda Union Free School District
Lackawanna City School District
Lancaster Central School District
North Collins Central School District
Orchard Park Central School District
Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District
Sweet Home Central School District
Tonawanda City School District
West Seneca Central School District
Williamsville Central School District
Yorkshire-Pioneer Central School District
"Special act" school districts
Randolph Academy Union Free School District - In 2011 it took the territory of another special act district, Hopevale Union Free School District
As of the 2010 U.S. Census some parts of this county were not in a defined school district, with some undefined land and some undefined water.
Higher education
Buffalo State College
Canisius College
Daemen College
D'Youville University
Erie Community College
Hilbert College
Medaille College
Trocaire College
University at Buffalo
Villa Maria College
Bryant & Stratton College
Attractions and recreation
Erie County is home to three professional teams—the NFL's Buffalo Bills, the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and the NLL's Buffalo Bandits, along with Division I's Buffalo Bulls and MILB's Buffalo Bisons. The city of Buffalo also features the Buffalo Zoo, The Buffalo History Museum, Burchfield-Penney Art Center and Albright-Knox Art Gallery (all located within a mile of each other in the Delaware Park System), Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens and Buffalo Museum of Science, in addition to tourist districts such as Canalside and Larkinville. The Erie County Fair, held every August in the Town of Hamburg from 1820 to 2019 (the 2020 event, like much everything else across the country, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), is one of the largest county fairs in the United States.
Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry
The Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry was established in 1925 with four parks spanning . As of 2003, the county managed 38 properties, totaling approximately of land. Management objectives include providing and maintaining recreational space and the conservation of the county's natural and historic resources. A 2003 Master Plan identified several broad categories of parks operated by the county, including heritage parks, waterfront parks, conservation parks, special purpose parks and forest management areas.
Heritage parks
Erie County's heritage parks include the five original county parks that were established during the 1920s and 1930s. These parks are examples of multiple-use sites with significant scenic, natural and historic features. Each park has unique man-made structures of historical character, many constructed as part of the Works Progress Administration movement in the 1930s.
Akron Falls Park (Established in 1933, acquired by Erie County in 1947)
Chestnut Ridge Park (Established by Erie County in 1926)
Como Lake Park (Established in 1923, acquired by Erie County in 1926)
Ellicott Creek Park (Established by Erie County in 1926)
Emery Park (Established by Erie County in 1925)
Waterfront parks
Waterfront parks include the significant scenic sites and recreational trail systems along the county's Lake Erie shoreline.
Bennett Beach Park
Isle View Park
Riverwalk Park
Wendt Beach Park
Conservation parks
These largely-undeveloped parks are managed primarily for conservation of the natural environment and passive nature-based outdoor recreation activities. These lands are intended to generally remain in a natural state.
Boston Forest
Eighteen Mile Creek Park
Franklin Gulf Park
Sgt. Mark A. Rademacher Memorial Park (commonly known as Hunters Creek Park)
Scoby Dam Park
Special purpose parks
Special purpose parks have unique characteristics that provide specific recreational functions within the county's park system.
Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens
Elma Meadows Golf Course
Grover Cleveland Golf Course
Sprague Brook Park
Forest management areas
Forest management areas are managed by the Erie County Bureau of Forestry, which was established in 1927. These areas include several thousand acres of mostly-coniferous plantation style forest, much of which was planted on abandoned farmland by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. These areas are located mostly in the rural southern portion of the county. These lands have limited recreation potential, mostly in the form of trails. Management of these lands is focused on natural resource conservation, in addition to potential commercial resource extraction of timber products or maple syrup.
Communities
† - County Seat
‡ - Not Wholly in this County
Towns
Alden
Amherst
Aurora
Boston
Brant
Cheektowaga
Clarence
Colden
Collins
Concord
Eden
Elma
Evans
Grand Island
Hamburg
Holland
Lancaster
Marilla
Newstead
North Collins
Orchard Park
Sardinia
Tonawanda
Wales
West Seneca
Hamlets
Akron Junction
Alden Center
Armor
Athol Springs
Bagdad
Bellevue
Big Tree
Blakeley
Blossom
Boston
Bowmansville
Brant
Brighton
Carnegie
Chaffee
Clarksburg
Cleveland Hill
Clifton Heights
Collins Center
Concord
Creekside
Crittenden
Dellwood
Derby
Doyle
Duells Corner
Dutchtown
East Amherst
East Concord
East Eden
East Elma
East Seneca
Ebenezer
Eden Valley
Ellicott
Elma
Evans Center
Ferry Village
Footes
Forks
Fowlerville
Gardenville
Getzville
Glenwood
Green Acres
Griffins Mills
Holland
Hunts Corners
Jerusalem Corners
Jewettville
Kenilworth
Lake View
Langford
Lawtons
Locksley Park
Looneyville
Loveland
Marilla
Marshfield
Millersport
Millgrove
Morton Corners
Mount Vernon
Murrays Corner
New Ebenezer
New Oregon
North Bailey
North Evans
Oakfield
Patchin
Peters Corners
Pine Hill
Pinehurst
Pontiac
Porterville
Protection
Sand Hill
Sandy Beach
Scranton
Sheenwater
Shirley
Snyder
South Cheektowaga
South Newstead
South Wales
Spring Brook
Swifts Mills
Taylor Hollow
Town Line Station
Swormville
Walden Cliffs
Wales Hollow
Water Valley
Webster Corners
Wende
West Alden
West Falls
Weyer
Williston
Windom
Wolcottsburg
Woodlawn
Woodside
Wyandale
Zoar
Indian reservations
Cattaraugus Reservation
Tonawanda Reservation
See also
Erie County Sheriff's Office
Erie Township, Illinois
Erie Township, Minnesota
List of counties in New York
National Register of Historic Places listings in Erie County, New York
References
Further reading
External links
Erie County Bureau of Forestry Trails
Erie County Government website (county overview here)
The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
Erie County Fair
U.S. Census Bureau
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York
The Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority website a New York state public-benefit corporation
1821 establishments in New York (state)
Populated places established in 1821
Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area
New York placenames of Native American origin