Montgomery County is a
county located in the U.S. state of New York
.
It was
named in honor of Richard
Montgomery, an American
Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 at the Battle of
Quebec
. The county seat is
Fonda
.
History
For
the history of Montgomery County prior to 1784 see Tryon County, New York
In 1784, following end of the
American Revolutionary War, the
name of
Tryon County was
changed to Montgomery County.
This change was to honor the general,
Richard Montgomery, who had
captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture
the city of Quebec
, replacing the name of the British
governor.
In 1789,
Ontario
County
was split off from Montgomery. The actual area split
off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county,
also including the present Allegany
, Cattaraugus
, Chautauqua
, Erie
, Genesee
, Livingston
, Monroe
, Niagara
, Orleans
, Steuben
, Wyoming
, Yates
, and part of Schuyler
and Wayne Counties
.
In 1791,
Herkimer
, Otsego
, and Tioga Counties
were split off from Montgomery.
In 1802,
portions of Clinton
, Herkimer
, and Montgomery Counties were combined to form
St.
Lawrence County
.
In 1816,
Hamilton
County
was split off from Montgomery.
In 1838,
Fulton
County
was split off from Montgomery.
Congressional Districts
Geography
Montgomery County is located in the central
part of the state, west of the city of Schenectady
and northwest of Albany
.
According to the
U.S.
Census Bureau, the
county has a total area of 410 square miles (1,063 km²),
of which, 405 square miles (1,048 km²) of it is land and
6 square miles (14 km²) of it (1.34%) is water.
Adjacent counties
The Erie Canal Runs through Montgomery County parallel to the NYS
Thruway. The original canal ran through several towns and village
during the height of the canal days. After the railroad was built
the old canal was filled up and then moved along the whole length
of the Mohawk River to keep up with competition. The NYS Thruway
was then added along the same route and today the Erie Canal and
its lock system is used primarily for recreational use among locals
and tourists. At the time of its construction, Montgomery County
was the only place in the nation where the canal was able to be
built due to the break in the Appalacian Mountains called 'The
Noses' also known as 'the gateway to the West'.
Demographics

Montgomery County population
distribution by age and sex (2000 census)
As of the
census of 2000, there were 49,708
people, 20,038 households, and 13,104 families residing in the
county. The
population density
was 123 people per square mile (47/km²). There were 22,522 housing
units at an average density of 56 per square mile (21/km²).
The racial makeup of the county was 94.87%
White, 1.15%
African American, 0.25%
Native American, 0.53%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander, 1.92% from
other races, and 1.27%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 6.91% of the
population.
19.0% were of Italian, 15.9% German,
13.5% Polish, 9.1% Irish, 7.9% American
and 6.4% English
ancestry according to Census
2000. 89.8% spoke
English, 6.3%
Spanish and 1.5%
Polish as their first language.
There were 20,038 households out of which 29.40% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 49.00% were
married couples living together, 11.60% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 34.60% were
non-families. 29.50% of all households were made up of individuals
and 14.90% 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 2.98.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.50% under the
age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 26.30% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from
45 to 64, and 19.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median
age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 91.40 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $32,128, and
the median income for a family was $40,688. Males had a median
income of $30,818 versus $23,359 for females. The
per capita income for the county was
$17,005. About 9.00% of families and 12.00% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including
16.80% of those under age 18 and 10.00% of those age 65 or
over.
Cities and towns
- Labels in parentheses are official designations.
See also
References
External links