Oneida County is a county located in the U.S.
state of New
York
. As of the
2000 census, the population was
235,469.
The county seat is
Utica
. The
name is in honor of the
Oneida, an
Iroquoian tribe that formerly occupied the
region.
Oneida County is part of the
Utica-Rome, NY Metropolitan
Statistical Area.
History
When counties were established in New York State in 1683, the
present Oneida County was part of
Albany County.
This was an enormous
county, including the northern part of New York State as well as
all of the present state of Vermont
and, in
theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean
. This county was reduced in size on July 3,
1766 by the creation of
Cumberland County, and further
on March 16, 1770 by the creation of
Gloucester County, both
containing territory now in Vermont.
On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into
three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the
other pieces,
Tryon County,
contained the 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 western part of the
Adirondack Mountains and the
area west of the West Branch of the Delaware River. The area then
designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York
State. The county was named for
William
Tryon, colonial governor of New York.
During and
after the Revolution, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to
Canada
. In 1784, following the peace treaty that
ended the American
Revolutionary War, the name of Tryon County was changed to
Montgomery
County
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 hated British
governor.
In 1789,
the size of Montgomery County was reduced by the splitting off of
Ontario
County
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 County
was one of three counties split off from Montgomery
(the other two being Otsego
, and Tioga County
). This was much larger than the present
county, however, and was reduced by a number of subsequent
splits.
In 1794,
Herkimer County was reduced in size by the splitting off of
Onondaga
County
. This county was larger than the current
Onondaga County, including the present Cayuga
, Cortland
, and part of Oswego Counties
.
In 1798, Oneida County was created from a part of Herkimer County.
This
county was larger than the current Oneida County, including the
present Jefferson
, Lewis
, and part of Oswego Counties
.
In
1805, Jefferson
and Lewis Counties
were split off from Oneida.
In 1816,
parts of Oneida and Onondaga Counties were taken to form the new
Oswego
County
.
In
1848,
John
Humphrey Noyes founded a religious and
Utopian community, the
Oneida Community, near Oneida. Its
unconventional views on
religion and
relations between the
sexes led to much
controversy. The community lasted until 1881.
Geography
Oneida
County is in the central portion of New York State, east of
Syracuse
, and west of Albany
. Oneida Lake
is on the northwestern corner of the county, and
the Adirondack Park is on the
northeast. Part of the
Tug Hill
Plateau is in the northern part of the county. Interestingly,
Oneida County's highest point does lies neither on the plateau nor
in the Adirondack Park, but in the county's southern extremity. The
peak's name is Tassel Hill. It is located slightly southeast of
Hardscrabble Road (Tassel Hill Road), between the villages of
Waterville and Cassville.
The
Erie Canal bisects the county.
Oneida Lake
and Oneida Creek form
part of the western boundary.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total
area of 1,257 square miles (3,256 km²), of which,
1,213 square miles (3,141 km²) of it is land and
44 square miles (115 km²) of it (3.53%) is water.
Adjacent counties
National protected area
Economy
Once, the
main product of Oneida County was silverware, chiefly manufactured
at Oneida Ltd.'s headquarters in Sherrill
. In January 2005, the company ceased
manufacturing their product, closing its main plant and selling its
assets.
Currently the largest non-governmental, non-healthcare product of
Oneida County is gambling. Turning Stone Casino Resort is an
enterprise of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York, and the largest
private employer in Oneida County.
[8851]
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 235,469
people, 90,496 households, and 59,184 families residing in the
county. The
population density
was 194 people per square mile (75/km²). There were 102,803 housing
units at an average density of 85 per square mile (33/km²).
The racial makeup of the county was 90.21%
White, 5.74%
African American, 0.23%
Native American, 1.16%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 1.11% from
other races, and 1.52%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 3.20% of the
population.
21.7% were of Italian, 13.1% Irish, 12.1% German,
9.9% Polish, 8.5% English and 5.6% American
ancestry according to Census
2000. 90.6% spoke
English, 2.7%
Spanish, 1.3%
Italian, 1.2%
Serbo-Croatian and 1.1%
Polish as their first language.
There were 90,496 households out of which 30.40% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 49.10% were
married couples living together, 12.00% 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 13.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family
size was 3.02.
In the county the population was spread out with 23.90% under the
age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from
45 to 64, and 16.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median
age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.60 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $35,909, and
the median income for a family was $45,341. Males had a median
income of $32,194 versus $24,295 for females. The
per capita income for the county was
$18,516. About 9.80% of families and 13.00% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including
18.90% of those under age 18 and 8.50% of those age 65 or
over.
Government and politics
Oneida County was governed by a board of supervisors until 1962,
when the county charter was changed to create a
county executive and a 29-seat county
legislature. All 29 members of the legislature are elected from
single member districts. The county executive is elected by the
entire county.
Oneida County Executives
| Name |
Party |
Term |
| Charles T. Lanigan |
Republican |
January 1, 1963 – December 31, 1966 |
| Harry S. Daniels |
Republican |
January 1, 1967 – December 31, 1967 (interim)
January 1, 1968 – December 31, 1973
|
| William E. Bryant |
Democrat |
January 1, 1974 – April 21, 1979 |
| Antoinette Hyer |
Democrat |
April 22, 1979 – May 2, 1979 (acting) |
| Seymour Greene |
Democrat |
May 3, 1979 – June, 1979 (interim) |
| Michael Nasser |
Democrat |
June 1979 – December 31, 1979 (interim) |
| Sherwood L. Boehlert |
Republican |
January 1, 1980 – December 31, 1982 |
| John D. Plumley |
Republican |
January 1, 1983 – January 13, 1991 |
| Raymond A. Meier |
Republican |
January 14, 1991 – December 31, 1991 (interim)
January 1, 1992 – December 31, 1996
|
| Ralph J. Eannace, Jr. |
Republican |
January 1, 1997 – May, 2003 |
| Joseph A. Griffo |
Republican |
May, 2003 – December 31, 2003 (interim)
January 1, 2004 – December 31, 2006
|
| Anthony J. Picente, Jr. |
Republican |
January 1, 2007 – present |
Cities, Towns, and Villages
- => designations in parentheses show official level of
government.
County Information
Educational institutes
Notable locations
The Welsh
Oneida County in Central New York witnessed the development of one
of the largest and certainly the most influential Welsh community
in the United States. Suffering from poor harvests in 1789 and 1802
and dreaming of land ownership, the initial settlement of five
Welsh families soon attracted other agricultural migrants, settling
Stueben, Utica and Remsen townships. Adapting their traditional
agricultural methods, the Welsh became the first to introduce
dairying into the region and Welsh butter became a valued commodity
on the New York market. Drawing on the size of the local ethnic
community and the printing industry of Utica, Oneida County became
the cultural center of Welsh-American life by 1830. The
Welsh-American publishing industry included 19 different publishers
who published 240 Welsh language imprints, 4 denominational
periodicals and the influential newspaper
Y
Drych.
See also
References
External links